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The Needs of Strangers

On Solidarity and the Politics of Being Human
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Needs of Strangers by Michael Ignatieff explores the intersection of politics and human emotions, examining how societies address the fundamental needs of individuals. Ignatieff delves into the historical and philosophical dimensions of what it means to care for others, reflecting on how personal and communal needs have been regarded over centuries. This thought-provoking book offers insight into the moral obligations we hold towards strangers in the broader social fabric.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you are interested in exploring how human needs and the basic aspects of life, such as community and belonging, intersect with political and philosophical ideas. This thought-provoking read weaves together insights from current affairs and timeless philosophical questions, making it appealing to those who appreciate reflective and insightful discourse on societal matters.

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Reissue of a profound exploration of the concept of human need by the esteemed author of On Consolation

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

What does a person need, not just to survive, but to flourish? In this profound, searching book, Michael Ignatieff explores the many human needs that go beyond basic sustenance: for love, for respect, for community and consolation. In a society of strangers, how might we find a common language to express such needs?

Ignatieff's lucid, penetrating enquiry takes him back to great works of philosophy, literature and art, from St. Augustine to Hieronymus Bosch to Shakespeare. Reissued with a new preface, The Needs of Strangers builds to a moving meditation on the possibility of accommodating claims of difference within a politics based on common need.

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The Needs of Strangers by Michael Ignatieff is praised for its urgent and convincing prose, making the discussion of its ideas highly accessible. It is described as beautifully written, with thoughtful insights and elegant meditations on human needs.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781782279082

Publisher: Pushkin Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 31 August 2023

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Pushkin Press

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 176

About the Author

Michael Ignatieff is a writer, historian and former politician. He has taught at Cambridge, Oxford, the University of Toronto and Harvard and is currently university professor at Central European University in Vienna. His books, which have been translated into twelve languages, include Blood and Belonging, Isaiah Berlin, The Needs of Strangers and The Russian Album, all published or forthcoming with Pushkin Press, and On Consolation.

Also by Michael Ignatieff

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  • On Sale
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    On Consolation
    As read on BBC Radio 4's 'Book of the Week', On Consolation by Michael Ignatieff offers a deeply poignant and thought-provoking journey through the ways in which humanity has grappled with the ageless quest for solace in the face of profound loss and suffering. Ignatieff explores how writers, composers, and artists have sought comfort and resilience amidst life's hardest trials,...
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  • Isaiah Berlin
    Isaiah Berlin was one of the great thinkers and most electrifying speakers of his time. A magnetic public intellectual and beacon of liberal philosophy, he gained astonishing first-hand experience of some of the pivotal events of the twentieth century. Berlin refused to write an autobiography, but he did agree to talk about himself: in the last decade of his life,...
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  • The Russian Album
    Poring over his grandparents' memoirs, grainy photographs of his distinguished ancestors, and relating family lore passed from father to son, Michael Ignatieff begins a moving journey to come to terms with his inheritance that is bound up with the violent tumult of Russian history. With great care and complexity, Ignatieff reconstructs a vanished way of life. Beginning in the opulent...
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  • Blood & Belonging
    In 1993, Michael Ignatieff set out on a journey to the former Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Germany, Quebec, Kurdistan, and Northern Ireland to explore the many faces of modern nationalism. Why, after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, were so many nation-states disintegrating into ethnic conflict? What did nationalism promise that so many were willing...
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  • The Ordinary Virtues
    Winner of the ZΓ³calo Book PrizeA New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice "Combines powerful moral arguments with superb storytelling." β€”New Statesman What moral values do we hold in common? As globalization draws us together economically, are the things we value converging or diverging? These twin questions led Michael Ignatieff to embark on a three-year, eight-nation journey in search of...
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  • Fire and Ashes
    In 2005, Michael Ignatieff left his life as a writer and professor at Harvard University to enter the combative world of politics back home in Canada. By 2008, he was leader of the country's Liberal Party and poisedβ€”should the governing Conservatives falterβ€”to become Canada's next Prime Minister. It never happened. Today, after a bruising electoral defeat, Ignatieff is back where...
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