“To a certain extent all philosophers have been involved in a systematic questioning that undermines confidence and certainty. Philosophy as a whole unleashed skeptical forces which, outside of the tightly controlled environment of a rigorous philosophical debate, led a lot of people to throw their hands up in despair and think 'what's the point?'. A lot of the public perception of philosophy is that it leaves you with no answers, and more confused than you were at the beginning.” PeopleThinkingPhilosophyEnvironmentDespairPerceptionPhilosophicalPhilosopherDebateCertaintyConfusedQuestioningSkeptical Author:Julian Baggini
“People seem very arrogant when they say 'I'm right and you're wrong', but in practice we all believe we're right. We have a staggering arrogance in our own belief. That can be tempered by not being 100% certain; by being provisional. No matter what the debate is, very few people have the modesty to suspend judgement on a whole range of things; most intelligent people have an opinion and are expected to have an opinion by other people - but it always requires making a personal judgement that goes way-beyond your expertise. We do it all the time.” PeopleBelieveBeliefOpinionIntelligentDebateJudgementArroganceArrogantModestyExpertise Author:Julian Baggini
“I am very Aristotelian in approach - not in detail - so I always find I'm saying things that get people frustrated like 'It's a matter of balance and judgement'. To a lot of philosophers these are terrible words because they're admitting of vagueness and uncertainty. The more I've done philosophy, the more I've become convinced that that is the way it is.” PeopleDonePhilosophyBalanceTerriblePhilosopherUncertaintyFrustrated Author:Julian Baggini
“Talking about creating truth tends to alarm people, because truth is meant to be 'just out there'. It doesn't take much thinking to appreciate that we sometimes change truths on the ground - sometimes just by words. A new law will change what is possible. I think - perhaps because the paradigm we follow tends to be scientific, and all about discovery - the creative element of truth is one upon which we don't focus so much attention. This is particularly so in anglophone philosophy, perhaps because we associate it too much with those 'pernicious' continental trends.” PeopleThinkingSometimesPhilosophyAttentionCreativeFocusTruth IsAppreciateMeant To BeParadigm Author:Julian Baggini
“In the case of Donald Trump I think you've got to accept that a lot of what's going on in political discourse is based upon judgement. How the economy works - how people work - what will come to pass - what will not come to pass - what is possible - what is not possible. There is this whole modal dimension. There's a lot in politics that is making a judgement about what might be and can be and would be. Trump frightens a lot of people but there is a bizarre possible world in which it turns out as he's vindicated, though most of us think the evidence is against it.” PeopleThinkingWorldPoliticalAcceptingEconomyEvidenceJudgementBizarre Author:Julian Baggini
“I'm not one of these people who is sour about academia. I'm very lucky not to be in academia, but I am an absolute parasite. While I was writing my book on comparative philosophy I was drawing on some fantastic scholars - university based people. The academy is absolutely necessary, but there should also be a role for those bringing it together. It's such a frustration sometimes.” PeopleWritingBookSometimesPhilosophyTogetherLuckyFantasticFrustrationScholar Author:Julian Baggini
“Wasn't it Bertrand Russell who used the phrase 'The superior virtue of the oppressed'? There is always this temptation amongst people that see themselves as progressive, and on the side of the weak. They demonize the powerful, but over-romanticize the weak. I think we should recognize that. If you take seriously the idea that people are always going to use truth claims as a means of powering their own agenda, that is going to happen whether you're weak or powerful.” PeopleThinkingMeanPowerfulVirtueWeakTemptationProgressive Author:Julian Baggini
“For most people their ideal life involves an intimate relationship with another person; one which often has a sexual basis. But there's no logic about it; why shouldn't people choose to live together with someone they just like? 'Of course' if we were too unquestioning about it, and we said 'well, that person has got to be someone of the opposite sex, and it's got to be for life, and divorce is terrible', then we're stuck. But if you don't recognize the importance that kind of bond has for human beings - you can't really understand what is needed to live a good life.” PeopleKindTogetherLogicImportanceDivorceStuckIntimateGood Life Author:Julian Baggini
“I just think that the skepticism about truth has almost completely flipped - from being something associated with generally left-leaning progressives to being something which is a tool of right-wing populists and demagogues. I think a lot of those people writing books ten years ago would now think those books are no longer needed, they've kind of been vindicated.” PeopleThinkingWritingKindBookSkepticismWriting A BookPopulist Author:Julian Baggini
