PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY

Close Notification

Your cart does not contain any items

Do Humankind's Best Days Lie Ahead?

Steven Pinker Matt Ridley Alain de Botton Malcolm Gladwell

$16.99

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

QTY:

English
One World
23 November 2016
ABBEY'S CHOICE DECEMBER 2016 ----- From the Enlightenment onwards, the West has had an enduring belief that through the evolution of institutions, innovations, and ideas, the human condition is improving. This process is supposedly accelerating as new technologies, individual freedoms, and the spread of global norms empower individuals and societies around the world. But is progress inevitable?

Its critics argue that human civilization has become different, not better, over the last two and a half centuries. What is seen as a breakthrough or innovation in one period becomes a setback or limitation in another. In short, progress is an ideology not a fact; a way of thinking about the world as opposed to a description of reality. So is the cup half full or half empty?

As part of the Munk Debates series, held in Toronto biannually, pioneering cognitive scientist Steven Pinker and bestselling author Matt Ridley squared off against noted philosopher Alain de Botton and bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell, giving us an entertaining and thought-provoking face-off between four of the world's most renowned thinkers.

By:   , , ,
Imprint:   One World
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 178mm,  Width: 111mm,  Spine: 10mm
ISBN:   9781786070760
ISBN 10:   1786070766
Pages:   128
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

STEVEN PINKER is a pioneering cognitive scientist who has written a number of of bestselling and award-winning books. He is Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard and has been named by Time magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. MATT RIDLEY's books have been finalists for nine major literary prizes and sold over one million copies. He was appointed to the House of Lords in 2013 and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Academy of Medical Sciencess. ALAIN DE BOTTON is a philosopher who has written about love, travel, architecture, and literature. His books have been bestsellers in thirty countries. De Botton also started and helps to run the London-based School of Life. MALCOLM GLADWELL is a Canadian journalist and the author of five New York Times bestsellers. He has been named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time magazine and one of Foreign Policy magazine's Top 100 Global Thinkers.

See Also