Böcker utgivna av Ortonroad Books

No one knows what a human is. We have a body like other creatures but possess a mind that both separates us from simple nature and terrifies us at the same time. We don't just think, we think about ourselves thinking. In this way we separate ourselves from the world around us. But what then can we trust - our feelings, our thoughts, ourselves or others? If we get close to other people we fear being overwhelmed by their issues; if we pull back from them we feel lonely. Is there an optimal position? Can we open up to the sheer wonder of the world by refusing to be seduced by its surface appearance and let that which lies hidden emerge at last? Or would this involve us losing our minds? The ancient Greeks had pored over all these vital questions. Their conclusions are both astounding and yet the height of simplicity. They were first raised in the riddle that the Sphinx presented to Oedipus.

Why does life sometimes feel distressing? Life circumstances can change of course, but Roy Sturgess argues here that the quality of our thinking is an unexplored contributor. Our minds play tricks on us. They are not anchored in our bodies. We live as if our minds have a life of their own. Only when the mind is returned to the body, the author suggests, can we start to live in harmony with the world. The mind is not the only problem. This book identifies a powerful and complex force - the socio - that lies behind mind, pulling it hither and thither. Anchoring the mind is the first prerequisite for understanding the socio. Philosophy hasn't helped in this quest. Originally taking the form of a conversation between friends, philosophy has become an academic activity found in libraries and seminar rooms. Socrates placed philosophy at the very centre of our lives. Only when it returns there, the present author argues, will our understanding of the power of the mind and the socio blossom.

What is truth? We promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. But what is truth outside a courtroom, truth with a capital T? The ancient Greeks understood it as the route to human freedom, and even more - the way to live in harmony with resplendent reality. Roy Sturgess brings these ideas into the present day. They challenge our current obsession with selfhood. Building on his earlier book The Thinking Body he focuses on truth as the process that overcomes petty differences and reveals how easy it is to get on with other people. When we seek truth he suggests we start a process that brings home to us what true friendship means.