I am a human being. What do I, as a philosopher, have to say about this? If I were a physiologist, I would be interested in what makes us tick – how the various parts of the body interact and work together. If I were a sociologist, I would be interested in humans in groups – why are there churches and priests and imams and that sort of thing? I am a philosopher, so what am I interested in and why do I have special authority or knowledge to speak about such things? We’ll pick up on the second part of the question as we go along – the proof of the pudding is in the eating – but I’ll tell you what I am interested in. Why do we humans think we are so special? Do we have good reason for this, or is it just self-deception based on ignorance and arrogance or (perhaps) a fear that we are not so very special?