“I think that internet technologies are making everything so transparent. The arms race of deception and spin against the public trying to keep up with it - I think the forces of spin have to lose. In the corporate world people are finding this. Corporate social responsibility has been on the agenda for a very long time - and a lot of people say it's a kind of green-wash or white-wash - but because there's nowhere to hide anymore, people are coming around to the realization that the only way to be seen to be good is to be good. You can't fake it.” PeopleThinkingWorldTryingKindLongResponsibilityTechnologyInternetBe GoodRealizationDeceptionFakeSocial Responsibility Author:Julian Baggini
“You should protest about the views of people you disagree with over major moral issues, and argue them down, but you should not try to silence them, however repugnant you find them. That is the bitter pill free speech requires us to swallow.” PeopleShouldTryingViewsSilenceMoralIssuesSpeechMajorsArguingBitterProtestDisagreeFree SpeechPillsMoral Issues Author:Julian Baggini
“Christmas is a rare occasion when we are reminded that we have obligations to people we did not choose to be related to, and that love is not just a spontaneous feeling but something we sometimes really have to work at, with people we may not even much like.” PeopleMaySometimesFeelingsLove IsObligationOccasionsRelatedSpontaneousRare Occasion Author:Julian Baggini
“Accepting that the world is full of uncertainty and ambiguity does not and should not stop people from being pretty sure about a lot of things.” PeopleWorldShouldDoeAcceptingUncertaintyAmbiguityBeing Pretty Author:Julian Baggini
“True respect means taking other people's beliefs seriously and assuming they are adult and intelligent enough to be able to cope with it if you tell them, clearly and civility, why you think they are totally, utterly and disastrously wrong.” PeopleIfsThinkingMeanEnoughAbleBeliefAdultsIntelligentAssumingCivility Author:Julian Baggini
“Daily life is better when it involves interactions with real people who have a personal investment in their labour, like shopkeepers, than it is with someone 'just doing my job' or the infernal self-checkout machine.” PeopleRealSelfJobsLife IsMachinesInvestmentLabourDaily LifeInteractionShopkeepersCheckouts Author:Julian Baggini
“Most people believe, more or less, that the value of a human life is the same, irrespective of where on the planet it happens to find itself. But, of course, not every life has the same value for us.” PeopleBelieveHumansHappensLife IsValuesCoursesPlanetsHuman Life Author:Julian Baggini
“People do care where their food, or other goods, comes from, not merely if the price is right. And that means no business can afford to ignore the impacts their buying practices have on producers and on the perceptions and choices of consumers.” PeopleIfsMeanCareChoicesPracticePerceptionImpactProducersConsumersBuyingGoods Author:Julian Baggini
“This is the deal: we are happy to single out people as superior just as long as they don't accept the description themselves. We want heroes and idols but we also want egalitarianism and that requires proclamations of humility from our Gods.” PeopleWantLongDealsAcceptingHumilityHeroSuperiorsDescriptionIdolsProclamationEgalitarianism Author:Julian Baggini
“Trade has played a vital role in the social evolution of humankind. It allowed people to specialise, which raises both skill levels and efficiency. It brought people from different lands together, co-operating rather than competing over resources.” PeopleDifferentTogetherSocialLevelsRolesLandEvolutionSkillsResourcesRaisesTradeHumankindEfficiencyCompeting Author:Julian Baggini
“I don't believe in God because certain reasons and arguments weigh more heavily in my mind than others, not because I have willfully decided to reject my creator, as many religious people seem to think. I could no more simply decide to believe in God than I could decide to like beetroot, just like that.” PeopleThinkingMindBelieveReasonSeemsCertainReligiousArgumentDecidedDon't BelieveCreatorRejectsBelieve In God Author:Julian Baggini
“Many people are never happier than when they get the opportunity to complain, while others are deeply unhappy with how things are but just accept the fact. Complaint occurs when we refuse to accept that things are wrong and we do something about it, even if that something is simply articulating our unease.” PeopleIfsFactsOpportunityAcceptingRefuseComplainingUnhappyComplaintsArticulating Author:Julian Baggini
“Metaphorical tone deafness is when people are unable to discern what is of value in something. I think I'm tone deaf to poetry, for instance. Despite having studied it into a second year of university, most of it just leaves me cold.” PeopleThinkingYearsValuesColdUniversityDespiteInstanceToneLeaving MeDeafMetaphoricalDeafness Author:Julian Baggini
“People should not expect the state to protect them from fraudsters. If we do, we get into the habit of neglecting our own powers of intellectual discernment.” PeopleIfsShouldStatesHabitProtectIntellectualNeglectDiscernment Author:Julian Baggini
