This I Don’t Believe

This I Don’t Believe confronts the common fear that life has no intrinsic meaning, then describes one path to fulfillment without it. Mixing memoir and philosophy, Robert Jensen invites readers to ponder the possibility of life without transcendence. Rejecting common sources of meaning—belief in God, spirituality, Nature mysticism, and free will—need not leave us stuck with nihilism. Drawing on his work as a journalist and professor, Jensen suggests that a life of thinking and work—joyful inquiry into a wonderfully complex world, coupled with a practice of ordinary labor—is enough to create a fulfilling life.

Philosophy is often impersonal and abstruse, intellectually dense and abstract. This I Don’t Believe is deeply personal and practical. Starting with an account of a broken childhood, Jensen explains how he built a worldview that doesn’t look away from the harshness of the world, yet isn’t suffocated by it. The book offers a jargon-free tour through contemporary philosophy and politics, encouraging readers to reflect on their own choices and commitments.

Rather than simply rehashing well-known theological and philosophical arguments, This I Don’t Believe makes a case for:

 - resisting the temptation to answer questions to which we cannot know the answers;

 - accepting the limits of human understanding and learning to be comfortable with not-knowing;

 - recognizing how little we understand not just about the world but about ourselves; and

 - finding joy in everyday activities without assigning deeper meaning to them.