Life, Death and Meaning

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 BenatarOs 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.

ISBN 1442201703   Pages 472 ISBN13 9781442201705 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 735 Publisher Rowman & Littlefield   Published in Lanham, MD Imprint Rowman & Littlefield Publishers   Height (mm) 231 Format Paperback   Width (mm) 154 Publication date 01 Mar 2010   Spine width (mm) 29 DEWEY 100   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

Pt. I		The Meaning of Life
1		The Meaning of Life by Richard Taylor
2		The Absurd by Thomas Nagel
3		"Nothing Matters" by Richard Hare
4		Philosophy and the Meaning of Life by W. D. Joske
5		Philosophy and the Meaning of Life by Robert Nozick
6		The Meanings of Life by David Schmidt
		Suggestions for Further Reading on the Meaning of Life
Pt. II		Creating People
7		Whether Causing Someone to Exist Can Benefit This Person by Derek Paifit
8		Why Not Let Life Become Extinct? by John Leslie
9		On Becoming Extinct by James Lenman
10		Why It Is Better Never to Come into Existence by David Benatar
		Suggestions for Further Reading on Creating People
Pt. III		Death
11		How to Be Dead and Not Care: A Defense of Epicurus by Stephen E. Rosenbaum
12		The Misfortunes of the Dead by George Pitcher
13		Annihilation by Steven Luper
14		Some Puzzles About the Evil of Death by Fred Feldman
15		Pre-Vital and Post-Mortem Non-Existence by Frederik Kaufman
16		Why Death Is Not Bad for the One Who Died by David B. Suits
		Suggestions for Further Reading on Death
Pt. IV		Suicide
17		Of Suicide by David Hume
		More...

The selection of papers is excellent...Benatar has done a first rate job in fulfilling, and when necessary balancing, all those requirements and has produced an exceptionally good, interesting and informative collection of papers. Students and educated laypersons who read through the anthology will become familiar with some of the best and most representative works in the field which include many of the most central and important arguments on the issues discussed...This collection should prove to be an important contribution to the development of the discussion on Analytic Existentialism. Metapsychology Online Reviews, May 2010 Students and educated laypersons who read through the anthology will become familiar with some of the best and most representative works in the field which include many of the most central and important arguments on the issues discussed. While the articles are interesting and of a very high academic level, they are not too technical, too long, or otherwise difficult for students or the educated public to follow. Although there are already some anthologies that discuss the meaning of life, none relate the topic to questions of immortality, death, suicide, or the benefit of coming into existence as this one does. -- Iddo Landau Metapsychology, March 2010

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