How Could I Believe in Santa Claus? - Philosophy in Everyday Life

How to be yourself at a party where you don’t know anyone? (Does the self exist?) Why does Grandma put a cap and a plaid sweater on her Yorkie? (Do animals have a reason?) How could I have stayed with such a stupid guy for so long? (Do we only desire things that we consider good?) When we hear “philosophy,” we sometimes think of incomprehensible or boring books. The very names of the authors are unpronounceable: Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger. Living or dead, they often look like zombies. They are in their own world and use words that we do not always understand, like “idiosyncrasy,” “ontological,” or “transcendental.” In this book, we hope to remove these prejudices. Philosophy is not boring; it allows us to understand complex things in a simple way, and therefore it is never far from everyday life. It speaks to everyone. It is for everyone. Born in 1974, from Rouen, Gilles Vervisch is a teacher and a professor of philosophy.