N Gray Popular Books

N Gray Biography & Facts

John Nicholas Gray (born 17 April 1948) is an English political philosopher and author with interests in analytic philosophy, the history of ideas, and philosophical pessimism. He retired in 2008 as School Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Gray contributes regularly to The Guardian, The Times Literary Supplement and the New Statesman, where he is the lead book reviewer. He is an atheist.Gray has written several influential books, including False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism (1998), which argues that free market globalization is an unstable Enlightenment project currently in the process of disintegration; Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals (2002), which attacks philosophical humanism, a worldview which Gray sees as originating in religions; and Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia (2007), a critique of utopian thinking in the modern world. Gray sees volition, and hence morality, as an illusion, and portrays humanity as a ravenous species engaged in wiping out other forms of life. Gray has written that "humans ... cannot destroy the Earth, but they can easily wreck the environment that sustains them." Academic career Gray was born into a working-class family, with a docker-turned-carpenter father, in South Shields, County Durham. He attended South Shields Grammar-Technical School for Boys from 1959 until 1967, then studied at Exeter College, Oxford, reading Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE), completing his B.A., M.Phil. and D.Phil. He formerly held posts as lecturer in political theory at the University of Essex, fellow and tutor in politics at Jesus College, Oxford, and lecturer and then professor of politics at the University of Oxford. He has served as a visiting professor at Harvard University (1985–86) and Stranahan Fellow at the Social Philosophy and Policy Center, Bowling Green State University (1990–1994), and has also held visiting professorships at Tulane University's Murphy Institute (1991) and Yale University (1994). He was Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics and Political Science until his retirement from academic life in early 2008. Political and philosophical thought Among philosophers, he is known for a thoroughgoing rejection of Rawlsianism and for exploration of the uneasy relationship between value pluralism and liberalism in the work of Isaiah Berlin.Gray's political thought is noted for its mobility across the political spectrum over the years. As a student, Gray was on the left and continued to vote Labour into the mid-1970s. By 1976 he had shifted towards a right-liberal New Right position, on the basis that the world was changing irrevocably through technological inventions, realigned financial markets and new economic power blocs and that the left failed to comprehend the magnitude and nature of this change. In the 1990s Gray became an advocate for environmentalism and New Labour. Gray considers the conventional (left-wing/right-wing) political spectrum of conservatism and social democracy as no longer viable.On liberalism, Gray identified the common strands in liberal thought as being individualist, egalitarian, meliorist, and universalist. The individualist element avers the ethical primacy of the human being against the pressures of social collectivism, the egalitarian element assigns the same moral worth and status to all individuals, the meliorist element asserts that successive generations can improve their sociopolitical arrangements, and the universalist element affirms the moral unity of the human species and marginalises local cultural differences.More recently, he has criticised neoliberalism, the global free market and some of the central currents in Western thinking, such as humanism, while moving towards aspects of green thought, drawing on the Gaia theory of James Lovelock. It is perhaps for this critique of humanism that Gray is best known.Central to the doctrine of humanism, in Gray's view, is the inherently utopian belief in meliorism; that is, that humans are not limited by their biological natures and that advances in ethics and politics are cumulative and that they can alter or improve the human condition, in the same way that advances in science and technology have altered or improved living standards.Gray contends, in opposition to this view, that history is not progressive, but cyclical. Human nature, he argues, is an inherent obstacle to cumulative ethical or political progress. Seeming improvements, if there are any, can very easily be reversed: one example he has cited has been the use of torture by the United States against terrorist suspects. "What's interesting", Gray said in an interview in 032c magazine, "is that torture not only came back, but was embraced by liberals, and defended by liberals. Now there are a lot of people, both liberal and conservative, who say, 'Well, it's a very complicated issue.' But it wasn't complicated until recently. They didn't say that five or ten years ago."Furthermore, he argues that this belief in progress, commonly imagined to be secular and liberal, is in fact derived from an erroneous Christian notion of humans as morally autonomous beings categorically different from other animals. This belief, and the corresponding idea that history makes sense, or is progressing towards something, is in Gray's view merely a Christian prejudice.In Straw Dogs he argues that the idea that humans are self-determining agents does not pass the acid test of experience. Those Darwinist thinkers who believe humans can take charge of their own destiny to prevent environmental degradation are, in this view, not naturalists, but apostles of humanism.He identifies the Enlightenment as the point at which the Christian doctrine of salvation was taken over by secular idealism and became a political religion with universal emancipation as its aim. Communism, fascism and "global democratic capitalism" are characterised by Gray as Enlightenment "projects" which have led to needless suffering, in Gray's view, as a result of their ideological allegiance to this religion. Agonistic liberalism The term agonistic liberalism appears in Gray's 1995 book Isaiah Berlin. Gray uses this phrase to describe what he believes is Berlin's theory of politics, namely his support for both value pluralism and liberalism. More generally, agonistic liberalism could be used to describe any kind of liberalism that claims its own value commitments do not form a complete vision of politics and society, and that one instead needs to look for what Berlin calls an "uneasy equilibrium" between competing values. In Gray's view, many contemporary liberal theorists would fall into this category, for instance John Rawls and Karl Popper. Reception Acclaim Gray's work has been praised by, amongst others, the novelists J. G. Ballard, Will Self and John Banville, the theologian Don Cupitt, the journalist Bryan .... Discover the N Gray popular books. Find the top 100 most popular N Gray books.

