"There is an urgent need to-day for the citizens of a democracy to think well” For a book written in 1939, Thinking to Some Purpose is surprisingly relevant to today’s world of fake news and social media hype. Born in 1885 in North London, Susan Stebbing studied in Girton College Cambridge at a time when University study for women was very much the exception. She was the first woman to hold a philosophy chair in the United Kingdom. As she observed the changing world on the eve of World War II, Stebbing’s academic interest in logic and language became increasingly socially directed and politically engaged. She became convinced of the importance of equipping people to understand and analyse the type of rhetoric that was being directed at them. To this end, Thinking to Some Purpose is a critique of language used in political speeches, advertisements and newspaper editorials. Published by Pelican Books. An acceptable reading copy. Blank advertising page at end of book is clipped. Former owner has written notes in pencil on some pages.