Mary Midgley is Senior Lecturer Emeritus in Philosophy, Newcastle University, UK. One of the leading moral philosophers of the 20th century, Midgley has written extensively on human nature, science, ethics, animals, and the environment. Her books include Beast and Man, Heart and Mind, Animals and Why They Matter, Are You an Illusion? and Wickedness.

• Part 1. The Search for SignpostsChapter 1. DirectionsChapter 2. Do Ideas Get Out Of Date?Chapter 3. What is Research? Chapter 4. Clashes of MethodChapter 5. What is Matter?Chapter 6. Quantum QueriesChapter 7. What is Progress?Chapter 8. Perspectives and Paradoxes: Rousseau And His Intellectual ExplosivesChapter 9. Mill And The Different Kinds Of FreedomChapter 10. Making Sense Of TolerationPART 2. Tempting Visions of Science Chapter 11. The Force of World-PicturesChapter 12. The Past Does Not DieChapter 13. Scientism; The New SedativePART 3. Mindlessness and Machine WorshipChapter 14. The Power-StruggleChapter 15. Missing PersonsChapter 16. Oracles PART 4. Singularities and the CosmosChapter 17. What Kind of Singularity?Chapter 18. Can Intelligence be Measured? Chapter 19. What is Materialism? Chapter 20. The Cult of ImpersonalityChapter 21. Matter and RealityChapter 22. The Mystique of ScientismChapter 23. The Strange World-PictureConclusion: One World but Many Window

Engaging and accessible, this vigorous swansong exemplifies many of Midgley's virtues, and revisits many of her favourite themes ... [it helps] us to see that many of our problems arise from trying to fit everything into a single explanatory template, rather than realising that one and the same reality can be understood from irreducibly different points of view.