What's It All About?: Philosophy and the Meaning of Life

This is a beautifully written book about the possible meanings of life. It covers the most common ways to think about the meaning of life -- helping others, happiness, achieving things, etc -- and basically dismisses them. It is therefore more about what is NOT the meaning of life, rather than what is. The author's conclusions are similar to what many other philosophers have concluded: "Life can be worthwhile in itself, particularly if it is a life with a balance of authenticity, happiness and concern for others; one which engages in the ongoing work of becoming who we want to be and being successful in those terms."A religious reader would probably not like this book, since the point of the book is to consider the meaning of life assuming the "naturalist account is broadly true" and "to consider the implications for life's meaning if it is true." A religious reader, however, is unlikely to go looking for a book on the meaning of life, so I think there's little risk of this book bothering anyone. A religious reader would be better off starting with Baggini's book on atheism.The argument in the book that best struck me is that it is better to consider life as a process rather than as a set of discrete targets or goals, since once you achieve a goal, you're done, and the achievement is really just a single point in time. After you achieve a goal and until you set a new one, you may think of your life as meaningless. So think of goals along a continuous process of your life, not as end points.The best thing I like about the book is the writing style. It was a joy to read the clear and incisive arguments. Highly, highly recommended, if only for reading pleasure.Other good books on the meaning of life are What Is The Meaning Of Human Life? by Belliotti and The Brain and the Meaning of Life by Paul Thagard.

Overall I liked the book very much especially since is was my first on my Kindle! I'm often preoccupied with what life is all about and I was very excited when I found something accessible and comprehensive from a professional philosopher with a 360 degree view on the issue. I found the first few chapters very satisfying but as the book went on, I sometimes struggled to keep up with the author and sometimes a little bored (the chapter on Carpe Diem is kind of boring). One of the problems with the author's style is that he's slightly repetitive. Once you struggle through a paragraph, often the next one reiterates the same idea, and takes just as much time to understand. Again, the section on Carpe Diem is a good example. I would love this book to be a bit less wordy.The conclusion that meaning of life could be found in finding a satisfying activity that will last a lifetime is just OK. It could work for a lot of people but many others would still be left overboard. True, just because not everybody can be happy doesn't mean that the author's conclusion is wrong, but I would have enjoyed the book much more if I saw some acknowledgment that life can really, well, suck and there could be nothing we could do about it. That would make the discussion more honest. One just needs to think about the great number of those sick, oppressed, tortured (right this moment), deeply depressed, unjustly imprisoned, etc. Their suffering might be too all-consuming to think about anything but putting an end to it. Can they find a meaning to their lives?I think it would be more honest if we said that there is a tremendous degree of chance and luck involved in our ability to make our lives bearable. We might know the recipe for a good life but our brain constitution could be such that implementing the plan would be anatomically/neurologically impossible. Even if some of us do find a way to get enjoyment out of our lives, it hardly has any significance after our death, because that enjoyment (or any other emotion for that matter) doesn't transcend our being.Death erases all signs of our lives as Marcus Aurelius kept telling himself in his "Meditations". Our feeling of enjoyment is just a function of our brain (made possible by our dopamine based reward system) and so just another animalistic function that stops working the minute we are dead. How we felt during our lives has zero significance. Except our brains make us feel better when we do something that they think is good for us. A hard question for me is: if it doesn't matter how we feel during our lives, why not just enjoy our lives since it feels better (i.e. generates dopamine)? It sure is an enticing proposition but strangely enough, hurting gives its own pleasure. In the end, happy or unhappy doesn't change anything after our death and in that sense Camus' question "Why not commit suicide?" still stands -- at least for those whose suffering is hard to bear.In my opinion, the best take on life, its meaning or lack thereof was given by Schopenhauer despite all the criticism his philosophy has received. Yes, his philosophy is pessimistic, but just because it is pessimistic doesn't make it wrong.

This is a good book for a reader who is not an expert of philosophy. One hears a lot of answers/maxims/directives/mottos when one asks about life's purpose. And on the surface a lot of these answers sound logical. Baggini digs deeper behind these answers and analyzes in what ways a particular motto/directive makes sense and in what ways it does not. Baggini stresses the point that a lot of the simple mottos that are thrown around e.g "sieze the day", "always strive towards your goals", "just try to be happy", "helping others is the greatest virtue" could mean different things to different people. And some of the inferences that could be drawn from these mottos just do not make sense. Hence one should be careful about latching on to catch phrases like these without fully understanding what it entails.Baggini does not pre-suppose any deep philosophical knowledge on the part of the readers. So, he explains any philosophical concepts that he brings up. In this way, the book is also a good introduction to philosophy. As other reviewers and even Baggini himself have mentioned, Baggini provides no clearcut prescription but a framework which can be used to live a meaningful and purposeful life. Baggini discusses and identifies a number of components of the purposeful life, but it is up to the readers to work out the specifics and to bring it to fruition. I find this approach very hopeful and motivating although I can understand that it can also feel daunting.For someone who is already well versed in philosophy, this book might not be a satisfying read. Baggini does not spend more than a couple of pages (small pages and large print!) on any of the philosophical concepts/theories that he introduces. But for the layperson looking to read her first book on the meaning/purpose of life, this book is great.

This is a wonderful book that is very accessible, and explores the nuances of various stances that are often held by proponents as providing meaning to life. Each stance, whether it is life as a pursuit of success, life with an end goal as happiness, life as a moral gymnasium, life as work, life as religion or spirituality, life in family or altruism and even thorny stances on the very existence on free will and choice are explored. There is no grand narrative on the meaning of life, which may disappoint solution seekers and often the very existence of meaning in life in the universe is questioned. The book made me reflect deeply, and I changed my mind on multiple things, as I read the book after taking into account his arguments. One of the points resonated with me deeply. Baggini states that it is not often the question that "does life have a meaning?" which is relevant, rather the question of "how do people find meaning in life" that matters.

This is an interesting ramble without matching its potentuak

Erfreulich distanziert, Ein kluger Blick aus der Weitwinkelperspektive auf den "Sinn des Lebens" . In leicht verständlichem, klaren Englisch geschrieben. Ich werde es in Etappen lesen, weil ich viele Anregungen zum Nachdenken bekomme. Und ich werde es immer wieder nachlesen.

A small volume that provides food for thought about the big issues. One small gripe would be that, like most philosophers, Baggini tends at times to think that knowledge can be acquired merely by thinking very clearly. This does provide a very good starting point but is insufficient. For example, Descartes tried it with 'I think, therefore I am'. Clear thinking can demonstrate the wrongness of his conclusion that nothing else but god could be verified, it is true, since clearly the language Descartes wrote this in is a social construct and he couldn't have used it in a world comprised only of himself. However, science can disprove even his first observation. Sufferers from Cotard's syndrome have a sense of identity and autobiography but believe they have ceased to exist - 'Am I dead?' they ask. Baggini dismisses the conclusions of evolutionary biology in the same way that Descartes might be supposed to dismiss the conclusions of modern neuroscience. However, much of the fun of reading philosophy is that it provides a challenge to think and Baggini's well-argued and usually crisp text does that well. Baggini takes on a big theme in a few pages and the overall result is a gem with few obvious flaws.

This makes you think about life.