{"title":"David Edmonds","description":"\u003cp\u003eDavid Edmonds specialises in exploring profound questions of ethics, philosophy, and human psychology with clarity and intellectual rigour. His works often blend biography and philosophical inquiry, presenting complex ideas through compelling narratives and real-life dilemmas.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom thought-provoking moral puzzles to engaging historical accounts, Edmonds invites readers to reflect on the nature of human decision-making and the pursuit of truth. Expect insightful examinations that challenge assumptions and illuminate the depths of human thought.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"parfit-by-david-edmonds-9780691225241","title":"Parfit","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDerek Parfit (1942-2017) is the most famous philosopher most people have never heard of. Widely regarded as one of the greatest moral thinkers of the past hundred years, Parfit was anything but a public intellectual. Yet his ideas have shaped the way philosophers think about things that affect us all: equality, altruism, what we owe to future generations, and even what it means to be a person. In \u003ci\u003eParfit\u003c\/i\u003e, David Edmonds presents the first biography of an intriguing, obsessive, and eccentric genius.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBelieving that we should be less concerned with ourselves and more with the common good, Parfit dedicated himself to the pursuit of philosophical progress to an extraordinary degree. He always wore grey trousers and a white shirt so as not to lose precious time picking out clothes, he varied his diet as little as possible, and he had only one serious non-philosophical interest: taking photos of Oxford, Venice, and St. Petersburg. In the latter half of his life, he single-mindedly devoted himself to a desperate attempt to rescue secular morality—morality without God—by arguing that it has an objective, rational basis. For Parfit, the stakes could scarcely have been higher. If he couldn't demonstrate that there are objective facts about right and wrong, he believed, his life was futile and all our lives were meaningless.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eConnecting Parfit's work and life and offering a clear introduction to his profound and challenging ideas, \u003ci\u003eParfit\u003c\/i\u003e is a powerful portrait of an extraordinary thinker who continues to have a remarkable influence on the world of ideas.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEdmonds has pulled it off, and few could be better suited to the task...He writes stylishly, with a light touch. The book is packed with anecdotes that leaven the discussion of Parfit's weighty professional output. ― Sarah Richmond,\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46845472145644,"sku":"9780691225241","price":34.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/2239553482434.jpg?v=1758881160"},{"product_id":"parfit-by-david-edmonds-9780691225234","title":"Parfit","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDerek Parfit (1942-2017) is the most famous philosopher most people have never heard of. Widely regarded as one of the greatest moral thinkers of the past hundred years, Parfit was anything but a public intellectual. Yet his ideas have shaped the way philosophers think about things that affect us all: equality, altruism, what we owe to future generations, and even what it means to be a person. In \u003ci\u003eParfit\u003c\/i\u003e, David Edmonds presents the first biography of an intriguing, obsessive, and eccentric genius.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBelieving that we should be less concerned with ourselves and more with the common good, Parfit dedicated himself to the pursuit of philosophical progress to an extraordinary degree. He always wore grey trousers and a white shirt so as not to lose precious time picking out clothes, he varied his diet as little as possible, and he had only one serious non-philosophical interest: taking photos of Oxford, Venice, and St. Petersburg.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the latter half of his life, he single-mindedly devoted himself to a desperate attempt to rescue secular morality—morality without God—by arguing that it has an objective, rational basis. For Parfit, the stakes could scarcely have been higher. If he couldn't demonstrate that there are objective facts about right and wrong, he believed, his life was futile and all our lives were meaningless.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eConnecting Parfit's work and life and offering a clear introduction to his profound and challenging ideas, \u003ci\u003eParfit\u003c\/i\u003e is a powerful portrait of an extraordinary thinker who continues to have a remarkable influence on the world of ideas.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Edmonds has pulled it off, and few could be better suited to the task...He writes stylishly, with a light touch. The book is packed with anecdotes that leaven the discussion of Parfit's weighty professional output.' — Sarah Richmond, \u003ci\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46845472243948,"sku":"9780691225234","price":74.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/2239483482434.jpg?v=1758881208"},{"product_id":"the-murder-of-professor-schlick-by-david-edmonds-9780691211961","title":"The Murder of Professor Schlick","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e*New Statesman,\u003c\/i\u003e Books of the Year\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e*FiveBooks,\u003c\/i\u003e One of Nigel Warburton's Best Philosophy Books of 2020\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn June 22, 1936, the philosopher Moritz Schlick was on his way to deliver a lecture at the University of Vienna when Johann Nelböck, a deranged former student of Schlick's, shot him dead on the university steps. Some Austrian newspapers defended the madman, while Nelböck himself argued in court that his onetime teacher had promoted a treacherous Jewish philosophy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDavid Edmonds traces the rise and fall of the Vienna Circle – an influential group of brilliant thinkers led by Schlick – and of a philosophical movement that sought to do away with metaphysics and pseudoscience in a city darkened by fascism, anti-Semitism, and unreason.