1st Edition

The Meaning of Life and the Great Philosophers

Edited By Stephen Leach, James Tartaglia Copyright 2018
    314 Pages
    by Routledge

    314 Pages
    by Routledge

    The Meaning of Life and the Great Philosophers reveals how great philosophers of the past sought to answer the question of the meaning of life. This edited collection includes thirty-five chapters which each focus on a major philosophical figure, from Confucius to Rorty, and that imaginatively engage with the topic from their perspective. This volume also contains a Postscript on the historical origins and original significance of the phrase ‘the meaning of life’.

    Written by leading experts in the field, such as A.C. Grayling, Thaddeus Metz and John Cottingham, this unique and engaging book explores the relevance of the history of philosophy to contemporary debates. It will prove essential reading for students and scholars studying the history of philosophy, philosophy of religion, ethics, metaphysics or comparative philosophy.

    Contents

    Notes on Contributors

    Preface

    1. Confucius
    2. Joshua Seachris and Richard Kim

    3. The Buddha
    4. Mark Siderits

    5. Vyāsa
    6. Arindam Chakrabarti

    7. Socrates
    8. A.C. Grayling

    9. Plato
    10. David Skrbina

    11. Diogenes
    12. Will Desmond

    13. Zhuangzi
    14. David E. Cooper

    15. Aristotle
    16. Monte Ransome Johnson

    17. Epicurus
    18. Catherine Wilson

    19. Koheleth
    20. Thaddeus Metz

    21. Epictetus
    22. A.A. Long

    23. Sextus Empiricus
    24. Svavar Hrafn Svavarsson

    25. Avicenna
    26. Nader El-Bizri

    27. Maimonides
    28. Alfred L. Ivry

    29. Aquinas
    30. Edward Feser

    31. Montaigne
    32. Stephen Leach

    33. Descartes
    34. John Cottingham

    35. Spinoza
    36. Genevieve Lloyd

    37. Kant
    38. Terry F. Godlove

    39. Schopenhauer
    40. Robert Wicks

    41. Kierkegaard
    42. Mark Bernier

    43. Marx
    44. Amy E. Wendling

    45. Mill
    46. Frans Svensson

    47. Nietzsche
    48. Raymond Angelo Belliotti

    49. Ortega
    50. Pedro Blas González

    51. Wittgenstein
    52. Reza Hosseini

    53. Heidegger
    54. Wendell O’Brien

       

    55. Sartre
    56. Joseph S. Catalano

    57. Beauvoir
    58. Jonathan Webber

    59. Weil
    60. Lissa McCullough

    61. Ayer
    62. James Tartaglia

    63. Camus
    64. William McBride

    65. Murdoch
    66. Bridget Clarke

    67. Fanon
    68. Samuel Imbo

    69. Rorty

    Alan Malachowski

    Postscript: The Blue Flower

    Bibliography

    Index

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Biography

    Stephen Leach is Honorary Senior Fellow at Keele University, UK. He is the author of The Foundations of History: Collingwood's Analysis of Historical Explanation (2009).

    James Tartaglia is Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at Keele University, UK. He is the author of Philosophy in a Meaningless Life (2016).

     

    "The overall aim of this volume is to produce an accessible volume on the MoL that is targeted at the general reader. It certainly achieves that. Each chapter is, as expected, authoritative, well-written and they largely tackle the challenge of dealing with such a complex topic rather well throughout; each contributor manages to write in a way that reflects their individual style with lucidity and succinctness. … [D]efinitely one for the bookshelf and certainly an enjoyable read." - Eri Mountbatten-O’Malley, Metapsychology Online Reviews

    "... [A] methodologically diverse source book of philosophers' views on the meaning of life. ... This collection is perhaps most valuable as an exploration of the difficulties faced in recasting historical ideas to think about a modern (and postmodern) problem. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; graduate students." - D. A. Forbes, CHOICE

    "Here is a unique collection of essays providing an overview of how major philosophers of the past approached the meaning of life. The volume is a valuable resource for both scholars and general readers." - Steven M. Cahn, City University of New York Graduate Center, USA

    "Ranging over not merely European, but also Indian, Chinese and Muslim thought, this collection of high-quality chapters is the most comprehensive discussion of the meaning-of-life question to date." - Julian Young, Wake Forest University, USA

    "This comprehensive volume offers a rich panoply of ways of approaching the question of meaning of life from Ancient times to the present and also from a wide range of perspectives. This book is a valuable handbook for anybody who has a genuine interest in the meaning of life as well as for students and scholars in philosophy and psychology. I believe it will be a very useful tool for classroom discussions in history of philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, comparative philosophy or philosophical counseling." - Kamuran Elbeyoğlu, Toros University, Turkey