Mortal Questions

By Thomas Nagel,

Book cover of Mortal Questions

Book description

Thomas Nagel's Mortal Questions explores some fundamental issues concerning the meaning, nature and value of human life. Questions about our attitudes to death, sexual behaviour, social inequality, war and political power are shown to lead to more obviously philosophical problems about personal identity, consciousness, freedom and value. This original and…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Mortal Questions as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This book presents ethics as both a theoretical and personal enterprise. Because it aims not only at what we should believe, but also at what we should want and how we should act, it starts not with pre-reflective ideas about the world, which we hope to make more accurate, but with pre-reflective ideas about what we want and how we want to live, which we hope to improve. Among the most gripping in contemporary philosophy, Nagel's essays -- on death, meaning in life, equality, the power of sex, limitations on our understanding of other beings, and morally evaluating people vs.…

Want books like Mortal Questions?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 92 books like Mortal Questions.

Browse books like Mortal Questions

Book cover of The Problems of Philosophy
Book cover of Naming and Necessity
Book cover of Plato: Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,187

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in western philosophy, social inequality, and contemporary philosophy?