Fernando Fernández-Savater Martín (San Sebastián, 21 June, 1947), is one of Spain's most popular living philosophers, as well as an essayist and celebrated author.

He was an Ethics professor at the University of the Basque Country for over a decade. Presently he is a Philosophy professor at the Complutense University of Madrid. He has won several accolades for his literary work, which covers issues as diverse as contemporary ethics, politics, cinema and literary studies.

He has taken an active part in several organizations engaged with peace in the Basque Country and against terrorism and Basque nationalism, such as Movimiento por la Paz y la No Violencia, Gesto por la Paz, Foro Ermua, and currently ¡Basta Ya!.

He defines himself as an agnostic, an anglophile and a defender of the Enlightenment in the Voltaire tradition.

Review

"His introductory guide to the more basic queries, as well as more abstract notions such as beauty, language and love, pulls in references from Socrates to Sartre and everywhere in-between...buy it."

The Scotsman

"A wholly accessible exploration and explanation of some key philosophical themes."

Asia Intelligence Wire

"This book casts philosophy first and foremost as part of a reflective life and not at all limited to academic study. As a result, it encourages readers to undertake philosophy as a living, open-ended practice."

Charles Taliafero, St Olaf's College, Northfield

Product Description

This book, by one of Spain's most eminent philosophers, provides a lively and very accessible introduction to philosophy. Written for those who have no prior knowledge of the field, it reveals how the central problems of philosophy remain highly relevant to everyday contemporary life. Savater addresses the questions that we ourselves must face: what is this 'I' that I take for granted? What does it mean for me to be in the world? In what sense am I free? And how does the idea of death affect my life?

In his discussion of concepts such as beauty, time and language, Savater frequently refers to earlier philosophers, yet he does so in a way that brings their ideas to life and shows their enduring relevance. Using quotations from the ancient Greeks through to more recent philosophers such as Wittgenstein and Sartre, Savater illustrates his own arguments, while also sketching a basic history of philosophical ideas.

The Questions of Life has already been translated into ten languages and has enjoyed enormous success, selling over 70 000 copies in Spain alone. It is an elegant and straightforward book that abstains from specialised terminology. It constitutes an ideal introductory text for those studying philosophy at A-Level or university, and will also be of great interest to the general reader.