Mary Midgley on What Matters
Conversations on Science, Ethics, and Nature
Mary Midgley on What Matters
Conversations on Science, Ethics, and Nature
Buying pre-order items
Ebooks and Audiobook
You will receive an email with a download link for the ebook or audiobook on the publication date.
Payment
You will not be charged for pre-ordered books until they are available to be shipped. Pre-ordered ebooks will not be charged for until they are available for download.
Amending or cancelling your order
For orders that have not been shipped you can usually make changes to pre-orders up to 72 hours before the publishing date.
Payment for this pre-order will be taken when the item becomes available
Description
Mary Midgley (1919–2018) was among the twentieth century's most influential and wide-ranging moral philosophers.
For more than four decades, she defended philosophy's relevance to everyday life while contributing to debates on human nature, ethics, animals and the environment, science, religion and other topics of lasting significance. Throughout her prolific career, she produced more than 250 publications, culminating in What Is Philosophy For? published just one month before her death at ninety-nine. This late work marked a remarkable final phase of writing that cemented her reputation as a distinctive philosophical voice and a powerful example of the enduring presence of women in philosophy.
Mary Midgley on What Matters offers an intimate account of this period through a series of conversations with Gregory McElwain, held in Midgley's Newcastle home from 2011 to 2018. Organized thematically and framed by contextual commentary, the book presents Midgley's reflections on the topics for which she is best known, with particular attention to her influential work on animals and the environment. Through conversation and exposition, the book foregrounds Midgley's voice, highlighting her distinctive method, resistance to intellectual extremes and commitment to philosophical clarity grounded in lived concerns.
Combining dialogue, narrative framing, and reflection, the book captures Midgley's wit, warmth and intellectual vitality while presenting philosophy in practice as an ongoing, conversational activity. It offers both an accessible introduction to Midgley's thought and a distinctive record of philosophical companionship.
Accessibility Information
Additional accessibility information
- EPUB 3.0
- Conforms with the requirements of EPUB Accessibility Spec v1.1
- WCAG level AA
- WCAG v2.2 compliant
- accessibility@bloomsbury.com
Hazards
The publication contains no hazards
Support for non-visual reading
- No accessibility features offered by the reading system, device or reading software are disabled or otherwise unusable with the product
- Has alternative text descriptions for images
Visual adjustments
Appearance of the text and page layout can be modified according to the capabilities of the reading system (font family and size, spaces, as well as color of background and text)
Navigation
- Page list to go to pages from the print source version
- Elements such as headings, tables, etc for structured navigation
- All or substantially all textual matter is arranged in a single logical reading order
- Content is enhanced with ARIA roles to optimize organization and facilitate navigation
- Purposes of all links are made clear
Rich content
Language tagging provided
Table of Contents
1. Conversations in Newcastle
2. Human Nature and The Self
3. Morality in Context
4. Animals and Our Connection to Nature
5. Science and Religion
6. Farewell
Bibliography
Product details
| Published | 12 Nov 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 216 |
| ISBN | 9781350268746 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
Reviews
Related Titles
