7. The Consolation of Philosophy

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. 1. The Man Who Asked Questions 1
4. 2. True Happiness 9
5. 3. We Know Nothing 15
6. 4. The Garden Path 22
7. 5. Learning Not to Care 28
8. 6 Who Is Pulling Our Strings? 34
9. 7. The Consolation of Philosophy 40
10. 8. The Perfect Island 46
11. 9. The Fox and the Lion 51
12. 10. Nasty, Brutish, and Short 57
13. 11. Could You Be Dreaming? 62
14. 12. Place Your Bets 69
15. 13. The Lens Grinder 76
16. 14. The Prince and the Cobbler 81
17. 15. The Elephant in the Room 87
18. 16. The Best of All Possible Worlds? 93
19. 17. The Imaginary Watchmaker 99
20. 18. Born Free 105
21. 19. Rose-Tinted Reality 110
22. 20. What if Everyone Did That? 115
23. 21. Practical Bliss 121
24. 22. The Owl of Minerva 126
25. 23. Glimpses of Reality 132
26. 24. Space to Grow 138
27. 25. Unintelligent Design 145
28. 26. Life’s Sacrifices 152
29. 27. Workers of the World Unite 158
30. 28. So What? 164
31. 29. The Death of God 171
32. 30. Thoughts in Disguise 176
33. 31. Is the Present King of France Bald? 183
34. 32. Boo!/Hooray! 190
35. 33. The Anguish of Freedom 196
36. 34. Bewitched by Language 202
37. 35. The Man Who Didn’t Ask Questions 208
38. 36. Learning from Mistakes 214
39. 37. The Runaway Train and the Unwanted Violinist 222
40. 38. Fairness Through Ignorance 228
41. 39. Can Computers Think? 234
42. 40. A Modern Gadfly 239
43. Index 246