The Needs of Strangers

Reissue of a profound exploration of the concept of human need by the esteemed author of On Consolation

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'Michael Ignatieff writes an urgent prose... he will convince people, in highly readable fashion, that the ideas he discusses really matter' Salman Rushdie, Guardian

'Beautifully written and profoundly thoughtful' New Statesman

'Elegant meditations on human need' New Republic

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What does a person need, not just to survive, but to flourish? In this profound, searching book, Michael Ignatieff explores the many human needs that go beyond basic sustenance: for love, for respect, for community and consolation. In a society of strangers, how might we find a common language to express such needs?

Ignatieff's lucid, penetrating enquiry takes him back to great works of philosophy, literature and art, from St. Augustine to Hieronymus Bosch to Shakespeare. Reissued with a new preface, The Needs of Strangers builds to a moving meditation on the possibility of accommodating claims of difference within a politics based on common need.