Humanly Possible - by Sarah Bakewell

"A book of big and bold ideas, Humanly Possible is humane in approach and, more important, readable and worth reading. . . Bakewell is wide-ranging, witty and compassionate." -Wall Street Journal

"Sweeping . . . linking philosophical reflections with vibrant anecdotes." -- The New York Times

The bestselling author of How to Live and At the Existentialist Café explores seven hundred years of writers, thinkers, scientists, and artists, all seeking to understand what it means to be truly human

Humanism is an expansive tradition of thought that places shared humanity, cultural vibrancy, and moral responsibility at the center of our lives. For centuries, this worldview has inspired people to make their choices by principles of freethinking, intellectual inquiry, fellow feeling, and optimism. In this sweeping new history, Sarah Bakewell, herself a lifelong humanist, illuminates the very personal, individual, and, well, human matter of humanism and takes readers on a grand intellectual adventure.

Voyaging from the literary enthusiasts of the fourteenth century to the secular campaigners of our own time, from Voltaire to Zora Neale Hurston, Bakewell brings together extraordinary humanists across history. She explores their immense variety: some sought to promote scientific and rationalist ideas, others put more emphasis on moral living, and still others were concerned with the cultural and literary studies known as "the humanities." Humanly Possible asks not only what unites all these meanings of humanism but why it has such enduring power, despite opposition from fanatics, mystics, and tyrants. A singular examination of this vital tradition as well as a dazzling contribution to its literature, Humanly Possible serves as a recentering, a call to care for one another, and a reminder that we are all, together, only human.

Review Quotes

"Humanly Possible is a terrific invitation to argument, to conversation, to all the fun people make together, on their own." --Washington Post

"Lively. . . [Bakewell's] new book is filled with her characteristic wit and clarity; she manages to wrangle seven centuries of humanist thought into a brisk narrative, resisting the traps of windy abstraction and glib oversimplification. . . She puts her entire self into this book, linking philosophical reflections with vibrant anecdotes. She delights in the paradoxical and the particular, reminding us that every human being contains multitudes." --Jennifer Szalai, New York Times

"A book of big and bold ideas, Humanly Possible is humane in approach and, more important, readable and worth reading . . . Bakewell is wide-ranging, witty and compassionate." --The Wall Street Journal

"Bakewell exemplifies the thirst for life and learning of humanism at its best." --Literary Review

"Exhilarating." --The Times (UK)

"Witty and warm-hearted." --The Daily Telegraph

"NBCC Award winner Bakewell (How to Live) brilliantly tracks the development of humanism over seven centuries of intellectual history . . . Erudite and accessible, Bakewell's survey pulls together diverse historical threads without sacrificing the up-close details that give this work its spark. Even those who already consider themselves humanists will be enlightened." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Engagingly written as well as richly informative . . . every thinker, every book, every movement is located lightly and precisely in relation to its past and its influence on the present day. I can't imagine a better history of humanism, nor one that is so vividly persuasive. Bakewell is a wonderful writer." --Philip Pullman

"Sarah Bakewell's books are always a joyous education . . . She combines a keen intellect with a lightness of touch and one always feels that she delights in sharing what she has learned. That delight is contagious . . . the world looked different when I finished this book." --Robin Ince, co-host of The Infinite Monkey Cage and author of The Importance of Being Interested

About the Author