{"title":"Stephen Cave","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"immortality-book-stephen-cave-9781510716155","title":"Immortality","description":"A fascinating work of popular philosophy and history that both enlightens and entertains, Stephen Cave's \u003ci\u003eImmortality \u003c\/i\u003einvestigates whether it just might be possible to live forever and whether we should want to. But it also makes a powerful argument, which is that it's our very \u003ci\u003epreoccupation \u003c\/i\u003ewith defying mortality that drives civilization. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCentral to this book is the metaphor of a mountaintop where one can find the Immortals. Since the dawn of humanity, everyone - whether they know it or not - has been trying to climb that mountain. But there are only four paths up its treacherous slope, and there have only \u003ci\u003eever \u003c\/i\u003ebeen four paths. Throughout history, people have wagered everything on their choice of the correct path, and fought wars against those who've chosen differently. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhile \u003ci\u003eImmortality \u003c\/i\u003etakes the reader on an eye-opening journey from the beginnings of civilization to the present day, the structure is not chronological. Rather it is path driven. As each path is revealed to us, an historical figure serves as our guide. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn drawing back the curtain on what compels humans to keep on keeping on, Cave engages the reader in a number of mind-bending thought experiments. He teases out the implications of each immortality gambit, asking, for example, how long a person would live if they \u003ci\u003edid \u003c\/i\u003emanage to acquire a perfectly disease-free body. Or what would happen if a super-being tried to round up the atomic constituents of all who've died in order to resurrect them. Or what our loved ones would really be doing in heaven if it \u003ci\u003edoes \u003c\/i\u003eexist. Or what part of us actually \u003ci\u003elives\u003c\/i\u003e in a work of art, and how long that work of art can survive. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eToward the the book's end, we're confronted with a series of brain-rattling questions: What would happen if tomorrow humanity discovered that there is no life but this one? Would people continue to care about their favorite sports team, please their boss, vie for the title of Year's Best Salesman\u003ci\u003e? \u003c\/i\u003eWould three-hundred-year projects still get started? If the four paths up the Mount of the Immortals lead nowhere -- if there is no getting up to the summit -- is there \u003ci\u003estill \u003c\/i\u003ereason to live? And can civilization survive? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eImmortality\u003c\/i\u003e is a deeply satisfying book, as optimistic about the human condition as it is insightful about the true arc of history.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49507161571601,"sku":"CIN1510716157VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50478176239889,"sku":"CIN1510716157G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1510716157.jpg?v=1751307072"},{"product_id":"immortality-book-stephen-cave-9781849544931","title":"Immortality","description":"Who wants to live forever? According to Stephen Cave, we all do  -  every single one of us. And the evidence is all around. Eluding the Grim Reaper is humanity's oldest and most pervasive wish. It is embedded in our very nature and provides the real driving force behind every aspect of human civilisation: science, agriculture, architecture, religion, the arts, fame and family. From freeing your soul to freezing your brain, all these attempts to defy death fall into four simple categories  -  the four paths to immortality. Ranging across continents and cultures, from ancient Egypt to cutting-edge laboratories, Immortality raises the curtain on what compels us humans to keep on going. The four paths are ancient, but science is now showing us  -  for the first time in human history  -  whether any of them can really lead to infinity. Cave investigates what it would mean for our lives if they can  -  but also if they can't. If the paths up the Mount of the Immortals lead nowhere  -  if there is no getting to the summit  -  is there still reason to live? And can civilisation survive?","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49556840743185,"sku":"GOR005506228","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49653806661905,"sku":"GOR008617150","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50401009565969,"sku":"CIN184954493XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/184954493X.jpg?v=1750724840"},{"product_id":"immortality-book-stephen-cave-9781849541367","title":"Immortality","description":"Immortality shows how the quest to live forever has driven the development of human civilisation, and how that quest is now coming to a climax through modern science. It argues that humans are hardwired to pursue eternal life  -  and that the way they have done so has stayed remarkably consistent through the ages. All the main beliefs on defying death, from freeing your soul to freezing your brain, fall into four simple categories  -  the four paths to immortality. Although all four paths are ancient, science is now showing us  -  for the first time in human history  -  which of them could really lead to infinity. Immortality uses the stories of ten exceptional characters, from Queen Nefertiti to the Dalai Lama, to show how these four paths have shaped our culture from ancient times through to today. Unlike most books on this hugely popular subject, Immortality does not argue from a particular religious viewpoint. Written by Stephen Cave, philosopher (PhD, Cambridge) and regular writer for the Financial Times, it shows general readers how the latest research in fields from anti-aging to neuroscience is providing new answers to life's most important question.