77 ratings | 20 reviews | avg rating:4.56

Jonathan’s Year In Books

Jonathan’s 2025 Year in Books

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Daniel

1,617 books | 51 friends

Shrilaxmi

487 books | 130 friends

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1,978 books | 160 friends

Fernanda González

2,146 books | 128 friends

Jonathan Birch

Goodreads Author

Born

The United Kingdom

Genre

Philosophy

Member Since

March 2024

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I'm a Professor of Philosophy at the London School of Economics, where I direct The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience. I study how science is transforming our understanding of the minds of other animals, and the implications of the science for ethics, policy and law. ...more

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Jonathan Birch’s books

Average rating: 4.29 · 83 ratings · 23 reviews · 2 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI 4.28 avg rating — 74 ratings — published 2024 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Philosophy of Social Evolution 4.33 avg rating — 9 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Jonathan is Currently Reading

Jonathan Birch is currently reading

The Passenger (The Passenger #1)

by Cormac McCarthy

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Dec 05, 2024 05:37AM

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Jonathan’s Recent Updates

Jonathan Birch rated a book it was amazing The Light of Asia by Edwin Arnold	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I loved this. When I read ancient Indian texts I often have a sense of missing out, because I read them in translation and it's impossible to fully capture the rhythm and lyricism of the originals in English. Arnold's long epic poem, running to about ...more
Jan 03, 2026 05:29AM · like · see review
Jonathan Birch wants to read Black Ghosts: A Journey Into the Lives of Africans in China by Noo Saro-Wiwa	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 31, 2025 11:55AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Black Ghosts by Noo Saro-Wiwa. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Black Ghosts by Noo Saro-Wiwa <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jonathan Birch rated a book liked it The Black Loch (Lewis Trilogy, #4) by Peter May (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 26, 2025 09:09AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Black Loch by Peter May. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Black Loch by Peter May <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jonathan Birch wants to read The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else's Game by C. Thi Nguyen	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 20, 2025 05:51AM · like
Jonathan Birch rated a book really liked it Indian Ideas of Freedom by Dennis Dalton	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 11, 2025 01:44PM · like
Jonathan Birch liked Walter Sylesh's review of Indian Ideas of Freedom: "As a liberty lover, I was drawn to this book as a fly to honey. Though this is a work of honest scholarship, I didn't get what I thought I would from this book. In effect, I could glean the general thread and thesis of the book from the introduction w" Read more of this review »
Dec 11, 2025 01:43PM · see review
Jonathan Birch rated a book liked it Portrait of India by Ved Mehta	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A curiously maximalist picture of India in the late 1960s. Mehta has travelled a lot and read a lot, and seemingly doesn't want to leave anything out, and so the book contains very lengthy block quotations and some quite substantial sections consisti ...more
Dec 11, 2025 01:37PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Portrait of India by Ved Mehta. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Portrait of India by Ved Mehta <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jonathan Birch wants to read How to Eat (Mindfulness Essentials, #2) by Thich Nhat Hanh	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 07, 2025 12:11PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of How to Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — How to Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jonathan Birch wants to read The World We Have: A Buddhist Approach to Peace and Ecology by Thich Nhat Hanh	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 07, 2025 12:10PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The World We Have by Thich Nhat Hanh. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The World We Have by Thich Nhat Hanh <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jonathan Birch wants to read Indian Ideas of Freedom by Dennis Dalton	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 10, 2025 08:12AM · like