In this witty and mischievous book, philosopher Peter Cave dissects the most controversial disputes today and uses philosophical argument to reveal that many issues are less straightforward than we'd like to believe. Leaving no sacred cow standing, Cave uses ingenious stories and examples to challenge our most strongly held assumptions. Is democracy inherently a good thing? What is the basis of so-called human rights? Is discrimination always bad? Are we morally obliged to accept refugees? In an age of identity politics and so-called 'fake news', this book is an essential resource for reinvigorating genuine public debate - and an entertaining challenge to accepted wisdom.
"Lively... Cave forces his readers to interrogate cherished beliefs and see how many of the principles enshrined in public life are not only inconsistent but incoherent, even paradoxical" THE HERALD
"An elegant and erudite expose of the hypocrisies and evasions that infect the social and political thinking of our times" JOHN COTTINGHAM
"Britain's wittiest philosopher" RAYMOND TALLIS
"Highly entertaining, informative and challenging... If you want to check whether your beliefs about democracy, human rights and free speech aren't just prejudices - mere myths you happen to have signed up to - this is a great place to start" STEPHEN LAW
"With characteristic wit, philosopher Peter Cave takes readers on a journey of discovery through a maze of perplexities. This is a profound book" DAN COHN-SHERBOK
"At its best, The Myths We Live By resembles a lively tutorial, with the genial Professor Cave challenging readers' prejudices... Useful and educational" SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
Ultimate soldier. Ultimate mission, But can the SAS prevent Britain descending into war-torn anarchy?
Great Britain, 1995: With terrorist bombs destroying town and city streets, rising crime and a teenage drug problem that is out of control, police forces are stretched beyond their limit. And now a new threat is looming.A fanatical right-wing movement is spreading into the UK. Using terrorism and crime to fund its undercover activities, and a frightening new drug to spur on its growing army to unprecedented extremes of violence, it is threatening to turn Britain's towns and inner cities into battlegrounds of anarchic brutality.
In desperation, civil authorities turn to the only men who might be able to confront these fanatics on their own terms: the SAS. Guided by a maverick undercover drug cop, they will be pitted against an enemy as ruthless and deadly as any the regiment has faced. The SAS are at war, and that war is just outside the window - a war on the streets.
Ultimate soldier. Ultimate mission. But will the SAS be able to defeat what awaits them inside a top secret Nazi research facility?
In the 1990s, sketchy reports of an accident in a high-security research facility deep within the remote, mountainous region of Kazakhstan filter through to American intelligence. A Russian army team sent in to investigate disappears without trace. The Chinese, terrified that their territory might be threatened by the leak, turn to Britain, an unlikely ally, for help.Only one group of men is capable of discovering the truth behind the underground facility, and the SAS are sent in.
In so doing they will have the chance to settle a score which goes back almost half a century but they will also face a new and terrifying enemy - one that will test their endurance, and their equipment, to the limit.
