Human Life And The Meaning Of It

Author : Todd May
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022623570X
Total Pages : 210 pages
Book Rating : 4.07/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Significant Life written by Todd May and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2015-04-02 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A tour de force. It is a thoughtful, subtle, beautifully written discussion of what it takes to live a meaningful life.” —Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice Throughout history most of us have looked to faith, relationships, or deeds to give our lives purpose. But in A Significant Life, philosopher Todd May offers an exhilarating new way of thinking about meaning, one deeply attuned to life as it actually is: a work in progress, a journey—and often a narrative. Offering moving accounts of his own life alongside rich engagements with philosophers from Aristotle to Heidegger, he shows us where to find the significance of our lives: in the way we live them. May starts by looking at the fundamental fact that life unfolds over time, and as it does so, it begins to develop certain qualities, certain themes. Our lives can be marked by intensity, curiosity, perseverance, or many other qualities that become guiding narrative values. These values lend meanings to our lives that are distinct from—but also interact with—the universal values we are taught to cultivate, such as goodness or happiness. Offering a fascinating examination of a broad range of figures—from music icon Jimi Hendrix to civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer, from cyclist Lance Armstrong to The Portrait of a Lady’s Ralph Touchett to Claus von Stauffenberg, a German officer who tried to assassinate Hitler—May shows that narrative values offer a rich variety of criteria by which to assess a life, specific to each of us and yet widely available. They offer us a way of reading ourselves, who we are, and who we might like to be.

Author : Edward O. Wilson
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 087140480X
Total Pages : 192 pages
Book Rating : 4.00/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Meaning of Human Existence written by Edward O. Wilson and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2014-10-06 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: National Book Award Finalist. How did humanity originate and why does a species like ours exist on this planet? Do we have a special place, even a destiny in the universe? Where are we going, and perhaps, the most difficult question of all, "Why?" In The Meaning of Human Existence, his most philosophical work to date, Pulitzer Prize–winning biologist Edward O. Wilson grapples with these and other existential questions, examining what makes human beings supremely different from all other species. Searching for meaning in what Nietzsche once called "the rainbow colors" around the outer edges of knowledge and imagination, Wilson takes his readers on a journey, in the process bridging science and philosophy to create a twenty-first-century treatise on human existence—from our earliest inception to a provocative look at what the future of mankind portends. Continuing his groundbreaking examination of our "Anthropocene Epoch," which he began with The Social Conquest of Earth, described by the New York Times as "a sweeping account of the human rise to domination of the biosphere," here Wilson posits that we, as a species, now know enough about the universe and ourselves that we can begin to approach questions about our place in the cosmos and the meaning of intelligent life in a systematic, indeed, in a testable way. Once criticized for a purely mechanistic view of human life and an overreliance on genetic predetermination, Wilson presents in The Meaning of Human Existence his most expansive and advanced theories on the sovereignty of human life, recognizing that, even though the human and the spider evolved similarly, the poet's sonnet is wholly different from the spider's web. Whether attempting to explicate "The Riddle of the Human Species," "Free Will," or "Religion"; warning of "The Collapse of Biodiversity"; or even creating a plausible "Portrait of E.T.," Wilson does indeed believe that humanity holds a special position in the known universe. The human epoch that began in biological evolution and passed into pre-, then recorded, history is now more than ever before in our hands. Yet alarmed that we are about to abandon natural selection by redesigning biology and human nature as we wish them, Wilson soberly concludes that advances in science and technology bring us our greatest moral dilemma since God stayed the hand of Abraham.

Author : Susan Wolf
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691154503
Total Pages : 161 pages
Book Rating : 4.03/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Meaning in Life and Why It Matters written by Susan Wolf and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2012-03-25 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most people, including philosophers, tend to classify human motives as falling into one of two categories: the egoistic or the altruistic, the self-interested or the moral. According to Susan Wolf, however, much of what motivates us does not comfortably fit into this scheme. Often we act neither for our own sake nor out of duty or an impersonal concern for the world. Rather, we act out of love for objects that we rightly perceive as worthy of love--and it is these actions that give meaning to our lives. Wolf makes a compelling case that, along with happiness and morality, this kind of meaningfulness constitutes a distinctive dimension of a good life. Written in a lively and engaging style, and full of provocative examples, Meaning in Life and Why It Matters is a profound and original reflection on a subject of permanent human concern.

