About the Author

Ben Rogers wrote his doctoral thesis at Oxford on seventeenth-century moral and political thought, and also has an MA from Columbia University, New York. He has produced programmes on philosophy for BBC Radio 3 and writes regularly for the Independent, the Independent on Sunday and other newspapers. He is the author of Pascal: In Praise of Vanity in the 'Great Philosophers' series. He lives in London.

Reviews

"A feat of biography that deserves to take its place alongside the two other great biographies of philosophers of recent times: Michael Ignatieff's "Isaiah Berlin" and Ray Monk's "Wittgenstein"." - "Mail on Sunday"

"Rogers--provides excellent and sympathetic summaries of all Ayer's main books and articles. Admirable." - "Sunday Times"

For those who picture philosophers as otherworldly creatures with no lives of their own outside of the classroom, this biography will come as a pleasant surprise. Ayer (1910-89) lived an exciting, even glamorous life. Rogers, who has a doctorate in the history of philosophy from Ayer's university, Oxford, traces his life in intimate detail. Not only was Ayer a prolific writerDmaking a name for himself with his first book on logical positivism at age 26 and continuing to write and publish to the end of his lifeDbut he also found time to marry four times, have numerous extramarital affairs, do war-time service on several continents, lecture often at American universities, and meet and get to know most of the celebrated figures of the era. In addition to learning about Ayer's life, the reader will find a nice explication of Ayer's philosophical thinking as it evolved over the years. This book is essential for all philosophy collections, but it is so interesting that it would be a valuable addition to all public library biography sections.DLeon H. Brody, U.S. Office of Personnel Management Lib., Washington, DC Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.