Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It [Paperback]

Craig Biddle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2002

Loving Life demonstrates that morality is a matter not of divine revelation or social convention or personal opinion -- but, rather, of the factual requirements of human life and happiness. Biddle shows how a true morality is derived logically from observable facts, what in essence such a morality demands, and why it is a matter of pure self-interest.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...Biddle demolishes the conventional wisdom that holds sacrifice as a moral ideal and offers...a compelling alternative." -- Center for the Advancement of Capitalism

"...challenging, informative, thoughtful.... Loving Life is very highly recommended reading...." -- Midwest Book Review

"...clear, simple, and...succinct.... [Biddle] performs effectively the difficult task of taking abstract moral principles and concretizing them...." -- The Intellectual Activist

"From start to finish, Loving Life engages the reader with its lively conversational style." -- The Ayn Rand Bookstore

From the Publisher

_Loving Life_ begins by exposing the baseless nature of the various moralities that call for human sacrifice and lead to human suffering; it then shows how a true morality is derived logically from observable facts and what such a morality implies--personally, socially, and politically. With clarity and elegance, Biddle demonstrates the principles, values, and virtues that are essential to human life and happiness; and he defines and defends the social and political conditions that are required for people to live together as civilized beings. His lucid discussion ranges from the fundamental cause of the massacre at Columbine High School to why Islamic terrorists are committed altruists; from what is wrong with subjectivism to why religion is a form of subjectivism; from the objective foundation of morality to the universal requirements of personal happiness; from the essence of moral virtue to why laissez-faire capitalism is the only moral social system. This book is as timely as it is profound.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Glen Allen Pr Llc (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971373701
• ISBN-13: 978-0971373709
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #330,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A profound yet easily accessible text on self-interest, September 5, 2002

By 

Nicholas Provenzo (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It (Paperback)

The material abundance and individual freedom that is the hallmark of capitalism rests on upon the ethics of self-interest, but today perhaps no code of morality is more misunderstood and maligned. In a profound yet easily accessible text, Craig Biddle demolishes the conventional wisdom that holds sacrifice as a moral ideal and offers the honest reader a compelling alternative.

Through examples drawn from today's headlines, historical analysis and the thoughtful examination of leading intellectual thinkers, Loving Life clearly demonstrates that morality is a matter not of divine revelation or social convention or personal opinion-but, rather, of the factual requirements of human life and happiness. Biddle shows how a true morality is derived logically from observable facts, what in essence such a morality demands, and why it is a matter of pure self-interest.

Loving Life exposes the baseless nature of the various moralities that call for human sacrifice and lead to human suffering and shows how a true morality is derived logically from observable facts and what such a morality implies-personally, socially, and politically. With clarity and elegance, Biddle demonstrates the principles, values, and virtues that are essential to human life and happiness; and he defines and defends the social and political conditions that are required for people to live together as civilized beings.

This book is the perfect book to give to a friend or relative who needs an intellectual jumpstart in their lives.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For students of ethics and morality, April 13, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It (Paperback)

Loving Life: The Morality Of Self-Interest And The Facts That Support It by Craig Biddle is a challenging, informative, thoughtful treatise about the true meaning of ethics. Putting forth that morality does not come from God, social convention, personal opinion, or limiting oneself to what is culturally accepted, but rather embodied in reason, logic, cause and effect, and understanding the importance and value of human life and happiness. Loving Life is a fresh voice of reason about truly living well and pursuing happiness within ethical bounds that are righteous for the best reason of all - because they are rationally constructed out of respect and love for all other human beings. Loving Life is very highly recommended reading for both students of ethics and morality, as well as the non-specialist general readers with an interest in philosophy.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Objectivist Alternative, August 8, 2002

By 

Gideon Reich (CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It (Paperback)

The primary virtue of the this book is a complete demolition of the typical Conservative claim that without God there is no morality. Craig Biddle does an excellent job of refuting all sides (the religious and personal or social subjectivist) of that particular mistaken proposition in all their manifestations and proves his points both with authoritative quotes from the various advocates and helpful examples that serve to clarify the ideas in a manner far better than I've seen in virtually all presentations of this sort.

In addition Mr. Biddle does not just stop there but spends the rest of the book presenting the proper alternative to the false God/Anything Goes dichotomy -- a morality based of reason and principled self-intest. He shows how morality can be derived from facts and what the specifics of such a fact-based morality would look like. He concludes by outlining the essential principle of politics -- individual rights.