John Cottingham is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Reading University, where he was Head of Department and Chair of Graduate Studies. He has served as Chairman of the British Society for the History of Philosophy, as President of the British Society for Philosophy of Religion, and as editor of the journal Ratio. He has published fifteen books as sole author, plus seventeen editions, translations, and edited collections, and over 150 articles. His research in moral philosophy and philosophy of religion focuses on the meaning of life and the relation between religious belief and practice. He is a leading authority on the philosophy of Descartes.