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49577939271953,"sku":"GOR004464514","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50916183965969,"sku":"GOR008309092","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51197725344017,"sku":"GOR006673390","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1849541361.jpg?v=1751420267"},{"product_id":"immortality-book-stephen-cave-9780307884916","title":"Immortality","description":"A fascinating work of popular philosophy and history that both enlightens and entertains, Stephen Cave's \u003ci\u003eImmortality \u003c\/i\u003einvestigates whether it just might be possible to live forever and whether we should want to. But it also makes a powerful argument, which is that it's our very \u003ci\u003epreoccupation \u003c\/i\u003ewith defying mortality that drives civilization. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCentral to this book is the metaphor of a mountaintop where one can find the Immortals. Since the dawn of humanity, everyone - whether they know it or not - has been trying to climb that mountain. But there are only four paths up its treacherous slope, and there have only \u003ci\u003eever \u003c\/i\u003ebeen four paths. Throughout history, people have wagered everything on their choice of the correct path, and fought wars against those who've chosen differently. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhile \u003ci\u003eImmortality \u003c\/i\u003etakes the reader on an eye-opening journey from the beginnings of civilization to the present day, the structure is not chronological. Rather it is path driven. As each path is revealed to us, an historical figure serves as our guide. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn drawing back the curtain on what compels humans to keep on keeping on, Cave engages the reader in a number of mind-bending thought experiments. He teases out the implications of each immortality gambit, asking, for example, how long a person would live if they \u003ci\u003edid \u003c\/i\u003emanage to acquire a perfectly disease-free body. Or what would happen if a super-being tried to round up the atomic constituents of all who've died in order to resurrect them. Or what our loved ones would really be doing in heaven if it \u003ci\u003edoes \u003c\/i\u003eexist. Or what part of us actually \u003ci\u003elives\u003c\/i\u003e in a work of art, and how long that work of art can survive. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eToward the the book's end, we're confronted with a series of brain-rattling questions: What would happen if tomorrow humanity discovered that there is no life but this one? Would people continue to care about their favorite sports team, please their boss, vie for the title of Year's Best Salesman\u003ci\u003e? \u003c\/i\u003eWould three-hundred-year projects still get started? If the four paths up the Mount of the Immortals lead nowhere -- if there is no getting up to the summit -- is there \u003ci\u003estill \u003c\/i\u003ereason to live? And can civilization survive? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eImmortality\u003c\/i\u003e is a deeply satisfying book, as optimistic about the human condition as it is insightful about the true arc of history.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49806809989393,"sku":"CIN0307884910VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":49866981376273,"sku":"CIN0307884910A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49870404976913,"sku":"CIN0307884910G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51000766562577,"sku":"NIN9780307884916","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0307884910.jpg?v=1750739150"},{"product_id":"ai-narratives-book-stephen-cave-9780198914709","title":"AI Narratives","description":"This book is the first to examine the history of imaginative thinking about intelligent machines. As real Artificial Intelligence (AI) begins to touch on all aspects of our lives, this long narrative history shapes how the technology is developed, deployed and regulated. It is therefore a crucial social and ethical issue. Part I of this book provides a historical overview from ancient Greece to the start of modernity. These chapters explore the revealing pre-history of key concerns of contemporary AI discourse, from the nature of mind and creativity to issues of power and rights, from the tension between fascination and ambivalence to investigations into artificial voices and technophobia. Part II focuses on the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in which a greater density of narratives emerge alongside rapid developments in AI technology. These chapters reveal not only how AI narratives have consistently been entangled with the emergence of real robotics and AI, but also how they offer a rich source of insight into how we might live with these revolutionary machines. Through their close textual engagements, these chapters explore the relationship between imaginative narratives and contemporary debates about AI's social, ethical and philosophical consequences, including questions of dehumanization, automation, anthropomorphisation, cybernetics, cyberpunk, immortality, slavery, and governance. 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This ancient question is as topical as ever: while billions of people believe they will live forever in an otherworldly realm, billions of dollars are currently being poured into anti-ageing research in the hope that we will be able to radically extend our lives on earth. But are we wise to wish for immortality? What would it mean for each of us as individuals, for society, and for the planet?  In this lively and accessible debate, the authors introduce the main arguments for and against living forever, along with some new ones. They draw on examples from myth and literature as well as new thought experiments in order to bring the arguments to life. Cave contends that the aspiring immortalist is stuck on the horns of a series of dilemmas, such as boredom and meaninglessness, or overpopulation and social injustice. Fischer argues that there is a vision of radically longer lives that is both recognizably human and desirable. This book offers both students and experienced philosophers a provocative new guide to a topic of perennial importance.  