Simon Blackburn

'Be a philosopher; but, amidst all your philosophy, be still a man.' - David Hume David Hume is generally recognised as the UK's greatest philosopher, as well as a notable historian and essayist, and a central figure of the Enlightenment. Yet his work is delicately poised between scepticism and naturalism, between despair at the limited powers of the mind and...

Everyone deplores narcissism, especially in others. The vain are by turns annoying or absurd, offending us whether they are blissfully oblivious or proudly aware of their behaviour. But are narcissism and vanity really as bad as they seem? Can we avoid them even if we try? In Mirror, Mirror, Simon Blackburn, the author of such best-selling philosophy books as Think,...