The Meaning of Life

Featuring twenty-five insightful selections by prominent philosophers, literary figures, and religious thinkers, The Meaning of Life: A Reader, Fourth Edition, serves as an ideal core text for courses on the meaning of life and introduction to philosophy courses where the topic is emphasized. In Part I the articles defend the view that without faith in God, life has no meaning or purpose. In Part II the selections oppose this claim, defending instead a nontheistic, humanistic alternative--that life can have meaning even in the absence of theistic commitment. In Part III the readings address whether the question of the meaning of life is itself meaningful. The fourth edition adds selections reflecting Buddhist and Confucian thought and also features a new Part IV on the end of life, raising issues about how our perspectives on death affect our understanding of the meaning of life.

• The Warriors: Reflections on Men in Battle
• Why Does the World Exist?: An Existential Detective Story
• A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality (Hackett Philosophical Dialogues)
• Born on the Fourth of July: 40th Anniversary Edition
• What's It All About?: Philosophy and the Meaning of Life
• Conditions of Love: The Philosophy of Intimacy
• God?: A Debate between a Christian and an Atheist (Point/Counterpoint)
• Death and the Afterlife (The Berkeley Tanner Lectures)
• Finding Meaning in an Imperfect World
• Theories of Happiness: An Anthology