Best Seller N Gray Books of 2024

  • Dirty Rowdy Thing synopsis, comments

    Dirty Rowdy Thing

    Christina Lauren

    The sequel to Sweet Filthy Boy, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners, a story of friends, love, and lust. Despite their rowdy hookups, Harlow and Finn d...

  • Beautiful Bombshell synopsis, comments

    Beautiful Bombshell

    Christina Lauren

    In this sexy novella, the gentlemen from Beautiful Bastard, Beautiful Stranger, and Beautiful Player are out for a wild night on The Strip. A beautiful bastard of a groomtobe. A ba...

  • On Target synopsis, comments

    On Target

    Mark Greaney

    From #1 New York Times bestselling author Mark Greaney comes the second entry in the explosive thriller series featuring the lethal assassin known as the Gray Man.When an old comra...

  • Dead Eye synopsis, comments

    Dead Eye

    Mark Greaney

    ExCIA master assassin Court Gentry gets hit with a blast from the past in the fourth Gray Man novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Mark Greaney.Court Gentry has alw...

  • One Minute Out synopsis, comments

    One Minute Out

    Mark Greaney

    A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!From Mark Greaney, the New York Times bestselling author of Mission Critical and a coauthor of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan novels, comes another highstake...

  • Sierra Six synopsis, comments

    Sierra Six

    Mark Greaney

    It's been years since the Gray Man's first mission, but the trouble's just getting started in the latest entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.Before he was the Gray Ma...

  • Gray Moon Rising synopsis, comments

    Gray Moon Rising

    SM Reine

    It's been almost a year since Rylie Gresham was bitten by a werewolf on Gray Mountain. Now something is beckoning her back to the place she was attacked, along with every other wer...

  • Agent in Place synopsis, comments

    Agent in Place

    Mark Greaney

    The Gray Man is back in another nonstop international thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan novels.Fresh off his first mission back wit...

  • Love Unrehearsed synopsis, comments

    Love Unrehearsed

    Tina Reber

    The highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel Love Unscripted in Tina Reber’s The Love Series, Love Unrehearsed continues the story of the whirlwind romance...

  • Field Gray synopsis, comments

    Field Gray

    Philip Kerr

    This Edgar® Awardnominated novel in Philip Kerr’s New York Times bestselling Bernie Gunther series reveals the cynical, hardboiled detective’s harrowing history as an unwillin...

  • Beautiful Secret synopsis, comments

    Beautiful Secret

    Christina Lauren

    New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author Christina Lauren’s Beautiful and Wild Seasons series hook up in Beautiful Secret for an erotic intercontinental romp that c...

  • The Gray Man synopsis, comments

    The Gray Man

    Mark Greaney

    Court Gentry is known as The Gray Man a legend in the covert realm, moving silently from job to job, accomplishing the impossible, and then fading away. And he always hits his tar...

  • El Retrato de Dorian Gray synopsis, comments

    El Retrato de Dorian Gray

    Oscar Wilde

    El artista es creador de belleza.Revelar el arte y ocultar al artista es la meta del arte.El crítico es quien puede traducir de manera distinta o con nuevos materiales su impresión...

  • Pale Gray for Guilt synopsis, comments

    Pale Gray for Guilt

    John D. MacDonald & Lee Child

    From a beloved master of crime fiction, Pale Gray for Guilt is one of many classic novels featuring Travis McGee, the hardboiled detective who lives on a houseboat.   Travis M...

  • The Scottish Prisoner synopsis, comments

    The Scottish Prisoner

    Diana Gabaldon

    “This could be the worthy Lord John Grey’s breakout novel, as readers are treated to large dollops of Outlander hero Jamie Fraser.”Booklist   A captivating return to the world...

  • The Chaos Agent synopsis, comments

    The Chaos Agent

    Mark Greaney

    Artificial intelligence leads to shockingly real danger for the Gray Man in this latest entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.A car accident in Japan.A drowning in Seou...

  • Ballistic synopsis, comments

    Ballistic

    Mark Greaney

    #1 New York Times bestselling author Mark Greaney presents the third Gray Man novel, featuring the exCIA assassin being hailed as “Bourne for the new millennium” (James Rollins).Af...

  • Fate and Fury, Book 6 The Grey Wolves Series synopsis, comments

    Fate and Fury, Book 6 The Grey Wolves Series

    Quinn Loftis

    The last few days have been the darkest of Sally’s life. After experiencing the joy of finding her mate, she now suffers the pain of losing everything she holds dear. Both the Roma...

