On Desire: Why We Want What We Want (Hardcover)

~ William B. Irvine (Author)
Key Phrases: desire formation process, terminal desire, evolutionary master, The Science of Desire, Religious Advice Continued, Protestant Sects (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While most contemporary philosophers mull over theoretical matters and shy away from giving advice on how to live, Irvine plumbs the age-old question: how do we master our desires? When it comes to desire, he says, "we are like a vacation home owner who, regardless of who shows up at the door... welcomes the visitor and convinces himself that he must have invited the visitor." Our evolutionary past, Irvine claims, has wired us for endless dissatisfaction since, from an evolutionary standpoint, it doesn't matter if we're miserable as long as we survive and reproduce. Early humans who basked in contentment, he argues, were less likely to survive than ones with a nagging itch to better their lot. Given this treadmill, how can we lead happy, meaningful lives? Irvine shares the advice of those who claim that "undesirable desires arise because we care what other people think of us." Examining teachings of Zen Buddhists, the Amish, the Hutterites, Hellenistic philosophers (the Stoics, Epicureans and Skeptics) and others, he concludes, "the best way to gain... lasting satisfaction... is to change not the world and our position in it but ourselves... we should work at wanting what we already have." This is no easy task, and Irvine admits that readers seeking further instruction had best look elsewhere. (Oct.)
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From Booklist

In a ruminative volume that falls, thankfully, between mass-market, silver-bullet self-help guide and unreadable thesis, Irvine, a professor of philosophy at Wright State University, carefully, with intelligence and good humor, walks readers through the nature of desire in human beings. He explains how desire--really a multitude of desires, uninvited and unannounced--manifests itself, how it can be identified and parsed, and how it can be mastered in a way that offers the best chance at self-fulfillment. He uses modern psychology to delineate desire but then shows how the world's great religions--here mainly Christianity and Buddhism, but also Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism--address this phenomenon. He advocates no particular approach, admitting instead that different tacks probably work for different people. And he never lets the reader think that mastering desire will be easy. This is that rare book that should appeal to a wide range of readers without necessarily trying to do so. Alan Moores
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (November 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195188624
• ISBN-13: 978-0195188622
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #360,464 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary ... will change your view of everything, November 20, 2005

By	Tony Schwartz (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

How rare is it to read a book that is at once intellectually provocative truly original, accessibly and gracefully written, and relevant to everyday life? In "On Desire," William Irvine has done all of that and more. An academic philosopher by training, he's had the courage to write a book about how to live-- something most philosophers wouldn't think of doing. Irvine's subject is the primary impulse that drives and bedevils nearly all of us throughout our lives. We don't spend a lot of time thinking about desire (largely because we're too busy feeling captive to it) but Irvine has looked at it from multiple angles including science, religion, and philosophy,. If unmet desire is a leitmotif in your life (and in whose isn't it?), this book will give you a whole new way of looking at how to tame your impulsive passions without retiring to a cave or renouncing life's pleasures altogether.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pedagogic but persuasive, January 27, 2006

By	William K. Doak (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I say "pedagogic" because, as a former philosophy student, I can see where some of this might have come fairly directly from lectures. And I did find some of it slow-going at times, although the careful building of his arguments was persuasive. What lead me to read the book was a radio interview in which Irvine said that the Stoics were not drab, glum folk as are often assumed - they knew how to enjoy life and were particularly good at making the best of any situation. I have found Irvine's final thoughts valuable, although this is not, as he says, a self-help manual. Yet now, when I feel a desire, I remind myself that desires are not designed to lead us to happiness, and try to judge how much my life would be better - how much happier I would be, if at all - if I got what I desire. That's not an easy exercise. You can read more on that in the New York Times Magazine article, "The Futile Pursuit of Happiness, " published on September 7, 2003.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye-opening, February 7, 2006

By	Timothy West - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you're looking for a "philosophy" book that is practical, this book is a welcome addition. Reminiscent of the Ancient Schools of Philosophy - i.e. those that believed that philosophy should make a practical difference in your life, this book provides a comprehensive overview of desire along with some thoughts that may lessen our slavery. If there is one shortcoming, it comes from the fact that because the author covers so much ground, much of it is covered at a very surface level. It would have been helpful if the author could have included a "For Further Reading" section at the end of each chapter. However, when all is said, the value of this work is that it has organized and synthesized the topic and makes you think about what really is driving your behavior.