This book collects Thomas Nagel's recent philosophical reflections on topics of fundamental interest: ethics, moral psychology, science and religion, death, the holocaust, and the metaphysics of mind. Among the figures discussed are Peter Singer, Alvin Plantinga, Christine Korsgaard, Tony Judt, Elizabeth Anscombe, Philippa Foot, Iris Murdoch, T. M. Scanlon, Ronald Dworkin, Samuel Scheffler, Daniel Kahneman, Jonathan Haidt, Joshua Greene, and Daniel Dennett. Nagel consistently defends a realist interpretation of moral truth and resists reductive attempts to subsume ethics to psychology and evolutionary theory. He also defends a pluralistic conception of the content of morality as opposed to utilitarianism, one that includes deontological elements such as rights and special responsibilities. A realist outlook also informs his discussion of metaphysical and epistemological questions. The book closes with tributes to a number of people Nagel has known over the course of his career. The essays are all addressed to a general audience, and should appeal not only to philosophers but to anyone interested in current attempts to understand human life, human values, and how we fit into the world.

There is much to be savoured in this entertaining and fascinating compendium of views that have done so much to shape the philosophical landscape over the past half century and for which [Nagel] is justly renowned. * A.W. Moore, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *
Most striking is the humanity that seeps through Nagel's writing and, especially, through his eulogistic essays. Analytic philosophy has a reputation for being complex and occasionally inscrutable, but all of the essays in this collection are addressed to nonspecialists and the result is an approachable foray into contemporary analytic epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and political philosophy. Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faulty; general readers. * Choice *
Highly readable, a model of seasoned insights and profound reflections, Analytic Philosophy and Human Life is highly recommended to all senior students and scholars in the field. * Karl W. Schweizer, The European Legacy *

Thomas Nagel is University Professor Emeritus in the Department of Philosophy and the School of Law at NYU. His extensive writings deal with ethics, political theory, philosophy of mind, epistemology, and the meaning of life. Among his books are The View from Nowhere and Mind and Cosmos.