A economist, a pastor, and a psychiatrist join forces to encourage readers to examine their lives and themselves intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually, and to examine seriously and systematically the why of our existence. "A good job. . . . A quest for meaning cannot be conducted without some reference to an ultimate concern."--James M. Wall, Christian Century.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
This book grew out of an undergraduate seminar at Duke University, taught during Operation Desert Storm by an economist and a theologian; later, a psychiatrist from Warsaw joined the seminar faculty. These authors present very clearly not only the meaninglessness, alienation, and acquisitiveness of modern life but also its consequences--orthodoxy, hedonism, narcissism, and health fetishism. Believing that being, rather than having, is the key to meaning, the authors discuss meaningful work, helpful tools in the search for meaning (e.g., psychotherapy, literature, art, religion, education), and the development of soul. This book never imposes an ideology or doctrines of any religion, but it does guide the reader toward honest searching. Highly recommended for all libraries.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is a wonderful source to help you on your search for meaning in life. It tells us that us that each of can not be expected to be given meaning, but we must find meaning for ourselves. Hence, life becomes an adventure for everyone, where we must contemplate our existence to the extent that we must avoid preoccupation with meaninglessness, separation and having and instead focus on being. With being you can uncover your spiritual quest, intellectual growth, emotional balance and physiological homeostasis. This book forces you to think about your present mode of life. Are you so busy that traffic, long hours, and plane rides consume your life? Do you let yourself buy into that accumulating wealth will bring you happiness? Many more questions are presented and analyzed and this book is recommended for one who is facing difficulty in life or just interested and curious if there is meaning. I can say that after reading this book that I have a much better conception of meaning for myself and approach the forthcoming years of my life with more understanding that life is a puzzle that one can put together if you take the time and patience to carefully think how to put the pieces together.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I first read The Search for Meaning by Thomas Naylor, William H. Willimon, and Magdalena R. Naylor in 1994 when it was originally published. I read it because the topic interested me, having read Viktor E. Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, an important work with a simple message. Further, I had read Willimon before, since in 1989 he had written a compelling book called Resident Aliens along with Stanley Hauerwas, both theologians at Duke University. My memory of the Naylor, Willimon, and Naylor book was that it was an easy read but somewhat superficial considering the topic; perhaps the lack of depth made me search for greater insights, however. So I reread it again in 2007 and wrote this review (with personal commentary).
First, some blunt criticisms: The introduction and the first four chapters dwell on what is wrong with humanity and are scattered with hyperbole, assertions, and scoldings. Here are some examples and I'll leave it to the reader to judge which is an exaggeration, an unfounded declaration, or a rebuke...and to what extent they may contain truths: "We are living in the midst of a spiritual crisis of unprecedented proportions" and "The specter of nihilism looms over us" and "Our entire economy is driven by our intense psychological need to fill a spiritual and emotional vacuum" and "The problem of most people living in affluent Western industrial democracies is that we have too much freedom rather than too little" and "most Americans behave as mindless conformists" and "To cope with our fear of death, we spend our entire lives denying that we are going to die" and "In order for our economy to function, those who are expected to do the work must believe in the American dream, which links happiness to what one owns." Each of these statements can either "wind us up" (pro or con) or lead us to further analysis.
They have a long list of complaints, engaging in the sport of describing what I call the "ain't it awfuls." For example: We have too many choices, there is no vision of the future, conspicuous consumption rules, we're raping the entire planet, happiness merely means hedonism. They stress the negatives of adventurism, legalism (protecting property), patriotism, organized religion, health fetishism, and individualism. We're a selfish people and we suffer from separation and meaninglessness; and we have too much--our possessions define us.
I won't comment on all of them here but I will address their thoughts on freedom. In the book (page 53), they correctly note that freedom can be used for creative purposes in the quest for meaning--"intellectual growth, emotional integrity, and psychological balance." Alternatively, we can surrender our freedom to an outside authority sometimes with dire consequences...or have it taken from us abruptly, or by the drip-drip-drip encroachment of a soft-fascism "for our own good." But then they say we have too much freedom and too many choices adding that "without a well-developed sense of meaning, the way in which we exercise our boundless [?] freedom will be strongly influenced by our personal whims, the wishes of others, the marketplace, fads, and domestic and international political events." My first thought was: Okay, I can think of people I know operating this way. But how is that to be corrected? Behavior management? By whose authority? Do those things need to be corrected? How? By limiting the freedom to act on whim? Their approach to the issue of freedom reminded me of this:
"Freedom of choice places the whole blame of failure on the shoulders of the individual. Unless a man has the talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden. Of what avail is freedom to choose if the self be ineffectual? We join a mass movement to escape individual responsibility, or, in the words of the ardent young Nazi, 'to be free from freedom.'" Eric Hoffer - The True Believer-Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (1951) Decisions, decisions--it's always tough when one decides. Decisions limit other options. I call it adulthood, i.e. living--or dying--with the consequences. For me, that provides meaning.
After reading this early part of the book, I considered that there were one of two things one could say about the authors: (A) They are people of good hearts trying to provide the reader with a wake-up-call about a serious subject; or (B) They are pretentious self-appointed cultured despisers, in the comfort of their faculty lounge cocoon, on a rant about the flaws of the ignorant masses.
