The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Book Cover for: Insurmountable Simplicities: Thirty-Nine Philosophical Conundrums, Roberto Casati

Insurmountable Simplicities: Thirty-Nine Philosophical Conundrums

Roberto Casati

"Perhaps not all the stories that follow are true. They could, however, be true, and the Reader is invited to ponder this."

So begins Insurmountable Simplicities, Roberto Casati and Achille Varzi's colorful incarnation of the many philosophical conundrums that hide in the wrinkles of everyday life. Why do mirrors seem to invert left and right but not up and down? How do we know whether strawberries taste the same for everyone? Where is it written that we must observe the law, and if it is not written, why should we observe it? What if we could swap brains-or the rest of our bodies?

Insurmountable Simplicities is filled with stories, dialogues, and epistolary exchanges that cover a range of themes-such as personal identity, causality and responsibility, fortune, the nature of things, the paradoxes of time and space, the interface between logic and language-in captivating and inventive ways.

Clear, concise, and intellectually engaging, this internationally acclaimed book brilliantly demonstrates that the beauty of philosophy resides in its thorough engagement with the simplicities of the world, insurmountable as they might initially appear.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Columbia University Press
  • Publish Date: Mar 3rd, 2008
  • Pages: 144
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.04in - 5.29in - 0.42in - 0.44lb
  • EAN: 9780231137232
  • Categories: • Anthologies (multiple authors)

About the Author

Roberto Casati is research director at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris. He is the author of The Shadow Club and (with Achille Varzi) Parts and Places: The Structures of Spatial Representation and Holes and Other Superficialities.

Achille Varzi is professor of philosophy at Columbia University. In addition to the books coauthored with Casati, he is the author of several volumes, including An Essay in Universal Semantics and Theory and Problems of Logic.

More books by Roberto Casati

Book Cover for: Holes and Other Superficialities, Roberto Casati
Book Cover for: Shadows: Unlocking Their Secrets, from Plato to Our Time, Roberto Casati
Book Cover for: Parts and Places: The Structures of Spatial Representation, Roberto Casati
Book Cover for: The Cognitive Life of Maps, Roberto Casati
Book Cover for: The Visual World of Shadows, Roberto Casati
Book Cover for: European Review of Philosophy: Volume 3: Response-Dependence, Roberto Casati

Praise for this book

Bite-sized bits of thought-provoking philosophy are cunningly explored in this little book of brainteasers.-- "Publishers Weekly"
The authors creatively weave...cleverly written stories. Highly recommended.-- "Library Journal"
An excellent and mentally stimulating introduction to a wide variety of difficult and deep questions.-- "Midwest Book Review"