A beloved best-seller in France, Human Kindness and the Smell of Warm Croissants makes philosophy fun, tactile, and popular. Moral thinking is simple, Ruwen Ogien argues, and as inherent as the senses. In our daily experiences, in the situations we confront and the scenes we witness, we develop an understanding of right and wrong as sophisticated as the moral outlook of the worlds most gifted philosophers. We can draw on this knowledge to navigate lifes most perplexing problems, and ethics becomes second nature. Ogien poses nineteen real-world conundrums and explores through experimental philosophy and other methods the responses they provoke. Is a short, mediocre life better than no life at all? Is it acceptable to kill a healthy person so his organs can save five others? Would you swap a natural life filled with frustration, disappointment, and partial success for a world in which all of your needs are met, but through artificial and mechanical means? Ogiens goal is not to show how difficult it is to determine right from wrong or how easy it is for humans to become monsters or react like saints.
