{"product_id":"9781784741662-humanly-possible","title":"Humanly Possible","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSeven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Enquiry and Hope. \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e***\u003c\/b\u003eAS READ ON RADIO 4\u003cb\u003e***\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe bestselling, prizewinning author of \u003ci\u003eHow to Live\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eAt the Existentialist Café \u003c\/i\u003eexplores 700 years of writers, thinkers, scientists and artists, all trying to understand what it means to be truly human.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'I can't imagine a better history' \u003cb\u003ePHILIP PULLMAN * \u003c\/b\u003e'Fascinating, moving, funny' \u003cb\u003eOLIVER BURKEMAN\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf you are reading this, it's likely you already have some affinity with humanism, even if you don't think of yourself in those terms. You may be drawn to literature and the humanities. You may prefer to base your moral choices on fellow-feeling and responsibility to others rather than on religious commandments. Or you may simply believe that individual lives are more important than grand political visions or dogmas.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf any of these apply, you are part of a long tradition of humanist thought, and you share that tradition with many extraordinary individuals through history who have put rational enquiry, cultural richness, freedom of thought and a sense of hope at the heart of their lives.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHumanly Possible \u003c\/i\u003eintroduces us to some of these people, as it asks what humanism is and why it has flourished for so long, despite opposition from fanatics, mystics and tyrants. It is a book brimming with ideas, personalities and experiments in living - from Erasmus to Esperanto, from anatomists to agnostics, from Christine de Pizan to Bertrand Russell to Zora Neale Hurston. It joyfully celebrates open-mindedness, optimism, freedom and the power of the here and now - humanist values which have helped steer us through dark times in the past, and which are just as urgently needed in our world today.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePRAISE FOR SARAH BAKEWELL'S BOOKS\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eQuirky, funny, clear and passionate\u003c\/b\u003e . Few writers are as good as Bakewell at explaining complicated ideas' \u003ci\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A \u003cb\u003ewonderfully readable\u003c\/b\u003e combination of biography, philosophy, history, cultural analysis and personal reflection' \u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eSplendidly \u003c\/b\u003econceived and \u003cb\u003eexquisitely \u003c\/b\u003ewritten' \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A\u003cb\u003e rare achievement\u003c\/b\u003e' \u003ci\u003eEvening Standard\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40772449861729,"sku":"9781784741662","price":23.61,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/products\/b824fb21ac8b9a47c4e4ba33fcf24eef.png?v=1680186687","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781784741662-humanly-possible","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}