Baggini's conceit in Making Sense is that enduring debates in the news provide ample material for an exploration of conceptual foundations in philosophy. From the founding editor of The Philosopher's Magazine and author of several other introductory texts, the result is an intriguing argument for broadening the role of philosophy, narrowly conceived, in our everyday lives. While not primarily targeted at a scholarly audience, this work might well be made to serve in a number of classrooms.

Making Sense is a relatively straightforward application of some of the author's favorite philosophical saws to the top ten headlines of the last fifteen years. The result is a philosophical primer that also offers readers a modest critical apparatus, one that Baggini argues will better enable them to take informed, if opinioned stances on a variety of topics. Athough the value of such stances to civic and civil life remain un-illuminated.

The Bin Laden tapes, the private scandals of office holders a la Clinton, the Iraq war, reproductive technologies, stem cell research, genetic modification, state responses to cult activities, and euthanasia are each examined for slippages and tensions in the putative 'news'. In each case, the argument goes, the application of a little philosophical rigor would greatly benefit one's reading and understanding of more fundamental issues. As a beginner's guide to such subjects as freedom and its limits, liberalism and humanism, values and evaluation, equality and rights, the package is designed to stimulate news readers and, dare we hope, journalists and other professional newshounds. And Baggini does not shy away from considerations of justice; belief, truth and knowledge; public and private rights; or the limits of philosophical understanding among others.

One of the more curious features of Making Sense is that it does not pose a particular program for improving journalistic practices although a sense of the needfulness of reform is implicit in Baggini's claim that news audiences must read behind the headlines. The general approach here urges readers towards a loose pragmatism, a case by case engagement with the topics that fascinate. However, throughout, philosophical concepts take the front stage. Thus, this is not really a philosophical investigation of news or media, but a news-focused introduction to philosophy. There is no illuminating account of the 'headline' and its role in structuring social space or time, or of institutions or cultures of information. While Baggini discusses some rights inherent in public and private spheres, there is little consideration of the role of news in the making of publics. Similarly, an explicit account of the role of news media in civic as well as civil society is notably absent. Still, the work can be read as shot through with such concerns and could be used to frame broad discussions in these areas for students.

Avowedly outside of his scope, it would have been interesting if Baggini had more directly considered the intellectual, indeed philosophical, roots of the beliefs and values that actually do inform journalistic practices-the ones that must be read behind or through. What might account for various sorts of bias, collusions and exclusions in the news-consciously as a matter of different parties' interests or unconsciously as a matter of differences in national cultures, say. The philosophy behind journalism is a stone generally left unturned. For instance, throughout much of Baggini's United Kingdom focused account, a curious déjà vu may be experienced for readers only familiar with United States headlines. Although he indicates that this trans-Atlantic concurrence on what is and is not news is far from total, the topical similarity is striking and speaks perhaps to issues of modernity and globalization. Indeed, all the regularly scheduled topics which for some reason haunt the headlines tell us something about ourselves, about the relations between local and more global cultures, and the diverse social interests that reside in them. The recurrent issues of the day, the headlines as mediated by news professionals, reveal tensions and cracks in the coherency of the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and Baggini might have speculated here more systematically.

Making Sense is an idiosyncratic news primer and a colorfully framed introduction to philosophy. Baggini compellingly argues that a little dose of philosophy should be allowed to inform our everyday lives and it is not difficult to embrace his modest goal of propping up the place of formal, systematic ratiocination in our practice of news reading. He is right to suspect that we all, and all too often, expedite our reception of the daily dose as so much infotainment for which mere commonsense is perfectly adequate. As Making Sense well illustrates, even the most banal news can mask substantial questions. And, even philosophically sophisticated readers who may be put off by the introductory tone of the conceptual matter, may well heed Baggini's caution against superficial readings of the news. Indeed, we would all do well to be wary of many headlines; here be dragons.

Alexander Dale Mawyer, The University of Chicago

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