The Meaning of Life

The Meaning of Life PDF Author: Nathanael Novosel
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781948220002
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Get Book Here

Book Description
"What is the meaning of life?" Throughout history, people have spent much of their lives trying to explain how the world works and why. Initially, they seek to live better lives and thrive. Ultimately, they seek to find purpose and significance in their existence. Experience the scientific and philosophical journey billions of years in the making to answer the question that all living beings capable of rational thought will ask themselves: why are we here? Over the course of that journey, you will come to understand how humans determine their meaning and, with some of your own analysis, discover your own purpose along the way.

The Meaning of Life

The Meaning of Life PDF Author: Nathanael Novosel
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781948220002
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Get Book Here

Book Description
"What is the meaning of life?" Throughout history, people have spent much of their lives trying to explain how the world works and why. Initially, they seek to live better lives and thrive. Ultimately, they seek to find purpose and significance in their existence. Experience the scientific and philosophical journey billions of years in the making to answer the question that all living beings capable of rational thought will ask themselves: why are we here? Over the course of that journey, you will come to understand how humans determine their meaning and, with some of your own analysis, discover your own purpose along the way.

On Purpose

On Purpose PDF Author: Paul Froese
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199948909
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Get Book Here

Book Description
In On Purpose, Paul Froese brings together data from large national and international surveys with interviews that illuminate the ways in which people from all walks of life grapple with their continuous search for reason, truth, sense, success, happiness, and-ultimately-transcendence.

Recollections

Recollections PDF Author: Viktor E. Frankl
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0786724226
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 146

Get Book Here

Book Description
Born in 1905 in the center of the crumbling Austro-Hungarian Empire, Viktor Frankl was a witness to the great political, philosophical, and scientific upheavals of the twentieth century. In these stirring recollections, Frankl describes how as a young doctor of neurology in prewar Vienna his disagreements with Freud and Adler led to the development of "the third Viennese School of Psychotherapy," known as logotherapy; recounts his harrowing trials in four concentration camps during the War; and reflects on the celebrity brought by the publication of Man's Search for Meaning in 1945.

Life on Purpose

Life on Purpose PDF Author: Victor J. Strecher
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062409670
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 188

Get Book Here

Book Description
A step-by-step guide to improving your energy, willpower, health & long-term happiness using science, philosophy & the author’s own tragedies and triumphs. Imagine a drug that was proven to add years to your life, reduce risk of heart attack and stroke, cut your risk of Alzheimer’s disease by more than half, help you relax during the day and sleep better at night, double your chances of staying drug- and alcohol-free after treatment, activate your natural killer cells, diminish your inflammatory cells, increase your good cholesterol, and repair your chromosomes. What if this imaginary drug reduced hospital stays so much that it put a dent in the national health care crisis? The pharmaceutical company who made the drug would be worth billions. The inventors of the drug would receive Nobel Prizes and have institutes named for them. But it’s not a drug. It’s purpose. And it’s free. Victor Strecher, an award-winning pioneer in the field of behavioral science and professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, lost his nineteen-year-old daughter, Julia, to a rare heart disease that resulted from an infant case of chicken pox. This life event challenged every aspect of Strecher’s personal and professional experience and drove him to an exhaustive search, from ancient philosophy to cutting-edge science, to pinpoint the potential and impact of purpose in our lives. What is it? How can we discover it? And what does the latest research tell us about the importance of how purpose affects our overall health and happiness? The results of this groundbreaking investigation are revelatory and the crux of this engaging book. But Life on Purpose does more than just provide the latest science, it offers a step-by-step program for improving energy, willpower, health, and long-term happiness. Strecher’s smart, personal, and highly practical book will fundamentally change the way we understand what it means to lead a good life. “With a powerful combination of science, philosophy, and personal tragedies and triumphs, this is a poignant read on the key ingredients for purpose in life.” —Adam Grant, Wharton professor and New York Times–bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take “Strecher . . . gifts us the ability to define our purpose and immediately start instilling into our own lives. Make no mistake, understanding this concept is not only good for your health—it is good for the whole world.” —Sanjay Gupta, New York Times–bestselling author and Chief Medical Correspondent CNN

What's It All About?

What's It All About? PDF Author: Julian Baggini
Publisher: Granta Publications
ISBN: 1847089208
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 179

Get Book Here

Book Description
“Secular-minded readers seeking an alternative to The Purpose-Driven Life have an excellent starting point here.”—Publishers Weekly For readers who are serious about confronting the big issues in life—but are turned off by books which deal with them through religion, spirituality, or psychobabble, this is an honest, intelligent discussion by a philosopher that doesn't hide from the difficulties or make undeliverable promises. It aims to help the reader understand the overlooked issues behind the obvious questions, and shows how philosophy does not so much answer them as help provide us with the resources to answer them for ourselves. “Useful and provocative.”—The Wall Street Journal “Looking for a clear guide to what contemporary philosophy has to say about the meaning of life? Baggini takes us through all the plausible answers, weaving together Kierkegaard, John Stuart Mill, Monty Python, and Funkadelic in an entertaining but always carefully reasoned discussion.”—Peter Singer, author of How Are We To Live “The question of the meaning of life has long been a byword for pretentious rambling. It takes some nerve to tackle it in a brisk and no-nonsense fashion.”—New Statesman

