**Thomas Nagel *is University Professor in the Department of Philosophy and the School of Law at New York University. His books include The Possibility of Altruism *, The View from Nowhere, and What Does It All Mean?: A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of...

**Thomas Nagel *is University Professor in the Department of Philosophy and the School of Law at New York University. His books include The Possibility of Altruism *, The View from Nowhere, and What Does It All Mean?: A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy. In 2008, he was awarded the Rolf Schock Prize in Logic and Philosophy and the Balzan Prize in Moral Philosophy.