On Personality
On Personality
Summary
A thoughtful and stimulating look at this widely-used but little understood phenomenon, personality. Drawing on a great range of philosophers, novelists and films Peter Goldie looks at the concept of personality.
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On Personality by Peter Goldie
Warm, sensitive, creative, outgoing, cheeky, creepy. Scan any personal ads page and it's clear that to get a life you need a personality first. It is also a notion with a long and often bizarre history: in early Greece and medieval Europe, it was thought to depend on the balance of bile in the body. On Personality is a thoughtful and stimulating look under the skin of this widely-used but little understood phenomenon. Peter Goldie points out that we rely on personality to do a lot of work: describe, judge, understand, explain and predict others as well as ourselves. Is it really up to this task? If personality is about 'character', is it a relic of a bygone Victorian age? If personality is so reliable, how can a virtue in one person be a vice in another? Drawing on a great range of philosophers, novelists and films, from Aristotle, Hume, Kant and Nietzsche to Joseph Conrad, Middlemarch, War and Peace and Bridget Jones' Diary, Peter Goldie also discusses some famous psychology experiments. If personality is a reliable guide to predicting what people will do, he reflects on why people often surprise us and asks whether personality is simply down to chance and circumstance. On Personality is essential reading for anyone interested in this fascinating but slippery concept. It will also make you think twice before writing your CV.'Goldie writes in warmly accessible fashion' - Steven Poole, The Guardian
'a clear, lively, illuminating, urbane and thoughtful little book on personality and character' Metapsychology Online
'It is exciting to see a philosopher, rather than a psychologist, wrestle with the concept of personality' - Paul Crichton, Times Literary Supplement
'Goldie writes in warmly accessible fashion.' - Steven Poole, The Guardian
Peter Goldie is Samuel Hall Chair in Philosophy at The University of Manchester; and has held posts at King's College London and Magdalen College, Oxford. He is the author of The Emotions: A Philosophical Exploration (2000) and On Personality (2004).
Elisabeth Schellekens is Senior Lecturer in the Philosophy Department at Durham University. With Peter Goldie she was a joint researcher in an AHRC Innovation Award project on philosophy and conceptual art. She is editor (with Peter Goldie) of Philosophy and Conceptual Art (2007) and author of Aesthetics and Morality (2007).
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780415305143 |
| ISBN 10 | 0415305144 |
| Title | On Personality |
| Author | Peter Goldie |
| Series | Thinking In Action |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis Ltd |
| Year published | 2004-06-16 |
| Number of pages | 160 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |