Short description
In 42, Mark Vernon takes 42 aphorisms from people who ve lived life richly from Marcus Aurelius to Monty Python as starting points for those of us now who are looking to live life to the full.
Long description
Mark Vernon takes his inspiration from 42 of the funniest, wisest, and quirkiest quotations about the big questions in life, and uses these as starting points for his brilliant observations. In each chapter, he explains what the greatest thinkers of all time have had to say on subjects such as eternal life, work, love and sex, and the nature of happiness; he draws his own conclusions, and will provoke you to think deeply about these things for yourself. Questions include: Is ignorance bliss? Are freedom and slavery mental states? Is love blind? Is there any reason to believe a politician who tells you things can only get better? 42 assumes no prior knowledge of philosophy; it's easy and fun to read, but serious and challenging at the same time.
Review
Mark Vernon is one of the most thoughtful, accessible and lucid popular philosophers writing today. Julian Baggini, author of The Pig that Wants to be Eaten and 99 other thought experiments.