The Ego Trick - Video interview

Video interview by Jules Evans at The Politics of Well-Being blog about my new book.

The Ego Trick - Review in Intelligent Life

"Do you feel you have, at your core, some “pearl of identity”, unchanging from cradle to grave, and perhaps beyond? If so, where is it located? Peeling back layer upon layer of delusion, Julian Baggini argues that there is no such thing as the self; that we are all just fragmented bundles of perception and experience—and that we should be relieved to hear this. Baggini works on a broad canvas, citing Hume and Locke alongside the reflections of sex-change patients and victims of dementia. While leaving the ego in pieces, he gives your mind a thorough workout."

One of Maggie Fergusson's eight picks of the season in The Economist's quarterly Intelligent Life Books of the Season feature.

The Ego Trick

My new book is out. Here I'm going to keep a list of related links. For upcoming talks, click here. Click here to buy from Amazon or The Book Depository.

Reviews
"In this entertaining, educative and gracefully written book, Julian Baggini explores the question of the nature of the self and in what sense it persists through time. ... This is one of the best, most readable and most stimulating introductions yet written about this intriguing topic. Enjoy, and profit." AC Grayling in the FT.

"Baggini works on a broad canvas, citing Hume and Locke alongside the reflections of sex-change patients and victims of dementia. While leaving the ego in pieces, he gives your mind a thorough workout." One of Maggie Fergusson's picks of the Season in Spring's Intelligent Life

Articles by me
The blurred reality of humanity (Independent, 21 March)

The self: why science is not enough (New Scientist, 12 March)

Ideas for modern living: you (Observer, 13 March)

We’re more than the sum of our pasts (Sunday Herald, 6 March)

Audio
Start the Week with Andrew Marr, BBC Radio Four, 2 May

Guardian Science podcast with Alok Jha, 4 April

Nightwaves, BBC Radio Three, 24 March.

Video

The Ego Trick digested into 4 minutes for Ignite Bristol



A longer (20 minute) talk on the book given at the RSA



This short (3 minute) "home movie"introduces the theme.



This talk at the How The Light Gets In festival in Hay focuses on the issue of character.



Video interview by Jules Evans at The Politics of Well-Being blog

The Ego Trick - Review by AC Grayling

"In this entertaining, educative and gracefully written book, Julian Baggini explores the question of the nature of the self and in what sense it persists through time. ... This is one of the best, most readable and most stimulating introductions yet written about this intriguing topic. Enjoy, and profit."

AC Grayling reviews The Ego Trick in the FT (9/10 April)

David Aaronovitch recommends Do They Think...

"Baggini’s is by far the most useful book to have beside you ... during an election"

David Aaronovitch recommends Do They Think Your Stupid? in The Times (17 April)

Nicholas Lezard's paperback choice

"What is pleasant about Baggini, and explains why he has such a presence as a popular professor ('do not assume that because someone is described as a "popular philosopher" lots of people actually like him'), is that he uses familiar examples and takes us through them with clarity and good humour; we may not consider ourselves philosophers but we can appreciate it when he tells us an anecdote which suggests that Eric Bloom from Blue Öyster Cult has a low opinion of Folkestone."

Nicholas Lezard picks Do They Think You're Stupid? as his paperback choice in this week's Guardian.

Chapters in two new books

Rather belated news of two contributions to two very different recent books. "Atheism, obviously" is in 50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists by Russell Blackford and Udo Schüklenk. It is about the sense one has tat the truth of atheism (or theism) is in some sense obvious, and why this is problematic. Rather different is "The First Honest Christmas Round Robin Letter" in The Atheist's Guide To Christmas, edited by Ariane Sherine. With only 360 shopping days until Christmas, now is the time to buy. Click on covers for more information.

Complaint now available as audiobook

Complete and unabridged, you can download from Amazon (but check you have a compatible device first - their audible.com system is a bit annoying if you don't). It's also available as 4 CDs, but I'm not sure where. Some reviews of the book are listed here.

Should you judge this book by its cover?

