Every subject is author of the acts of the sovereign: hence the sovereign cannot injure any of his subjects and cannot be accused of injustice. Maria: I’m really looking forward to going to the beach for spring break! I need to relax. This semester was really tough. Are you going to travel anywhere fun? My view was confirmed when I discovered the work of Gareth Matthews, a philosopher who dedicated most of his career to kids. He passed away in 2011, when Rex was just one. I never met him, but I wish I’d gotten the chance, because Matthews knew more about kids’ philosophical abilities than anyone else.

Some of the best philosophers in the world can be found in the most unlikely places: in preschools and playgrounds. They gather to debate questions about metaphysics and morality, even though they've never heard the words, and can't tie their shoelaces. As Scott Hershovitz shows in this delightful book, kids are astoundingly good philosophers. And, if we let ourselves pause to think along with them, we might discover that we are, too. Powered by questions like: Does Hank have the right to drink soda? Is it ever okay to swear? and, Does the number six exist? the Hershovitzes take us on a fun romp through classic and contemporary philosophy. If we join kids on philosophical adventures, Hershovitz argues, we can become sharper thinkers and recapture their wonder at the world. Whether you agree with Hobbes’ views or think that they’re a bit extreme, he was nonetheless an important political philosopher whose ideas continue to make a big impact today. To that end, he is definitely a thinker worth commemorating, particularly on this day, 425 years after he was born!

Delightful . . . Witty and self-deprecating, Nasty, Brutish, and Short explores the wonder that young kids bring to their efforts to make sense of the world—and what grown-ups can learn from it.”— Barbara Spindel, Christian Science Monitor Lorenzo: If I survive long enough to get it! Right now it feels like my life is nasty, brutish, and short.

People are skeptical when I say that kids peer through that window. Sure, you came up with the shifted color spectrum, they say. But you turned out to be a philosopher. That’s not a normal thing for a kid to do. I might have believed them if I didn’t have kids myself. I’ve got two boys: Hank, whom you’ve already met, and Rex, who’s a few years older. By the time Rex was three, he was saying things that implicated philosophical issues, even if he didn’t yet see them himself. I don’t know how long we went round on that, but my mother never did see the point I was making. (Mom, if you’re reading this, I’m happy to try again.) And I distinctly remember her concluding the conversation:“Stop worrying about this. It doesn’t matter. You see just fine.” The solution, Hobbes argued, was to put some powerful individual or parliament in charge. The individuals in the state of nature would have to enter into a ‘social contract’, an agreement to give up some of their dangerous freedoms for the sake of safety. Without what he called a ‘sovereign’, life would be a kind of hell. This sovereign would be given the right to inflict severe punishment on anyone who stepped out of line. […] Laws are no good if there isn’t someone or something strong enough to make everyone follow them.’ I am a philosopher. And no one has ever needed me. I rushed to the bathroom. “Hank, Hank! I’m a philosopher. What do you need?”What about democracy? We’ll think about it later on, since Rex thinks our family ought to be one. For now, I’ll just say: Democracy shouldn’t be a way of summing people’s selfish preferences. Voters ought to be public-spirited. They should seek to promote the common good—and impor- tant values, like justice and fairness—not their own individual interests. Don’t get me wrong. I believe in democracy, even when it doesn’t live up to that ideal. But I stand with Ian in thinking that more people acting selfishly is just more selfishness—and not a good way to make decisions. The specter of graduation looms large as Naomi Novik’s groundbreaking, New York Times bestselling trilogy continuesin the stunning sequel to A Deadly Education.