| book details |

Ignorance and Bliss: On Wanting Not to Know

By (author) Mark Lilla

This book is currently unavailable. Enquire to check if we can source a used copy

| enquire |

| book description |

Aristotle claimed that 'all human beings want to know'. Yet we also want not to know. Centuries after the Enlightenment, mesmerised crowds still follow preposterous prophets; irrational rumours trigger fanatical acts; and magical thinking crowds out common sense and expertise. Where does this will to ignorance originate, and how does it shape our lives today? Acclaimed essayist and historian of ideas Mark Lilla offers an absorbing intellectual travelogue of the human will not to know. He ranges with brio from the Book of Genesis and Plato's dialogues to Sufi parables and Sigmund Freud, revealing the paradoxes of hiding truth from ourselves. Lilla also exposes the illusions that this impulse can lead us to entertain: our belief in the ecstasies of prophet figures as a gateway to truth, the myth of children's wise simplicity, and the yearning for vanished, allegedly purer civilisations. 'An exuberant, inexhaustible storyteller.' Stephen Greenblatt 'A highly original study of what our desire not to know means for our lives.' John Gray 'In these murky days when we all seem to be at sea, Lilla's elegant and perceptive handbook serves both as a compass and a hopeful sail.' Alberto Manguel 'At a time when our politics is debauched with lies and fake news, Lilla asks a question which challenges our alibis: what if the root of the problem lies not with our leaders, but with us?' Michael Ignatieff

| product details |

| other options |

| back |

| your trolley |

To view the items in your trolley please sign in.

| sign in |

| specials |

The Coming Wave: AI, Power and Our Future

Mustafa Suleyman
Paperback / softback
352 pages
was: R 295.95
now: R 265.95
Stock is usually dispatched in 6-12 days from date of order

| more |

| add to trolley |

Survive the AI Apocalypse: A guide for solutionists

Bronwen Williams
Paperback / softback
232 pages
was: R 340.95
now: R 306.95
Forthcoming

Let's stare the future down and, instead of fearing AI, become solutionists.

| more |

| add to trolley |

The Memory Collectors: A Novel

Dete Meserve
Paperback / softback
320 pages

Enquiries only

| more |

| enquire |

The Colonialist: The Vision of Cecil Rhodes

William Kelleher Storey
Paperback / softback
528 pages
was: R 425.95
now: R 382.95
Usually dispatched in 6-12 days

This first comprehensive biography of Cecil Rhodes in a generation illuminates Rhodesâ€™s vision for the expansion of imperialism in southern Africa, connecting politics and industry to internal development, and examines how this fueled a lasting, white-dominated colonial society.

| more |

| add to trolley |