Life, Death, and Meaning
Key Philosophical Readings on the Big Questions
David Benatar (Anthology Editor) , Margaret A. Boden (Contributor) , Richard B. Brandt (Contributor) , Peter Caldwell (Contributor) , Fred Feldman (Contributor) , John Martin Fischer (Contributor) ,
- Textbook
Life, Death, and Meaning
Key Philosophical Readings on the Big Questions
David Benatar (Anthology Editor) , Margaret A. Boden (Contributor) , Richard B. Brandt (Contributor) , Peter Caldwell (Contributor) , Fred Feldman (Contributor) , John Martin Fischer (Contributor) ,
- Textbook
Description
In Life, Death, and Meaning, David Benatar offers a distinctive collection of readings designed to introduce undergraduates and lay readers to the key existential questions of philosophy: Do our lives have meaning? Is death something to be feared? Would it be better to be immortal? Classic and contemporary essays consider such questions as the meaning of life, creating people, death, suicide, immortality, and optimism and pessimism. These key readings are supplemented with helpful introductions, study questions, and suggestions for further reading, making the material accessible and interesting for students. In short, the book provides a singular introduction to the way that philosophy has dealt with the big questions of life that we are all tempted to ask.
Table of Contents
Chapter 2 Introduction
Part 3 I The Meaning of Life
Chapter 4 The Meaning of Life
Chapter 5 The Absurd
Chapter 6 'Nothing Matters'
Chapter 7 Philosophy and the Meaning of Life
Chapter 8 Philosophy and the Meaning of Life
Chapter 9 The Meanings of Life
Part 11 II Creating People
Chapter 12 Whether Causing Someone to Exist Can Benefit This Person
Chapter 13 Why Not Let Life Become Extinct?
Chapter 14 On Becoming Extinct
Chapter 15 Why it is Better Never to Come into Existence
Part 16 III Death
Chapter 17 How to be Dead and Not Care: A Defense of Epicurus
Chapter 18 The Misfortunes of the Dead
Chapter 19 Annihilation
Chapter 20 Some Puzzles About the Evil of Death
Chapter 21 Pre-Vital and Post-Mortem Non-Existence
Chapter 22 Why Death is not Bad for the One who Died
Part 23 IV Suicide
Chapter 24 Of Suicide
Chapter 25 Suicide and Duty
Chapter 26 The Morality and Rationality of Suicide
Part 27 V Immortality
Chapter 28 Immortality: A Letter
Chapter 29 The Makropulos Case: Reflections on the Tedium of Immortality
Chapter 30 Why Immortality Is Not So Bad
Part 31 VI Optimism and Pessimism
Chapter 32 Optimism
Chapter 33 The Consolations of Optimism
Chapter 34 On the Sufferings of the World
Product details
| Published | 01 Sep 2004 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 472 |
| ISBN | 9781461638872 |
| Imprint | Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
Reviews
Related Titles
