Literary Birthday – 4 July – Thomas Nagel

Happy Birthday, Thomas Nagel, born 4 July 1937.

Five Quotes

1. Life may be not only meaningless but absurd.
2. Eventually, I believe, current attempts to understand the mind by analogy with man-made computers that can perform superbly some of the same external tasks as conscious beings will be recognized as a gigantic waste of time.
3. Everyone is entitled to commit murder in the imagination once in a while, not to mention lesser infractions.
4. Absurdity is one of the most human things about us: a manifestation of our most advanced and interesting characteristics.
5. There is a tendency to seek an objective account of everything before admitting its reality.

Thomas Nagel is an American philosopher. His main areas of interest are the philosophy of mind, political philosophy and ethics. He has written more than 10 books on the subject. He is the author of What Does It All Mean?: A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy.

by Amanda Patterson

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