The Human Predicament

The Human Predicament
Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Total Pages : 289
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780190633837
ISBN-13 : 0190633832
Rating : 4/5 (37 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Human Predicament by : David Benatar

Download or read book The Human Predicament written by David Benatar and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-05-05 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are our lives meaningful, or meaningless? Is our inevitable death a bad thing? Would immortality be an improvement? Would it be better, all things considered, to hasten our deaths by suicide? Many people ask these big questions -- and some people are plagued by them. Surprisingly, analytic philosophers have said relatively little about these important questions about the meaning of life. When they have tackled the big questions, they have tended, like popular writers, to offer comforting, optimistic answers. The Human Predicament invites readers to take a clear-eyed and unfettered view of the human condition. David Benatar here offers a substantial, but not unmitigated, pessimism about the central questions of human existence. He argues that while our lives can have some meaning, we are ultimately the insignificant beings that we fear we might be. He maintains that the quality of life, although less bad for some than for others, leaves much to be desired in even the best cases. Worse, death is generally not a solution; in fact, it exacerbates rather than mitigates our cosmic meaninglessness. While it can release us from suffering, it imposes another cost - annihilation. This state of affairs has nuanced implications for how we should think about many things, including immortality and suicide, and how we should think about the possibility of deeper meaning in our lives. Ultimately, this thoughtful, provocative, and deeply candid treatment of life's big questions will interest anyone who has contemplated why we are here, and what the answer means for how we should live.


The Human Predicament Related Books

The Human Predicament
Language: en
Pages: 289
Authors: David Benatar
Categories: Philosophy
Type: BOOK - Published: 2017-05-05 - Publisher: Oxford University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Are our lives meaningful, or meaningless? Is our inevitable death a bad thing? Would immortality be an improvement? Would it be better, all things considered, t
The Predicament of Or
Language: en
Pages: 126
Authors: Shani Mootoo
Categories: Poetry
Type: BOOK - Published: 2001 - Publisher: Raincoast Books

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Celebrated novelist Shani Mootoo, author of the award-winning Cereus Blooms at Night, turns her hand to poetry in a nuanced and lively exploration of desire, id
Putin's Predicament
Language: en
Pages: 231
Authors: Bo Petersson
Categories: Political Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2021-09-09 - Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Using the Russian president’s major public addresses as the main source, Bo Petersson analyzes the legitimization strategies employed during Vladimir Putin’
The Predicament of Blackness
Language: en
Pages: 285
Authors: Jemima Pierre
Categories: Business & Economics
Type: BOOK - Published: 2013 - Publisher: University of Chicago Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

What is the meaning of blackness in Africa? This title tackles the question of race in West Africa through its post-colonial manifestations. Pierre examines key
Mr. Crum’s Potato Predicament
Language: en
Pages: 41
Authors: Anne Renaud
Categories: Juvenile Fiction
Type: BOOK - Published: 2017-09-05 - Publisher: Kids Can Press Ltd

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A mouthwatering tale of invention. When a persnickety customer named Filbert P. Horsefeathers complains that George CrumÍs fried potatoes are too thick, George