How the World Thinks: A Global History of Philosophy (Paperback)

This bold fascinating book seeks to inhabit other philosophical traditions, with humility but without patronisingly exempting them from the critique he applies to ours... Deft [and] rigorous - Jane O'Grady, Financial Times

There to fill the Sapiens-size hole in your life - Observer

Terrific. The intellectual and spiritual generosity of this book makes it an essential text for our fractious and dangerously divided era - Richard Holloway

Such scope, and such lucid, lightly worn learning. Enlightening, perspective-shifting, mind-expanding - a superb tour through world philosophies with an erudite and friendly guide - Sarah Bakewell

Timely and important...this is his best [book] to date... Enthralling... This ingenious and open-hearted book is about the art of living well, something the West's philosophy has often neglected - Stuart Kelly, Scotland on Sunday

Fascinating and unexpected... a dazzling kaleidoscope... [Baggini] has a true gift for making the difficult accessible in lapidary prose... Worth reading and re-reading - Marina Vaizey, Arts Desk

What I loved about Julian Baggini's How the World Thinks: A Global History of Philosophy was its spiritual and intellectual generosity, and the author's ability to engage sympathetically with philosophical traditions that do not conform to his own preferred rationalist approach - Book of the Year selected by Richard Holloway, Tablet

If you've ever wondered why the West tends to reward individual success, why some religions prioritise speech and some silence, or what lessons can be drawn by comparing Vincent Van Gogh and Michael Winner, this is a book for you - History Revealed

One of the great philosophical popularisers of his age... Baggini summarises and explicates with the greatest precision, compression and élan - Christopher Bray, Tablet

One of the great unexplained wonders of human history is that written philosophy flowered entirely separately in China, India and Ancient Greece at more or less the same time. These early philosophies have had a profound impact on the development of distinctive cultures in different parts of the world. Baggini also looks at the differences between east and west and different religions - Four Shires Magazine

Ground-breaking - Sarah Dennis, Oxford Times

Eye-opening - Prospect

[For] a broader audience with no philosophical training... Baggini [...] is cheerful and wide-eyed, moving from one big idea to another like a food lover at an opulent buffet - TLS

Highly readable - Times Higher Education

A brilliantly accessible coalescence of thought and belief from around the world...A triumph of comparative philosophy with widespread relevance for the way we live today - Book of the Month, Waterstones

There is also a need for books that explain non-Western philosophical traditions to the interested non-specialist. Julian Baggini's How The World Thinks is an excellent example of this genre - TLS