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Vienna Circle's members included Otto Neurath, Rudolf Carnap, and the eccentric logician Kurt Gödel. On its fringes were two other philosophical titans of the twentieth century, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper. The Circle championed the philosophy of logical empiricism, which held that only two types of propositions have cognitive meaning: those that can be verified through experience and those that are analytically true. For a time, it was the most fashionable movement in philosophy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eYet by the outbreak of World War II, Schlick's group had disbanded and almost all its members had fled. Edmonds reveals why the Austro-fascists and the Nazis saw their philosophy as such a threat.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47000800952556,"sku":"9780691211961","price":37.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/81D-m3LSDXL._SL1500.jpg?v=1777409928"},{"product_id":"death-in-a-shallow-pond-by-david-edmonds-9780691254029","title":"Death in a Shallow Pond","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom the bestselling co-author of \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eWittgenstein's Poker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e, a fascinating account of Peter Singer's controversial 'drowning child' thought experiment and how it changed the way people think about charitable giving.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eImagine this: You're walking past a shallow pond and spot a toddler thrashing around in the water, in obvious danger of drowning. You look around for her parents, but nobody is there. You're the only person who can save her, and you must act immediately. But as you approach the pond, you remember that you're wearing your most expensive shoes. Wading into the water will ruin them and might make you late for a meeting. Should you let the child drown?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe philosopher Peter Singer published this thought experiment in 1972, arguing that allowing people in the developing world to die, when we could easily help them by giving money to charity, is as morally reprehensible as saving our shoes instead of the drowning child. Can this possibly be true? In \u003ci\u003eDeath in a Shallow Pond\u003c\/i\u003e, David Edmonds tells the remarkable story of Singer and his controversial idea, tracing how it radically changed the way many think about poverty but also how it has provoked scathing criticisms.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eDeath in a Shallow Pond\u003c\/i\u003e describes the experiences and world events that led Singer to make his radical case and how it moved some young philosophers to establish the Effective Altruism movement, which tries to optimise philanthropy. The book also explores the reactions of critics who argue that the Shallow Pond and Effective Altruism are unrealistic, misguided, and counterproductive, neglecting the causes of—and therefore perpetuating—poverty. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eUltimately, however, Edmonds argues that the Shallow Pond retains the power to shape how we live in a world in which terrible and unnecessary suffering persists.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47076516856044,"sku":"9780691254029","price":49.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/2527433482434.jpg?v=1765201708"},{"product_id":"would-you-kill-the-fat-man-by-david-edmonds-9780691165639","title":"Would You Kill the Fat Man?","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA runaway train is racing toward five men who are tied to the track. Unless the train is stopped, it will inevitably kill all five men. You are standing on a footbridge looking down on the unfolding disaster. However, a fat man, a stranger, is standing next to you: if you push him off the bridge, he will topple onto the line and, although he will die, his chunky body will stop the train, saving five lives. Would you kill the fat man?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe question may seem bizarre. But it's one variation of a puzzle that has baffled moral philosophers for almost half a century and that more recently has come to preoccupy neuroscientists, psychologists, and other thinkers as well. In this book, David Edmonds, coauthor of the best-selling \u003cem\u003eWittgenstein's Poker\u003c\/em\u003e, tells the riveting story of why and how philosophers have struggled with this ethical dilemma, sometimes called the trolley problem. In the process, he provides an entertaining and informative tour through the history of moral philosophy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMost people feel it's wrong to kill the fat man. But why? After all, in taking one life you could save five. As Edmonds shows, answering the question is far more complex—and important—than it first appears. In fact, how we answer it tells us a great deal about right and wrong.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47471973400812,"sku":"9780691165639","price":44.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3da25c16917693d120cf00973f4ca770.jpg?v=1775692333"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.pro\/collections\/david-edmonds.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}