Knowledge is a great treasure, but there is one thing higher than knowledge, and that is understanding, says philosopher Anthony Grayling in The Mystery of Things (Weidenfeld & Nicolson), published this week. These essays on science, the arts and history examine what they offer to our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. “For the working parts of the day”, Grayling concentrates on Descartes’ Philosophical Essays and Correspondence (Hackett, 2000) because he is writing a biography of the great thinker. He reviews books, and is reading Edward Said’s essays Power, Politics and Culture (Bloomsbury) and Michael Cook’s A Brief History of the Human Race (Granta).
Does he read for pleasure? William Congreve’s Incognita (Hesperus, 2003) “fits into a pocket for bus and train”, and he is enjoying Francis Wheen’s How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World (Fourth Estate).
What’s on the bedside table? Last thing at night he reads Patrick O’Brian’s Mauritius Command (HarperCollins, 1996). “If this seems a lot, it isn’t. I usually have at least this many books on the go. As they say, ‘buen libro muy buen amigo’.”
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