From religion studies to literary criticism, to American studies, to philosophy, to global studies, Giles Gunn’s academic career has been winding and wide-ranging. At the heart of all this “ambulation,” as he calls it, Gunn has always been consumed by one central question: “What is the better life to be led?”

A professor of global studies and of English at UC Santa Barbara, Gunn found that common thread while writing the new book, “Ideas to Live For: Toward a Global Ethics” (University of Virginia Press, 2015). His intellectual evolution is on full display in this narrativized collection of Gunn’s own previously published essays. 

Spanning more than 20 years of scholarship on issues including the psychology and politics of pragmatism, the ethics of human solidarity and the place of culture in the misshaping of international affairs, the pieces in “Ideas to Live For” are each prefaced with a newly penned introduction meant both to reflect on Gunn’s original intent and elucidate his current thinking.