Author : Rui Diogo
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 9783319704005
Total Pages : 863 pages
Book Rating : 4.01/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Meaning of Life, Human Nature, and Delusions written by Rui Diogo and published by Springer. This book was released on 2021-12-15 with total page 863 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whatever are your beliefs, background, education, political views or interests, one thing is sure: this book will engage you, teach you something new, and more importantly make you to re-think deeply about critical aspects of your daily-life, including sex, love, food, physical activities, diseases, work and stress, and how you see and deal with other people, other animals, and the planet in general. Indeed, it focuses on topics that have fascinated people from all places and historical periods since times immemorial: Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? Are we progressing, and will we thrive? It does this by integrating in a unique fashion information from ancient Greek, Sumerian, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Christian and Muslim texts to high-tech brain research, facts about near-death experiences, Covid-19, QAnon conspiracies, virtual reality and dating aps; from Adam and Eve to the rise of misogyny and racism to Black Lives Matter, Me-Too, Hollywood romantic movies and Disney fairy-tales. Contrary to notions about 'human progress' and 'Homo Deus' defended by authors such as Harari, Pinker and Dawkins, it shows that human history instead involves the repetition of similar imaginary tales created by a combination of traits found in other animals and the uniquely human obsession about 'cosmic purpose' stories related to our awareness of death's inevitability. Organized religions appeared later, chiefly during the rise of agriculture and 'civilizations'. Diogo navigates mesmerizing untold stories revealing a paradox: these events and the industrial 'revolution' increased inequality, oppression, slavery, subjugation of women, famines, plagues, 'work', stress, and suicides. Data from psychology, biology, neurobiology, and cross-cultural studies of hunter-gatherers and so-called 'developed' societies reveal an even more profound paradox: within all forms of life, the 'sapient being' is the one immersed in Neverland's world of unreality - truly a Homo irrationalis, fictus and socialis believing in fictional tales about cosmic 'duties', 'romantic meant to be', demons, inferior 'races' and 'genders', conspiracies, and 'justified' slavery, warfare, genocides, and animal abuses. Importantly, such tales play, on the other hand, crucial functions such as help coping with death and a plethora of societal troubles, decreasing stress, or preventing drug and alcohol abuse. An optimist and passionate wondered and wanderer, Diogo provides enthralling details about the history of religion, discrimination, romantic love, warfare, diseases and Earth's biodiversity illustrating how 'virtue is in the middle' and that we - with our intriguing combination of beliefs, bodily needs and desires, artistic abilities, and mismatches between our senses' illusions and the cosmos' reality - are not 'better' or 'worse' than the other millions of captivating living species. This powerful and urgently needed message has critical repercussions for how we understand, care about, and mindfully enjoy living in this splendid planet, in the reality of here and now. Pre-publication comments: "I applaud the enormous work that Diogo has invested in this follow-up to his widely acclaimed Evolution driven by organismal behavior book, and the challenge of getting people to think beyond and outside of our usual set of definitions and expectations. The case-studies provided in the book are fascinating and insightful" (Drew Noden, Award-winning Emeritus Professor, Cornell University) "Rui Diogo is becoming the Slavoj Zizek of evolutionary biology" (Marcelo Sanchez-Villagra, Director of the Paleontological Institute and Museum of the University of Zurich)

Author : Paul Thagard
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691142726
Total Pages : 293 pages
Book Rating : 4.22/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Brain and the Meaning of Life written by Paul Thagard and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2010-02-14 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Defending the superiority of evidence-based reasoning over religious faith and philosophical thought experiments, Thagard argues that minds are brains and that reality is what science can discover. Brains come to know reality through a combination of perception and reasoning. Just as important, our brains evaluate aspects of reality through emotions that can produce both good and bad decisions. Our cognitive and emotional abilities allow us to understand reality, decide effectively, act morally, and pursue the vital needs of love, work, and play. Wisdom consists of knowing what matters, why it matters, and how to achieve it."--Jacket.

