In showing how the great philosophers of human history lived and thought - and what they thought about - Peter Cave provides an accessible and enjoyable introduction to thinking philosophically and how it can change our everyday lives. With a lightness of touch, he addresses questions such as: Is there anything 'out there' that gives meaning to our lives? Does reality tell us how we ought to live? What indeed is reality and what is appearance - and how can we tell the difference?
This book paints vivid portraits of an assortment of inspiring thinkers: from Lao Tzu to Avicenna to Iris Murdoch; from Hannah Arendt to Socrates and Plato to Karl Marx; from Kierkegaard and Nietzsche to Sartre to Samuel Beckett - and let us not forget Lewis Carroll for some thought-provoking fantasies and Ludwig Wittgenstein for the anguishes of a genius. As well as displaying optimists and pessimists, believers and non-believers, the book displays relevance to current affairs, from free speech to abortion to the treatment of animals to our leaders' moral character.
In each brief chapter, Cave brings to life these often prescient, always compelling philosophical thinkers, showing how their ways of approaching the world grew out of their own lives and times and how we may make valuable use of their insights today. Now, more than ever, we need to understand how to live, and how to understand the world around us. This is the perfect guide.

Peter Cave is a popular philosophy writer and speaker. He read philosophy at University College London and King's College Cambridge, has held lectureships in Britain and given guest presentations at various other European universities; some time ago he held a lectureship at the University of Khartoum, Sudan. For many years he has been a lecturer at the Open University and New York University, London.
Peter is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Honorary Member of Population Matters, former member of the Council of the Royal Institute of Philosophy and Chair of Humanist Philosophers - and is a Patron of Humanists UK. Peter has scripted and presented BBC radio philosophy programmes - from a series on the Paradox Fair to more serious ones on John Stuart Mill. He often takes part in public debates on religion, ethics and socio-political matters.
His philosophy books include This Sentence Is False: An Introduction to Philosophical Paradoxes (2009), and three Beginner's Guides: to Humanism, Philosophy and Ethics. More recent works are The Big Think Book: Discover Philosophy Through 99 Perplexing Problems (2015) and The Myths We Live By: A Contrarian's Guide to Democracy, Free Speech and Other Liberal Fictions (2019).

Prologue
1 Lao Tzu: The Way to Tao
2 Sappho: Lover
3 Zeno of Elea: Tortoise Backer and Parmenidean Helper
4 Gadfly: aka 'Socrates'
5 Plato: Charioteer, Magnificent Footnote Inspirer - 'Nobody Does It Better'
6 Aristotle: Earth-Bound, Walking
7 Epicurus: Gardener, Curing the Soul, Ably Assisted by Lucretius
8 Avicenna: Flying Man, Unifier
9 Descartes: With Princess, With Queen
10 Spinoza: God-Intoxicated Atheist
11 Leibniz: Monad Man
12 Bishop Berkeley, 'That Paradoxical Irishman': Immaterialist, Tar-Water Advocate
13 David Hume: The Great Infidel or Le Bon David
14 Kant: Duty Calls, Categorically
15 Schopenhauer: Pessimism With Flute
16 John Stuart Mill: Utility Man, With Harriet, Soul-Mate
17 Søren Kierkegaard: Who?
18 Karl Marx: Hegelian, Freedom-Fighter
19 Lewis Carroll: Curiouser and Curiouser
20 Nietzsche: God-Slaying Jester, Trans-Valuer
21 Bertrand Russell: Radical, Aristocrat
22 G. E. Moore: Common-Sense Defender, Bloomsbury's Sage
23 Heidegger: Hyphenater
24 Jean-Paul Sartre: Existentialist, Novelist, French
25 Simone Weil: Refuser and Would-Be Rescuer
26 Simone de Beauvoir: Situated, Protester, Feminist
27 Ludwig Wittgenstein: Therapist
28 Hannah Arendt: Controversialist, Journalist?
29 Iris Murdoch: Attender
30 Samuel Beckett: Not I
Epilogue
Dates of the Philosophers
Notes, References and Readings
Acknowledgements
In Memory
Name Index
Subject Index