The Four Purposes of Life

The Four Purposes of Life PDF Author: Dan Millman
Publisher: H J Kramer
ISBN: 1932073736
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 172

Get Book Here

Book Description
For many of us, life seems like a puzzle with missing pieces. We form plans and change them; we choose one path then another, trying to find the right mate and career, hoping that we’ve made the right decision and that it will all work out. At some point, we ask ourselves the central question: What is the purpose of my life? Few writers approach the topic of life purpose with the clarity of Dan Millman, whose prior book The Life You Were Born to Live has reached more than a million readers worldwide. In The Four Purposes of Life, Millman distills decades of exploration and experience into a concise map of what we’re here to accomplish on our life’s journey. This book is for anyone seeking deeper insight into themselves and their lives, but especially for those at a crossroads, facing a challenge or change, when past approaches no longer work.

Meaning in Life and Why It Matters

Meaning in Life and Why It Matters PDF Author: Susan Wolf
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691154503
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 161

Get Book Here

Book Description
A fresh reflection on what makes life meaningful Most people, including philosophers, tend to classify human motives as falling into one of two categories: the egoistic or the altruistic, the self-interested or the moral. According to Susan Wolf, however, much of what motivates us does not comfortably fit into this scheme. Often we act neither for our own sake nor out of duty or an impersonal concern for the world. Rather, we act out of love for objects that we rightly perceive as worthy of love—and it is these actions that give meaning to our lives. Wolf makes a compelling case that, along with happiness and morality, this kind of meaningfulness constitutes a distinctive dimension of a good life. Written in a lively and engaging style, and full of provocative examples, Meaning in Life and Why It Matters is a profound and original reflection on a subject of permanent human concern.

The Power of Purpose

The Power of Purpose PDF Author: Richard J. Leider
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ISBN: 1626566380
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 196

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this third edition of his bestselling classic, the legendary personal coach offers brand-new tools and techniques for unlocking your life’s purpose. Purpose is an active expression of our values and our compassion for others—it makes us want to get up in the morning and add value to the world. The Power of Purpose details a graceful, practical, and ultimately spiritual process for making it central to your life. This completely revised and updated edition will help you bring a sense of purpose to everything you do. In addition to new stories, examples, and resources, this third edition features four new chapters. “Purpose across the Ages” looks at how purpose can evolve during our lives. “The 24-Hour Purpose Retreat” includes seven mind-opening questions to help you unlock your purpose. “The Purpose Checkup” offers a new tool for periodically evaluating the health of your purpose. And in “Can Science Explain Purpose?” we learn what researchers are discovering about how purpose can improve our health, healing, happiness, longevity, and productivity

Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life

Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life PDF Author: James Hollis
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101216697
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 376

Get Book Here

Book Description
What does it really mean to be a grown up in today’s world? We assume that once we “get it together” with the right job, marry the right person, have children, and buy a home, all is settled and well. But adulthood presents varying levels of growth, and is rarely the respite of stability we expected. Turbulent emotional shifts can take place anywhere between the age of thirty-five and seventy when we question the choices we’ve made, realize our limitations, and feel stuck—commonly known as the “midlife crisis.” Jungian psycho-analyst James Hollis believes it is only in the second half of life that we can truly come to know who we are and thus create a life that has meaning. In Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life, Hollis explores the ways we can grow and evolve to fully become ourselves when the traditional roles of adulthood aren’t quite working for us, revealing a new way of uncovering and embracing our authentic selves. Offering wisdom to anyone facing a career that no longer seems fulfilling, a long-term relationship that has shifted, or family transitions that raise issues of aging and mortality, Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life provides a reassuring message and a crucial bridge across this critical passage of adult development.

The Power of Meaning

The Power of Meaning PDF Author: Emily Esfahani Smith
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 055344655X
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 269

Get Book Here

Book Description
In a culture obsessed with happiness, this wise, stirring book points the way toward a richer, more satisfying life. Too many of us believe that the search for meaning is an esoteric pursuit—that you have to travel to a distant monastery or page through dusty volumes to discover life’s secrets. The truth is, there are untapped sources of meaning all around us—right here, right now. To explore how we can craft lives of meaning, Emily Esfahani Smith synthesizes a kaleidoscopic array of sources—from psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, and neuroscientists to figures in literature and history such as George Eliot, Viktor Frankl, Aristotle, and the Buddha. Drawing on this research, Smith shows us how cultivating connections to others, identifying and working toward a purpose, telling stories about our place in the world, and seeking out mystery can immeasurably deepen our lives. To bring what she calls the four pillars of meaning to life, Smith visits a tight-knit fishing village in the Chesapeake Bay, stargazes in West Texas, attends a dinner where young people gather to share their experiences of profound loss, and more. She also introduces us to compelling seekers of meaning—from the drug kingpin who finds his purpose in helping people get fit to the artist who draws on her Hindu upbringing to create arresting photographs. And she explores how we might begin to build a culture that leaves space for introspection and awe, cultivates a sense of community, and imbues our lives with meaning. Inspiring and story-driven, The Power of Meaning will strike a profound chord in anyone seeking a life that matters.