Life and Meaning: A Philosophical Reader

Introduction.

Part I: Has Life a Meaning?.

1. Vanity of Vanities: Ecclesiastes.

2. My Confession: Leo Tolstoy.

3. The Purpose of Man's Existence: Kurt Baier.

4. Has the Question about the Meaning of Life any Meaning? Rudolf Wohlgennant.

5. The Meaning of Life: Richard Taylor.

6. The Absurd: Thomas Nagel.

7. On the Meaning of Life: Moritz Schlick.

8. What is There in Horse Racing? John Wisdom.

Part II: Death, Suffering and the Value of Life:.

9. We Have Nothing to Fear in Death: Lucretius.

10. Death: Mary Mothersill.

11. Why We Should not be Biased towards the Future: Derek Parfit.

12. The Vanity and Suffering of Life: Arthur Schpenhauer.

13. Murder and a World without Human Beings: G. E. Moore.

14. The Sanctity of Life: Jonathan Glover.

15. What is Wrong with Killing People? R. E. Ewin.

16. A Covenant for the Ark? Peter Singer.

Part III: Nature and Society:.

17. The Tree of Knowledge: Genesis.

18. The Origin of Inequality: Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

19. Of the Natural Condition of Mankind as Concerning their Felicity, and Misery: Thomas Hobbes.

20. Man and the State: Aristotle.

21. Nature: John Stuart Mill.

Part IV: Pleasure, Happiness and Self-Realization:.

22. Pleasure and Desire: Plato.

23. The Difference of Quality I Pleasures and of What Sort of Proof the Principle of Utility is Susceptible: John Stuart Mill.

24. The Experience Machine: Robert Nozick.

25. How Should a Man Live? Aristotle.

26. My Station and its Duties: F. H. Bradley.

27. Freedom and Bad Faith: Jean-Paul Sartre.

28. Homo Ludens: J. Huizinga.

29. Moral Tradition: John Keres.

Index.