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Erstwhile biologist, now philosopher, Massimo Pigliucci explores the latest attempts to find the meaning of life in Answers for Aristotle

THE Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees, remarked in 2010 that 鈥渨e are no wiser than Aristotle was鈥� 鈥� for all our technical advances since the time of the ancient Greeks. If you disagree, try reading Answers for Aristotle by Massimo Pigliucci, a former biologist, who is now a professor of philosophy at the City University of New York.

鈥淎ristotle was among the first to approach the big questions in both a philosophical and a scientific manner, and we are now beginning to have some good (if provisional) answers to those questions,鈥� Pigliucci claims. This view inspires his own approach, which he calls 鈥渟ci-phi鈥�: a blend of empirical analysis and armchair thoughts about values.

Throughout, he draws on Aristotle and a score of other philosophers, and on the evidence of the past few decades from biology, neuroscience, psychology and sociology. Along the way, he tackles such hardy perennials as the origins of superstition, religion and morality, the relationship between fairness and justice, and the evolutionary significance of love and friendship 鈥� including online friendship.

Philosophers relish a challenging thought experiment, and Pigliucci is no exception. My favourite was a surgeon confronted by five injured people in an emergency room, each with a lethal lesion in a different vital organ. If the surgeon takes a utilitarian view, he should force one healthy bystander to donate these five organs and thereby save five lives. 鈥淭his would certainly increase the general degree of happiness, or decrease the general amount of pain,鈥� writes Pigliucci. But of course the surgeon would be regarded as a monster.

Answers for Aristotle arose from an informal talk built around Monty Python songs connected with philosophical themes. Perhaps as a consequence, the level of the discussion veers unpredictably between the profound and the 鈥渂leeding obvious鈥�. Overall, though, the book does illuminate Aristotle鈥檚 wise statement that: 鈥淢an is a goal-seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for goals.鈥� Even if it does not convince you of Aristotle鈥檚 enduring wisdom, it will make you reflect on both the meaning of science (from scientia, Latin for knowledge) and of your own life.