Berlin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah_Berlin) was a colossus of a thinker bestriding the twentieth century. His unique intellectual contribution was the concept of value-pluralism. Allow the mellifluous tones of John Gray to give you a tour round Berlin’s mind, and in particular his ideas about agonistic liberalism. 240 pages in Princeton University Press paperback edition. ISBN 978-0691157429

Do you know anyone who is exhausted by work and permanently under stress? Perhaps that person takes a smartphone and tablet to a wi-fi hotspot on the beach whilst on holiday? Work, seemingly, has become an end in itself and we all worship at the altar of Efficiency, praise be upon its name. All our

Why do people persist in superstitious convictions long after science has shown them to be ill-founded? Robert L. Park (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_L._Park) has some ideas. He covers here in 2008, among other topics, parapsychology, homeopathy, acupuncture, souls, ‘intelligent design’, the power of prayer, reincarnation and astral projections. Park’s previous debunk ‘Voodoo Science’ (2000, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Voodoo-Science-Road-Foolishness-Fraud/dp/0198507453/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1375693564&sr=1-1) is also well worth a read. 240

Our very own David Hume is revered by many professional philosophers as the greatest of their number ever to write in English. His work is almost endlessly rich and stimulating to deep thought. The result is that there has sprung up a vast industry of publication on every single nuance that can be discerned from

A cheeky blend of impish pleasure and serious intent, Lust (2004) rescues this life-giving impulse from the revulsion of the dessicated desert fathers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Fathers), the smug detachment of ascetics, and Puritans the world over. What is lust? Even though our language makes it clear that it can have broader applications, lust is often associated with sexual

In this classic in the philosophy of history, Karl Popper (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Popper) attacks those who believe in the ‘iron laws’ of history. In other words that there is some kind of fixed destiny or inevitability about how things must work out. For example, the ascendancy of the ‘pure blooded’ races (Fascism). Or the victory of the

Have you ever wondered what could possibly be meant by the epigrams ‘The limits of my language are the limits of my world‘, or ‘Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent’. These are just two of a large number of utterances (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ludwig_Wittgenstein) from celebrated Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Wittgenstein). His contribution to the subject