The Myths We Live By (Hardcover, New)

Are YOU concerned about your future?
Mary Midgley is. Or rather, she's concerned about how our future is being packaged and sold. According to a profile in The Guardian, Midgley is the 'foremost scourge of scientific pretension in this country'. In The Myths We Live By she proves her profiler right. Britain's foremost living philosopher argues that myth, far from being in opposition to, is actually part and parcel of science. According to Midgley, myths are neither lies or stories, but a network of powerful symbols that suggest particular ways of interpreting the world. In this interpretation she demolishes three of our most potent myths: the myth of the social contract, the myth of progress, and the myth of science.
'Thinking about heaven can't help save the earth'.
Drawing on a wealth of examples, from the idea that culture somehow 'evolves' to the idea that returning wolves to the wilderness will help the environment, she spells out what goes wrong when we try to live our lives to scientific rules. Incisive and persuasive The Myths We Live By is without doubt Mary Midgley's most compelling book to date.