On Risk

(Paperback)

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Description

The first title in a new series of short nonfiction books modeled after 18th century political pamphletscompare with Penguin's Great Idea series, but instead of reprints, these are original essays, 20,000 to 35,000 words, by contemporary writers and thinkers about contemporary issues.

The first titles respond specifically to the pandemic, but the series won't be limited to it and we plan to continue it beyond the current crisis (assuming the current crisis has a beyond)

On Risk considers our political, social, and economic responses to COVID-19social distancing, self-isolation, economic shutdown, essential workfrom philosophical and ethical standpoints.

Kingwell is the author of Fail Better, one of our bestselling nonfiction titles, professor of philosophy at University of Toronto, contributing editor at Harpers. His work has appeared in publications ranging from New York Times to the Journal of Philosophy and Auto Racing Digest.

Reviews

Praise for On Risk

"Kingwell offers a slender, thoughtful, sometimes meandering disquisition on risk that is inflected (or infected) by the virus, but not precisely about the virusexcept as it grants new urgency to old questions of risk and politics. A host of cultural allusionsfrom Shakespeare to the Simpsons, Isaiah Berlin to Irving Berlin, Voltaire, Pascal, and Derridaalong with salient academic studies inspire Kingwell to examine the many contradictory ways that humans handle risk ... An entertaining gloss on an enduring conundrum."Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Mark Kingwell

Kingwell is dauntingly well-read a gifted noticer a lively writer [who] cites The Simpsons as often as Immanuel Kant. [Readers] are rewarded with neat, unexpected insights. Globe & Mail

[Kingwell] has grown into a pretty clever jack-of-almost-everything.National Post

Mark Kingwell is a beautiful writer, a lucid thinker and a patient teacher His insights are intellectual anchors in a fast-changing world.Naomi Klein

Author Bio

Mark Kingwell is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto and a contributing editor of Harpers Magazine, and has written for publications ranging from Adbusters and the New York Times to the Journal of Philosophy and Auto Racing Digest. Among his twelve books of political and cultural theory are the national best-sellers Better Living and The World We Want. In order to secure financing for their continued indulgence he has also written about his various hobbies, including fishing, baseball, cocktails, and contemporary art.