Author : Gary T. Reker
Publisher : SAGE
ISBN 13 : 076190994X
Total Pages : 239 pages
Book Rating : 4.41/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Exploring Existential Meaning written by Gary T. Reker and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2000 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With this work, the editors present a forum for an array of international viewpoints and recent research that address the notion of optimal human growth.

Author : Raymond Angelo Belliotti
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 9004408797
Total Pages : 211 pages
Book Rating : 4.91/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Is Human Life Absurd? A Philosophical Inquiry into Finitude, Value, and Meaning written by Raymond Angelo Belliotti and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2019-06-24 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Belliotti unravels the paradoxes of human existence to reveal paths for crafting meaningful, significant, valuable, even important lives. He argues that human life is not inherently absurd; examines the implications of mortality; contrasts subjective and objective meaning, and evaluates contemporary renderings of meaningful human lives.

Author : Lee-Michael D'Souza
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9783668161962
Total Pages : 12 pages
Book Rating : 4.68/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Human Life and The Meaning of It written by Lee-Michael D'Souza and published by . This book was released on 2016-02-29 with total page 12 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essay from the year 2015 in the subject Philosophy - Theoretical (Realisation, Science, Logic, Language), course: Access to Humanities and Social Science, language: English, abstract: The aim of this essay is to philosophically discern the broad and universal question of "What is the meaning of life?" pertaining to humans and humanity. The conclusion will as accurately as possible represent the shared meaning of life amongst individuals as well as the basis of the meaning itself. It is key to understand that any conclusion found may not include every single individual but will include most individuals. It may also be found that any actual meaning of life is subconscious, where the individual is simply unaware of themselves embodying or actuating the meaning itself. This writing will also highlight the relevance as well as importance of the concept within individuals, society and humanity as well as the philosophical insights and inferences found due to this. I will be referring to sociological and philosophical theories throughout to compare, contrast and analyse perspectives which will aid in the honing of my purpose. Lastly, throughout the essay I will mention reservations of my own findings and I will address them to further clarify my points.

Author : Julian Young
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1135020906
Total Pages : 262 pages
Book Rating : 4.03/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Death of God and the Meaning of Life written by Julian Young and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-05-16 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is the meaning of life? In today's secular, post-religious scientific world, this question has become a serious preoccupation. But it also has a long history: many major philosophers have thought deeply about it, as Julian Young so vividly illustrates in this thought-provoking second edition of The Death of God and the Meaning of Life. Three new chapters explore Søren Kierkegaard’s attempts to preserve a Christian answer to the question of the meaning of life, Karl Marx's attempt to translate this answer into naturalistic and atheistic terms, and Sigmund Freud’s deep pessimism about the possibility of any version of such an answer. Part 1 presents an historical overview of philosophers from Plato to Marx who have believed in a meaning of life, either in some supposed ‘other’ world or in the future of this world. Part 2 assesses what happened when the traditional structures that give life meaning began to erode. With nothing to take their place, these structures gave way to the threat of nihilism, to the appearance that life is meaningless. Young looks at the responses to this threat in chapters on Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, Camus, Foucault and Derrida. Fully revised and updated throughout, this highly engaging exploration of fundamental issues will captivate anyone who’s ever asked themselves where life’s meaning (if there is one) really lies. It also makes a perfect historical introduction to philosophy, particularly to the continental tradition.

Author : Sam S. Rakover
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 1793632413
Total Pages : 199 pages
Book Rating : 4.18/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Understanding Human Conduct written by Sam S. Rakover and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-10-06 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding Human Conduct: The Innate and Acquired Meaning of Life presents a new and provocative model of life-meaning. The Consciousness-Meaning (CM) model is founded on two major assumptions: (a) consciousness is a necessary condition for meaning and understanding, and (b) there are two types of life-meaning, innate and acquired. The latter is divided into ordinary and extreme meanings. The CM model successfully deals with human behavior (e.g., crisis of life and suicide) as well as alternative approaches based on philosophy (e.g., existentialism) and science (e.g., evolution).