One of the most enjoyable books I’ve used when encouraging ‘getting into thinking’ is Julian Baggini’s The Pig that Wants to Be Eaten And 99 Other Thought Experiments, published in 2005, and still in print today. Whether or not you’re a Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy fan and have thought about a creature turning up to your dinner table suggesting which parts would be best for lunch or not, this is a very accessible book with numerous philosophically-based quandaries and scenarios for unpacking, with discussion points included.

There’s a hundred in total (not unlike an earlier book. Martin Cohen's 101 Philosophy Problems published in 1999) — ranging from the classic runaway tram problem, brains in vats and golden rules and much more. As the author himself writes — sometimes the essays suggest ways of resolving what appears to be intractable problems, or reveals problems you didn’t think existed before: “Many lines of thought can be started from this book. But none ends in it.” 

It’s also a very challenging book too — eating the household pet might not seem logical or feasible with modern ethics, but the proposals given through thought experiments are a great way to consider the basis of how you think the way you do — and if there’s anything that grounds your answers beyond what might seem to be intuitional responses to the scenarios.

While the front cover of the edition I have suggests it’s like a ‘sudoku of moral philosophy’ it’s also a great way to introduce yourself to some of the big questions in the field.