My new book is now out. From the preface:

The aim of this book is to make proverbs and other familiar sayings speak their wisdom afresh, and to clear away some of the mistaken ideas they can give rise to. In order to achieve this goal, it is important that I do not try to replace one set of pat interpretations with another. Rather, I want to stimulate the reader to think for herself about the ideas within, as if for the first time. That is why I make no attempt to make my discussions exhaustive. Nor do I spell everything out: the point is to make the reader check her own spelling. This is a book to argue and converse with. It is not a reference book, manual or a self-help guide. It exists simply to fuel the thinking of those who think for themselves.

You can buy the book from Amazon , The Book Depository or your preferred online or high street vendor.

I've also made a short film about the book...

A tányérra kívánkozó malac

"Julian Baggini kísérletet tesz arra, hogy ellensúlyozza az anyázkodó, egymás mellett elbeszélő emberek szavait: méghozzá gondolatkísérletet."

I haven't a clue what that means. Review of Hungarian edition of The Pig that wants to be Eaten.

New podcast available

Podularity have just posted a new interview with me, by George Miller, about my new book on bad arguments. You can listen to it here.

In the interest of fairness

Having posted a set of good reviews for Complaint, I feel obliged to share this less positive one in the New Statesman. The reviewer found it a "disappointingly shallow book". What's missing, apparently, is the importance of "class consciousness".
I could counter-complain, but when you're lucky enough to have a book published and have it widely reviewed, you have to accept that not all will be good.

Reviews of Complaint

I've had some good reviews, and thankfully no really bad ones, for Complaint. Here are links to four of them. (Guess if they're the best or worst!)

"This funny, accessible, acute study"
Laurie Taylor, Times Higher

"Someone once wrote, of a book of mine, words to the effect that 'This book could change the way we live'. Very flattering, but obviously balls. It makes one wary of deploying the phrase even when spot on, as in the case of Julian Baggini's relaxed, affable yet startlingly lucid analysis of humanity's tendency to complain."
Michael Bywater, The Independent

"An enjoyably astringent and wry read."
Steve Poole, The Guardian

"Complaint is a work of popular philosophy of the best kind: it doesn’t dumb down the ideas of the greats, but employs the tools and training of the philosopher to explore the deeper significance of everyday life."
Stephen Cave, FT

Complaint is available at Amazon.

Duck judged to be tasty

"Every society needs its guardian of good sense: Baggini is ours."

I'm blushing. Review of The Duck in the FT.
Available now from Amazon.

Duck now on the menu

My new book, The Duck that Won the Lottery And 99 Other Bad Arguments has just been published by Granta. It's about the ways in which people argue badly, but often persuasively. One example is the "it sends the wrong message" objection, which I also mention in my column for The Herald today. Like most of the bad arguments, they crop up time and again, which is why it's no surprise then when writing something topical this week, I overlap with the book.
The book is of course available from Amazon or your friendly local book store.

The gripes of wrath

"There's a vaguely new-age feeling going around that any form of inner agitation is bad and that we should all be heading for inner peace. I think that's morally outrageous. There's something deeply self-centred about aspiring to be the kind of person who's not perturbed by anything."

Interview about my new book Complaint in the Sunday Herald

The art of complaining

"What are the rules for proper complaining? They all spring from an appreciation of what is going on when we complain: we see things are not as they ought to be and we say something about it. Right complaints are directed at things that really are wrong and can be changed. Wrong complaints are about things that we cannot or should not change, or are directed at people who can’t do anything about them."

Article linked to my new book on Complaint in this month's Psychologies (not available to read online).

Gripes and moans create a better world

"When you complain, you're asserting your belief about the way things should be. We express our values when we complain."

Article about my new book on Complaint in today's Metro.

Podcast on Welcome to Everytown

There's a podcast interview with me here, talking about Welcome to Everytown: A Journey into the English Mind, which is just out in paperback. The website (podularity) has lots of other interviews with authors too.

Review of The Ethics Toolkit

"Baggini and Fosl have provided an admirably no-nonsense tour through the crowded landscape of contemporary philosophical ethics. Competent and helpful; this little gem will keep the pair in ale for many a year to come."

Metapsychology Online reviews The Ethics Toolkit, by Peter S Fosl and I. Read the whole review here, or better still, the book itself here.