 | Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel C. Dennett
Buy used from: £18.50 This book argues that religion is a kind of evolutionary adaptation. Dennett says that in the past it has helped us, but now we can live without it.
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 | Consciousness Explained (Penguin Science) by Daniel C. Dennett
Buy new: £8.40 / Used from: £4.76 Science can tell us how our brains work but it has trouble explaining what its like to experience the world. The surprising ideas in this book are why Dennett is famous.
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 | Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy by Simon Blackburn
Buy new: £6.14 / Used from: £2.97 This is a good, clear introduction to the philosophy of mind and language, starting with ancient philosophy and going right up to the present day. It covers a lot of subjects quite quickly.
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 | Being Good: An Introduction to Ethics by Simon Blackburn
Buy used from: £2.46 This is the sister book to Think, by the same author. Its a general introduction to the philosophy of ethics and morality, another area where science doesnt seem to have any answers.
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 | The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten: And Ninety Nine Other Thought Experiments by Julian Baggini
Buy used from: £2.04 A thought experiment is basically a short story that causes you as reader to have a particular intuitive reaction. Theyre probably the most important tool in modern philosophy.
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 | The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary edition by Richard Dawkins
Buy new: £5.76 / Used from: £3.58 More biology than philosophy, but the best explanation yet of how evolution works. The most exciting chapter is on memes, an idea Daniel Dennett uses in Breaking the Spell (above).
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 | Animal Liberation by Peter Singer
Buy new: £9.97 / Used from: £7.79 This is a classic by Peter Singer, an Australian activist who has some ethical views on animal rights most people would think extreme. Provocative but well argued.
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