Conatus is a Latin word meaning the will to live and the tendency for living things to grow and to flourish. Most readers are probably more familiar now with the word ‘entelechy’, which, like conatus, suggests a vital force with the potential for growth. The title has a particular resonance to the way the themes of the book are developed.The ‘egocentric predicament’ is the idea that people can, at most, only really be certain of our own thoughts. The external world and the minds of other people are unknown to us. So there is always a need to bridge the gap between our thoughts and our experiences of the world outside our heads. Over the centuries, philosophers have considered various ways in which the gap can be closed.

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