The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten: 100 Experiments for the Armchair Philosopher

This book kept me thinking. Great piece of work!

It's a very good book, good reflexions, the only one problem for my taste is that repeat the thoughts. Again, it is just my opinion

Paragrafi molto brevi, argomenti di varia natura, un approccio problematico anziché storico. Decisamente per un pubblico di non specialisti. La qualità della carta è scadente, tipo riciclata, ma la rilegatura è buona.

I always admire an intellectual who can take something abstract or complicated and explain it in very simple terms so that something which is esoteric can be easily understood. In this book Baginni does this 100 times. He takes classic philosophical problems and uses simple language, common day scenarios and some sharp wit to present 100 interesting, though provoking, challenging thought experiments.Each experiment is separate, independent and unique and posses a "what to do" dilema? For example, as title suggests, suppose there was a pig that could communicate that they actually wanted to be eaten? Would vegitarians still have a valid argument? Or is it wrong for someone to use their neighbour's wi-fi to get broadband internet access without their neighbour even knowing if it costs the neighbour nothing?After presenting the dilema, Baggini then works through an analysis referencing well known philosophers and intellectuals and suggest various views they had on the dilema. Nietzches, Hume, Descartes and host of others all get a mention along the way as we encouter classics Philosophical problems - Xeno's pardox, Plato's Cave, the problem of evil etc.But the beauty of this book is that Baginni, presents the dilema or the problem in the modern terms without loosing any of the wisdom of the philosophical concept thus making it far more easier to understand. For example, Plato's cave is a famous dilema of people in a cave not understanding what their shadows on the cave walls are, despite the fact they think that they do. Someone leaves the cave and realises how the shadows are being formed but has difficulty communicating and explaining it to those that have never left the cave. Explain this in modern terms, Baggini suggests to imagine a bunch of coach potatoes who are locked in their house watching soap operas. Just like the cave dwellers couldn't understand what their shadows were, the coach potatoes don't fully understand the soap operas. They think the soap operas are real life documentaries. How are they do know it's really just a set with actors following a script? Similarly, someone then leaves the house, realises how soap operas are made and what they really are but again can't communicate or explain this to those who never left the house.The layout of this book does not follow any strict chronological order so the reader can skip through the problems and simply pick this book up andput it down any time.I can imagine plenty of uses for this book. Teachers who want to give something interesting and challenging to their precocious students,parents who want to open up a bit of rational thought and enquiry with inquisitive children or just about anyone who likes a bit brain activity.Absolutely brilliant.

Good read