Life, Death, and Meaning (eBook, ePUB)

Key Philosophical Readings on the Big Questions
Redaktion: Benatar, David

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Do our lives have meaning? Should we create more people? Is death bad? Should we commit suicide? Would it be better to be immortal? Should we be optimistic or pessimistic? Since Life, Death, and Meaning: Key Philosophical Readings on the Big Questions first appeared, David Benatar's distinctive anthology designed to introduce students to the key existential questions of philosophy has won a devoted following among users in a variety of upper-level and even introductory courses. While many philosophers in the "continental tradition"-those known as "existentialists"-have engaged these issues at length and often with great popular appeal, English-speaking philosophers have had relatively little to say on these important questions. Yet, the methodology they bring to philosophical questions can, and occasionally has, been applied usefully to "existential" questions. This volume draws together a representative sample of primarily English-speaking philosophers' reflections on life's big questions, divided into six sections, covering (1) the meaning of life, (2) creating people, (3) death, (4) suicide, (5) immortality, and (6) 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.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury eBooks US
• Seitenzahl: 484
• Erscheinungstermin: 28. März 2016
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781442258327
• Artikelnr.: 44908988

Autorenporträt

David Benatar is professor of philosophy at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Inhaltsangabe

PREFACE INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 THE MEANING OF LIFE Richard Taylor
The Meaning of Life Thomas Nagel
The Absurd Richard Hare
'Nothing Matters' W.D. Joske
Philosophy and the Meaning of Life Robert Nozick
Philosophy and the Meaning of Life David Schmidtz
The Meanings of Life Susan Wolf
The Meanings of Lives Chapter 2 CREATING PEOPLE Derek Parfit
Whether Causing Someone to Exist Can Benefit This Person John Leslie
Why Not Let Life Become Extinct? James Lenman
On Becoming Extinct David Benatar
Why it is Better Never to Come into Existence Chapter 3 DEATH Stephen E. Rosenbaum
How to be Dead and Not Care: A Defense of Epicurus George Pitcher
The Misfortunes of the Dead Steven Luper
Annihilation Fred Feldman
Some Puzzles About the Evil of Death Frederick Kaufman
Pre-Vital and Post-Mortem Non-Existence David B. Suits
Why Death is not Bad for the One who Died Chapter 4 IMMORTALITY James Lenman
Immortality: A letter Bernard Williams
The Makropulos case: reflections on the tedium of immortality John Martin Fischer
Why Immortality is Not So Bad Christine Overall
From here to eternity: Is it good to live forever? Chapter 5 SUICIDE David Hume
Of Suicide Immanuel Kant
Suicide and Duty David Benatar
Suicide: A Qualified Defence Chapter 6 OPTIMISM AND PESSIMISM Margaret A. Boden
Optimism Samantha Vice
Optimism and Meaning Bruce N. Waller
The sad truth: optimism
pessimism
and pragmatism Arthur Schopenhauer
On the Suffering of the World