Key Features:    Gives a comprehensive overview of the main arguments for and against living forever Uses lively examples from myth, literature, and novel thought experiments Highly accessible—avoiding jargon and assuming no prior knowledge—without sacrificing intellectual rigour Includes helpful pedagogical features, including chapter summaries, an annotated reading list, a glossary, and clear examples","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50698775331089,"sku":"NGR9780367615406","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51001601360145,"sku":"NIN9780367615406","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52120945557777,"sku":"NLS9780367615406","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ LIKE_NEW \/ SBYB","offer_id":52880329212177,"sku":"CIN0367615401LN","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53493672083729,"sku":"GOR014945320","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0367615401.jpg?v=1751259911"},{"product_id":"imagining-ai-book-stephen-cave-9780192865366","title":"Imagining AI","description":"Chapters 16, 19 and 21 from this book are published open access and are free to read or download from Oxford Academic  AI is now a global phenomenon. Yet Hollywood narratives dominate perceptions of AI in the English-speaking West and beyond, and much of the technology itself is shaped by a disproportionately white, male, US-based elite. However, different cultures have been imagining intelligent machines since long before we could build them, in visions that vary greatly across religious, philosophical, literary and cinematic traditions. This book aims to spotlight these alternative visions.   Imagining AI draws attention to the range and variety of visions of a future with intelligent machines and their potential significance for the research, regulation, and implementation of AI. The book is structured geographically, with each chapter presenting insights into how a specific region or culture imagines intelligent machines. The contributors, leading experts from academia and the arts, explore how the encounters between local narratives, digital technologies, and mainstream Western narratives create new imaginaries and insights in different contexts across the globe. The narratives they analyse range from ancient philosophy to contemporary science fiction, and visual art to policy discourse.  The book sheds new light on some of the most important themes in AI ethics, from the differences between Chinese and American visions of AI, to digital neo-colonialism. It is an essential work for anyone wishing to understand how different cultural contexts interplay with the most significant technology of our time.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":50999779164433,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":50999781949713,"sku":"NIN9780192865366","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53098770006289,"sku":"CIN0192865366VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0192865366.jpg?v=1772275103"},{"product_id":"few-words-on-the-encouragement-given-to-slavery-and-the-slave-trade-book-stephen-cave-9781359322067","title":"A Few Words, On the Encouragement Given to Slavery and the Slave Trade","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51634067898641,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51634069242129,"sku":"NIN9781359322067","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/135932206X.jpg?v=1751240312"},{"product_id":"should-you-choose-to-live-forever-book-stephen-cave-9780367615390","title":"Should You Choose to Live Forever?","description":"Should You Choose to Live Forever?: A Debate addresses a centuries old question in philosophy, but also one with increasing relevance as scientists now see the real possibility of extending people’s lives for many hundreds of years.  This accessible yet profound debate from two leading researchers in the area, Stephen Cave and John Martin Fischer, offers:     Engaging philosophical discourse that brings abstract concepts to life through myth, literature, and thought experiments  Balanced perspectives with Cave arguing against immortality (citing problems of meaninglessness, overpopulation, social injustice, and boredom) and Fischer making the case for radical life extension  Structured format with clear chapter breakdowns, summaries, and a three-part debate format that models scholarly discourse  Contemporary relevance, connecting ancient philosophical questions to modern anti-aging research and technological developments  Instrcutors praise this book as the most accessible volume in the ‘Little Debates’ series, noting its ideal structure for introducing complex literature to newcomers while presenting the most current positions from both authors.  Perfect for courses in Philosophy of Death and Mortality, Ethics, Bioethics, Philosophy of Religion, Contemporary Philosophical Issues, and Introduction to Philosophy.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52121001918737,"sku":"NLS9780367615390","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780367615390.jpg?v=1757428468"},{"product_id":"ai-narratives-book-stephen-cave-9780198846666","title":"AI Narratives","description":"This book is the first to examine the history of imaginative thinking about intelligent machines. As real Artificial Intelligence (AI) begins to touch on all aspects of our lives, this long narrative history shapes how the technology is developed, deployed and regulated. It is therefore a crucial social and ethical issue. Part I of this book provides a historical overview from ancient Greece to the start of modernity. 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