Baggini Julian - Do You Think What You Think You Think?

Thanks to George Miller and Gail Lynch for supporting the idea of this book; TPM Online (www.philosophersnet.com) mailing list members for beta testing many of the activities in their previous, online form; Ophelia Benson; and Sajidah Ahmad, Lesley Levene, Daphne Trotter, Joanna Macnamara for their thorough checking. Any mistakes that remain are entirely our responsibility.

The Philosophical Health Check is based on an original idea by Marilyn Mason.

So You Think Youre Logical? is inspired by original work by Peter Wason, Leda Cosmides and John Tooby.

The Do-It-Yourself Deity is based on an original idea by Jeremy Hayward and Gerald Jones, whose numerous books by Hodder Murray are strongly recommended, especially for teachers looking to introduce philosophical activities to the classroom.

Taboo is inspired largely by the work of Jonathan Haidt, Silvia Helena Koller and Maria G. Dias.

David Coopers Aesthetics: The Classic Readings (Blackwell) provided many of the sources for our summary of the major philosophical theories of art in Shakespeare vs. Britney Spears and is highly recommended for those wishing to find out more about them.

This book emerged out of our work with The Philosophers Magazine , which has only survived with the support of numerous generous contributors and individuals such as Ophelia Benson, Denis Collins, Jonathan Derbyshire, Susan Dwyer, Simon Eassom, Peter Fosl, Wendy Grossman, Mathew Iredale, Michael LaBossiere, Jeff Mason, Scott McLemee, Christopher Norris and Christian Perring; as well, of course, as our readers.

Theres no doubting that Descartes was a pretty clever guy. But whether it was his fault or that of his acolytes, a lot of hopeless misconceptions about human nature can be traced back to him. Of all these, perhaps the greatest is the incorrigibility of the mental: the belief that we cannot be mistaken about the contents of our own minds. I think I feel pain, so I do feel pain, and theres no way I can be mistaken about that. If I can see an elephant, then I may be hallucinating and there is no elephant there, but nonetheless, it has to be true that I am having the experience of seeing an elephant. If your coat looks yellow to me, the fact that it is really green doesnt change the fact that it looks yellow to me.

But the simple truth is that we can be horribly, tragically, painfully wrong about what is in our heads. Just think of the kinds of things people say all the time. I thought I was in love but really it was just lust. I thought I had indigestion but actually I was pregnant. I thought I believed in socialism but when I saw my tax bill I realized that I didnt. I thought I didnt want my children to be different but actually I wanted them to change so I could be closer to them. I thought I enjoyed working long hours but really I was kidding myself and I was just avoiding issues in my personal life. I thought I was being honest but actually I was holding back crucial information and deceiving him.

What we really think is an incredibly difficult area. The purpose of this book is to provide you with some entertaining ways of thinking about what and how you think, and to reveal some surprising things about both. By the end of it, we think you may well find yourself thinking that what you think you think is no longer what you thought you thought. And like that last sentence, that may be disconcerting, a little confusing, but actually quite good fun.

Visit this books Web site at www.doyouthinkwhatyouthink.com.