Meaning of Things [Hardcover]

A C Grayling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 9, 2001

'The unconsidered life is not worth living' - Socrates. Thinking about life, what it means and what it holds in store does not have to be a despondent experience, but rather can be enlightening and uplifting. A life truly worth living is one that is informed and considered so a degree of philosophical insight into the inevitabilities of the human condition is inherently important and such an approach will help us to deal with real personal dilemmas. This book is an accessible, lively and thought-provoking series of linked commentaries, based on A. C. Grayling's 'The Last Word' column in the Guardian. Its aim is not to persuade readers to accept one particular philosophical point of view or theory, but to help us consider the wonderful range of insights which can be drawn from an immeasurably rich history of philosophical thought. Concepts covered include courage, love, betrayal, ambition, cruelty, wisdom, passion, beauty and death. This will be a wonderfully stimulating read and act as an invaluable guide as to what is truly important in living life, whether facing success, failure, justice, wrong, love, loss or any of the other profound experience life throws out.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I find the clarity of his thinking so refreshing." -- Pam Ferris --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Anthony Grayling teaches philosophy at Birkbeck College, London and is a Fellow of St Anne's, Oxford. He reviews regularly in the Financial Times. He has a regular column in Prospect and the Guardian on Saturday.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 196 pages
• Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson (August 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0297607588
• ISBN-13: 978-0297607588
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,330,906 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Surely not a philosophy book?, January 10, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Meaning of Things (Hardcover)

After reading the reviews here I couldn't wait to get started on this book. But when I did, I was intensely disappointed. The book is shelved in my local bookshop under "Philosophy". Its title describes it as applying "philosophy" to life. But it seemed to me to bear no resemblance at all to a work of philosophy, in that all it really consists of is a series of unargued assertions.
In fact I happen to agree with a lot of these assertions. It's not that I'm a rabid right-winger who is opposed to the author's standpoint. The problem is that the conceptual underpinning of that standpoint - which forms the starting point for the assertions in the book - isn't mentioned at all. And I expect more of a book which is marketed as "philosophy" than for it simply to parrot back my own beliefs at me without any reasoned argument.
For instance, at page 142 (in the chapter on poverty), the book confidently states that: "One of the measures of a good society is how it treats the poor".
This is an assertion with which most of us (I guess) are going to agree. But surely it marks the conclusion of a philosophical argument about the nature of good, the nature of society etc, and the beginning of a practical argument about how to put that conclusion into effect? The author doesn't give any indication of the underlying philosophical argument, only the resulting practical one.
I don't think this cop-out is justified by the title: if you're applying philosophy to life, don't you need to have some idea of the ingredients in that philosophy, and why you've come to the conclusions you have? Surely "practical application" requires understanding, and thus a good grounding of reasoned argument?
The book seemed more to me like a selection of political opinion pieces in a newspaper than a philosophical work: and on looking at the introduction I see that's because that is exactly what it is. (It started life as a series of articles in the Guardian newspaper.) It's moderately interesting, but no more philosophy than an Observer editorial is.
I'm sure there are better practical guides out there to the "application of philosopy to life". I seem to remember a book by Peter Singer, called "Practical Ethics" which hit the spot. And hasn't Mary Warnock written in this area?
If you think you want a challenge, rather than an unargued re-assertion of your own views, I'd have a good look at this in a bookshop before buying, because it may well not be what you're after.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't be misled into buying the same (good!) book twice, January 22, 2004

By 

Keith Appleyard "kapple999" (Brighton, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Meaning of Things (Paperback)

Beware : this book is also available as "Meditations for the Humanist" - so don't be fooled or misled into buying the same book twice - my approving review has already appeared elsewhere .....

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I was and still am so impressed, October 21, 2003

By 

Kosovar (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Meaning of Things (Hardcover)

Wow.This book even though philosophical 'heavy' read it was as pleasant as any gripping novels. I couldn't stop reading it and I had to finish at the same night I've started. The quotations the writer chose for the beginning of each 'chapter' were elusive and very very thought provoking ones. And his comments about a variety of subjects were absolutely smart too. It replaced most of my thoughts with his. If you really want to prove it to someone that philosophy is not as confusing as people think then recommend this book as it is a delight for the hungry minds.
Nice work