The Good Life Method
Reasoning Through the Big Questions of Happiness, Faith, and Meaning
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4.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
Two Philosophers Ask and Answer the Big Questions About the Search for Faith and Happiness
For seekers of all stripes, philosophy is timeless self-care. University of Notre Dame philosophy professors Meghan Sullivan and Paul Blaschko have shepherded thousands of students on the journey to faith and happiness in their blockbuster undergraduate course God and the Good Life.
Now they invite us into their classroom to wrestle with the big questions about how to live and what makes life meaningful. They distill guidance from Aristotle, Plato, Marcus Aurelius, Iris Murdoch, and W. E. B. Du Bois to work through issues like what justifies our beliefs, whether we should practice a religion, and what sacrifices we should make for others.
The Good Life Method applies the timeless wisdom of philosophy to real- world case studies that explore love, finance, truth, and more. In so doing, this book pushes us to escape our own caves, ask stronger questions, explain our deepest goals, and wrestle with suffering, the nature of death, and the existence of God.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Philosophy can supply the methods" for living a good life, according to this wise and accessible guide. Notre Dame philosophy professors Sullivan (Time Biases) and Blaschko bring to the page their course on applying philosophy to one's life plans, covering the works of such thinkers as Plato, Søren Kierkegaard, William James, and Elizabeth Anscombe to provide a philosophical foundation in virtue ethics. Their ideas, the authors posit, can help one find their way to eudaimonia, an Aristotelian concept that means "having fulfilled your function as a human being." The first half of the study focuses on such concerns as jobs, relationships, and money, and the authors use Plato's approach to sophistry, for example, to discuss finding common ground in a polarized political age ("Tolerance is a virtue directed at people with positions, not positions themselves"). The second half deals with more spiritual subjects such as religion, contemplation, and suffering; though both authors are forthright about their Catholic beliefs, their entertaining and insightful approach to applying philosophy everyday will appeal to readers both religious and not. Those pondering the perennial question of how to live a good life should start here.
