Questions - Johns Hopkins University Press, Nov 2023
Why do we ask questions?
In Questions, Pia Lauritzen explores the philosophy behind questions and probes how they function as both a development tool and a bridge to understanding. She speculates that the question is the essential characteristic that distinguishes human beings from animals and that it is the key to understanding why we think and act as we do.
Basic human phenomena like surprise and doubt, ignorance and curiosity–which all articulate a questioning mode of dealing with the world–may well be the reason why human beings developed language. Yet the diverse ways that different languages and cultures treat questions reflects and reinforces crucial cultural differences.
Ultimately, Lauritzen argues, the question is the key to understanding the inner logic that links all major themes in the history of Western philosophy.
In Reflections, a series copublished with Denmark's Aarhus University Press, scholars deliver 60-page reflections on key concepts. These books present unique insights on a wide range of topics that entertain and enlighten readers with exciting discoveries and new perspectives.
Learn more and preorder Questions here:
Questions: Between Identity and Difference - Aarhus University Press, 2017
Questions: Between Identity and Difference is in many ways a curious book. It is a scholarly book, but tests the boundaries of traditional academic methods. It is a philosophical book, but bases its arguments on observational studies in classrooms where Danish, Russian, Spanish, and Chinese schoolchildren are taught in their native languages. It is a demanding book, one that assumes its readers think for themselves. Yes it is also a generous book, which draws on the author's own experience in researching and exploring what it means to be human across a variety of thoughts and behavioural patterns.
Read more and buy Questions: Between Identity and Difference here.
Books in Danish
De udenforstående, Djøf Forlag, 2019
Filosofi i ledelse, Hans Reitzels Forlag, 2011
Et spørgsmål om at være, Museum Tusculanums Forlag, 2008.