A long neglected concept in the field of international relations and political theory, hospitality provides a new framework for analysing many of the challenges in world politics today, from the search for peaceable relations between states to asylum and refugee crises.

Weaving together studies of eighteen ancient, medieval and modern philosophers from Socrates to Judith Butler, Gideon Baker provides a gripping genealogy of Western philosophy as a history of questioning. As well as revealing the ancient in the modern, Baker reflects on newer questions in Western philosophy, including: is human being uniquely defined by questioning? And does the negativity of questioning lead to nihilistic despair? Staying faithful to his theme, Baker calls Western philosophy itself into question, asking why questioning should be seen as central to the true life. Is this not...