  • The Picture of Dorian Gray synopsis, comments

    The Picture of Dorian Gray

    Oscar Wilde

    The Picture of Dorian Gray is the only published novel by Oscar Wilde, appearing as the lead story in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine on 20 June 1890, printed as the July 1890 issue ...

  • The Grey Wolf synopsis, comments

    The Grey Wolf

    Louise Penny

    The 19th mystery in the #1 New York Timesbestselling Armand Gamache series.Relentless phone calls interrupt the peace of a warm August morning in Three Pines. Though the tiny Québe...

  • Den of Sorrows, Book 9 of the Grey Wolves Series synopsis, comments

    Den of Sorrows, Book 9 of the Grey Wolves Series

    Quinn Loftis

    The Romanian and Serbian Canis lupus rest in an uneasy peace. One of their own, Sally Miklos, the young and powerful gypsy healer, aids Perizada in her quest to defeat Volcan, a lo...

  • Back Blast synopsis, comments

    Back Blast

    Mark Greaney

    From Mark Greaney, the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan novels, comes the fifth explosive thriller featuring the lethal assassin known as the Gray M...

  • Gunmetal Gray synopsis, comments

    Gunmetal Gray

    Mark Greaney

    THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!Mark Greaney, the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan novels, delivers another breakneck thriller following the world’s d...

  • Beautiful synopsis, comments

    Beautiful

    Christina Lauren

    Featuring the entire Beautiful series cast for one final hurrah!A freespirited girl in need of a break. A man weighed down by responsibility. A road trip vacation where all bets ar...

  • A Touch of Ice synopsis, comments

    A Touch of Ice

    L. J. Charles

    Everly Gray’s fingers are a magnet for trouble.   When she touches photographer Mitchell Hunt and sees the image of a dead body, she dives into the murder fingertips first. Li...

  • Walking Disaster synopsis, comments

    Walking Disaster

    Jamie McGuire

    The highly anticipated followup to the New York Times bestseller Beautiful Disasternow a major motion picture!Can you love someone too much? Travis Maddox learned two things from h...

  • The Picture of Dorian Gray synopsis, comments

    The Picture of Dorian Gray

    Oscar Wilde

    Dorian is a goodnatured young man until he discovers the power of his own exceptional beauty. As he gradually sinks deep into a frivolous, glamorous world of selfish luxury, he app...

  • The Gray and Guilty Sea synopsis, comments

    The Gray and Guilty Sea

    Scott William Carter

    "Carter's writing is on target." Publishers WeeklyA curmudgeon. An iconoclast. A loner. That's how people describe Garrison Gage, and that's when they're being charitable.After hi...

  • Tom Clancy True Faith and Allegiance synopsis, comments

    Tom Clancy True Faith and Allegiance

    Mark Greaney

    President Jack Ryan deals with the worst breach U.S. intelligence has ever suffered in this “compelling and frighteningly realistic” thriller in Tom Clancy’s #1 New York Times...

  • Beautiful Disaster synopsis, comments

    Beautiful Disaster

    Jamie McGuire

    Now a major motion picture! The “deliciously intense” (USA TODAY) New York Times bestselling phenomenon follows a good girl drawn to a very bad boy...The new Abby Abernathy is a go...

  • Burner synopsis, comments

    Burner

    Mark Greaney

    Court Gentry is caught between the Russian mafia and the CIA in this latest electrifying thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling Gray Man series.When you kick over a rock, yo...

  • Beautiful Oblivion synopsis, comments

    Beautiful Oblivion

    Jamie McGuire

    From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Disasternow a major motion picturethe phenomenon continues in the first heartpounding new adult romance in The Maddox Bro...

  • Year of Yes synopsis, comments

    Year of Yes

    Shonda Rhimes

    The instant New York Times bestseller from the creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal and executive producer of How to Get Away With Murder shares how saying YES changed her life. “...

  • Mission Critical synopsis, comments

    Mission Critical

    Mark Greaney

    THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From Mark Greaney, the New York Times bestselling author of Gunmetal Gray and a coauthor of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan novels, comes a highstakes thr...

  • Relentless synopsis, comments

    Relentless

    Mark Greaney

    The Gray Man's search for missing intelligence agents plunges him deep into a maelstrom of trouble in the latest entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series. The first agent ...

  • Gray Mountain synopsis, comments

    Gray Mountain

    John Grisham

    #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER  John Grisham has a new hero ... and she’s full of surprises.   The year is 2008 and Samantha Kofer’s career at a huge Wall Street ...

  • This Man Confessed synopsis, comments

    This Man Confessed

    Jodi Ellen Malpas

    THE STUNNING CONCLUSION TO THE THIS MAN TRILOGY! The Manor, the very place where their passionate love affair began, fills with guests on what should be the happiest day of Ava and...