Ebook312 pages5 hours
The Deepest Human Life: An Introduction to Philosophy for Everyone
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
2/5
()
About this ebook
This accessible and thought-provoking introduction to philosophy shows how the eternal questions can shed light on our lives and struggles.
These days, we generally leave philosophical matters to professional philosophers. Scott Samuelson thinks this is tragic, for our lives as well as for philosophy. In The Deepest Human Life, he restores philosophy to its proper place at the center of our humanity, rediscovering it as our most profound effort toward understanding, as a way of life that anyone can live. Exploring the works of some of history’s most important thinkers in the context of the everyday struggles of his students, Samuelson guides readers through the most vexing quandaries of existence—and shows just how enriching the examined life can be.
Samuelson begins at the beginning: with Socrates, and the method he developed for approaching our greatest mysteries. From there he embarks on a journey through the history of philosophy, demonstrating how it is encoded in our own personal quests for meaning. Through heartbreaking stories, humanizing biographies, accessible theory, and evocative interludes like “On Wine and Bicycles” or “On Zombies and Superheroes,” Samuelson invests philosophy with the personal and vice versa. The result is a book that is at once a primer and a reassurance—that the most important questions endure, coming to life in each of us.
Winner of the 2015 Hiett Prize in the Humanities
These days, we generally leave philosophical matters to professional philosophers. Scott Samuelson thinks this is tragic, for our lives as well as for philosophy. In The Deepest Human Life, he restores philosophy to its proper place at the center of our humanity, rediscovering it as our most profound effort toward understanding, as a way of life that anyone can live. Exploring the works of some of history’s most important thinkers in the context of the everyday struggles of his students, Samuelson guides readers through the most vexing quandaries of existence—and shows just how enriching the examined life can be.
Samuelson begins at the beginning: with Socrates, and the method he developed for approaching our greatest mysteries. From there he embarks on a journey through the history of philosophy, demonstrating how it is encoded in our own personal quests for meaning. Through heartbreaking stories, humanizing biographies, accessible theory, and evocative interludes like “On Wine and Bicycles” or “On Zombies and Superheroes,” Samuelson invests philosophy with the personal and vice versa. The result is a book that is at once a primer and a reassurance—that the most important questions endure, coming to life in each of us.
Winner of the 2015 Hiett Prize in the Humanities
Read more from Scott Samuelson
Seven Ways of Looking at Pointless Suffering: What Philosophy Can Tell Us About the Hardest Mystery of All Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rome as a Guide to the Good Life: A Philosophical Grand Tour Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Deepest Human Life
Related ebooks
A Significant Life: Human Meaning in a Silent Universe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Socrates Express: In Search of Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quotes That Will Change Your Life: A Currated Collection of Mind-Blowing Wisdom Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Gateway to the Stoics: Marcus Aurelius's Meditations, Epictetus's Enchiridion, and Selections from Seneca's Letters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhen Bad Thinking Happens to Good People: How Philosophy Can Save Us from Ourselves Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Madison's Music: On Reading the First Amendment Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Great Guide: What David Hume Can Teach Us about Being Human and Living Well Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Shrink and the Sage: A Guide to Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Think like a Philosopher: Twelve Key Principles for More Humane, Balanced, and Rational Thinking Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Evolution of Imagination Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat's It All About?: Philosophy & the Meaning of Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mirror, Mirror: The Uses and Abuses of Self-Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Intellectual Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Decent Life: Morality for the Rest of Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Polymath: Unlocking the Power of Human Versatility Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Man vs Mind: Everyday Psychology Explained Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Socrates and the Enlightenment Path Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Think Least of Death: Spinoza on How to Live and How to Die Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The History of Now Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It’s Just a Thought: Emotional Freedom through Deliberate Thinking Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSurvival of the Nicest: How Altruism Made Us Human and Why It Pays to Get Along Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Starting from Scratch: The Life-Changing Lessons of Aeneas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSiddhartha's Brain: Unlocking the Ancient Science of Enlightenment Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Breakfast with Socrates: An Extraordinary (Philosophical) Journey Through Your Ordinary Day Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Self Beyond Itself: An Alternative History of Ethics, the New Brain Sciences, and the Myth of Free Will Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Art of Routine: Discover How Routineology Can Transform Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Reasons without Rationalism Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Philosophy For You
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sun Tzu's The Art of War: Bilingual Edition Complete Chinese and English Text Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meditations: Complete and Unabridged Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Denial of Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Courage to Be Happy: Discover the Power of Positive Psychology and Choose Happiness Every Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Republic by Plato Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Loving Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar...: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Good and Evil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Experiencing God (2021 Edition): Knowing and Doing the Will of God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Little Book of Stoicism: Timeless Wisdom to Gain Resilience, Confidence, and Calmness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5History of Western Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Human Condition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Be Here Now Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tao Te Ching: A New English Version Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lying Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bhagavad Gita (in English): The Authentic English Translation for Accurate and Unbiased Understanding Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tao Te Ching: Six Translations Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Buddha's Guide to Gratitude: The Life-changing Power of Everyday Mindfulness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Complete Papyrus of Ani Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Bhagavad Gita Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Course in Miracles: Text, Workbook for Students, Manual for Teachers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Inward Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Deepest Human Life
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
2/5
1 rating1 review
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Some nice story telling about philosophers, but there is little philosophy in it. It is also misleading because it is not an 'introduction to philosophy' whatsoever. It's a nice personal reflection by somebody who has read a lot of philosophy and general humanities - a reflection that shows a personal disposition for the 'mystical'. But it's hardly philosophy.
Book preview
The Deepest Human Life - Scott Samuelson
e book_preview_excerpt.html }˒DZjL4+4
Hk"0ts`̨D壘.V'h5ff+d9),vU#Ǐ{9|{˛O~"ge]ǐ}_\e]bCE]Y}{؝0d?ضE}[cWUmBSdeno˘uc*ݗm~Xʾ{xO
]ln0v2\mncum(.o>>|zd