I am actually quite empathetic to the authors for taking their approach regardless of how one may judge their tone. I mean, how do you address the subject of the meaning of life without convincing the reader that his or her life is possibly a mess before you offer the cure? Note R. S. Aldrich's lament back in 1946: "What a task confronts the American clergy preaching the good news of a Savior to people who for the most part have no sense of sin." Over the years, I've certainly heard a good number of sermons that followed a similar formula (perhaps with a little more humility, however, since the speaker is typically well-known to the congregation and is standing right in front of everybody!)
In these early chapters the authors also show us a "life matrix" with "being" as the highest state of meaning. They refer to a spiritual quest, intellectual growth, emotional balance, and psychological homeostasis (a state of psychological equilibrium obtained when tension or a drive has been reduced or eliminated). They outline a search process and suggest that meaning may "lie in the search itself." (I have added brief comments in parentheses):
1. Review the most meaningful events in your life history. [I have thought this through several times over the years, e.g. identifying the happiest and/or most significant moments of my life, i.e. not necessarily happy. It's a healthy exercise in identifying values and significance in one's life. Note: Listing your wedding day or the birth of your children is cheating.]
2. Come to terms with the meaninglessness in your life. [Sometimes that which was challenging, intellectually stimulating, creative, and emotionally satisfying evolves to a state of meaninglessness over time. The solution? Stop doing it when it gets to that point.]
3. Confront your separation from yourself, others, and the ground of your being. [As for myself, if I am going to "get in touch with my feelings," I have to think about it for a while.]
4. Contemplate the consequences of a life devoted to having. [Think of the most important material possession you own. What would you put yourself through, psychologically and otherwise, if suddenly you no longer had it?]
5. Seek meaning through being--through your creations, love relationships, sense of community, and pain and suffering. [Yes, yes, yes--except I am not actually seeking pain and suffering. I do recognize that suffering can be a means to finding meaning, however.]
6. Formulate a personal philosophy, which addresses meaning, values, ethical principles, and social responsibility. [I keep working on a coherent ethical world-view...so I read, and write essays. The difficult act of writing them helps me find meaning.]
7. Formulate a personal strategy, which includes an external environmental forecast, a situation assessment, objectives, goals, and strategies. [I spent a 39-year career working on plans and strategies; no more, thanks. I just want to live and grow as a human being consistent with my beliefs. But as Aristotle said, "Count no man consistent until he is dead."]
Chapter 5 is on "Being," and the authors correctly note that, up to this point, they have been delving into "unappealing alternatives--meaninglessness, separation, and having." Going forward, they offer three considerations: (1) "There may be no meaning whatsoever to life. Life may indeed be absurd." (2) "Life may have meaning, but meaning has eluded us...." (3) "To avoid the pain...associated with meaninglessness and separation, we may seek meaning through having...." They say, if there is any meaning to life, "then it is we who must discover it ourselves... through being." In other words, it's a personal problem; it will not and cannot be handed to us. "We alone are responsible for the creation of our own meaning."
The authors refer to the search for meaning as "the crafting of our soul." They make an important statement: "If there is life after death...we know not how to influence the condition of our soul, which survives after death... [and which is] a completely nontransferable asset." They ask perhaps the most critical question: "... how then shall we live our life?" To truly live, we must "express our being by creating, loving, caring, sharing, and suffering." And eventually dying. They have several interesting things to say about creativity but this one resonated: "Our creations remind us that we ought not overly intellectualize the search for meaning...we receive meaning...from the very act of creation." They stress the necessity of being in loving relationships; and moving on to pain and suffering, they state that, "our culture has managed to empty suffering of meaning. About all we are taught to feel...is resentment." They quote Nietzsche, "That which does not destroy me strengthens me" and I'll paraphrase a old motto of Outward Bound, "My infirmity is my opportunity." They quote Viktor Frankl, "suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds meaning." On this theme, the authors state, "it is not pain which has meaning but what we bring to our pain that gives it meaning" i.e. it has a great deal to do with our attitude, a Viktor Frankl theme expressed below by Charles Swindoll:
"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Read more ›
First, some blunt criticisms: The introduction and the first four chapters dwell on what is wrong with humanity and are scattered with hyperbole, assertions, and scoldings. Here are some examples and I'll leave it to the reader to judge which is an exaggeration, an unfounded declaration, or a rebuke...and to what extent they may contain truths: "We are living in the midst of a spiritual crisis of unprecedented proportions" and "The specter of nihilism looms over us" and "Our entire economy is driven by our intense psychological need to fill a spiritual and emotional vacuum" and "The problem of most people living in affluent Western industrial democracies is that we have too much freedom rather than too little" and "most Americans behave as mindless conformists" and "To cope with our fear of death, we spend our entire lives denying that we are going to die" and "In order for our economy to function, those who are expected to do the work must believe in the American dream, which links happiness to what one owns." Each of these statements can either "wind us up" (pro or con) or lead us to further analysis.
They have a long list of complaints, engaging in the sport of describing what I call the "ain't it awfuls." For example: We have too many choices, there is no vision of the future, conspicuous consumption rules, we're raping the entire planet, happiness merely means hedonism. They stress the negatives of adventurism, legalism (protecting property), patriotism, organized religion, health fetishism, and individualism. We're a selfish people and we suffer from separation and meaninglessness; and we have too much--our possessions define us.
I won't comment on all of them here but I will address their thoughts on freedom. In the book (page 53), they correctly note that freedom can be used for creative purposes in the quest for meaning--"intellectual growth, emotional integrity, and psychological balance." Alternatively, we can surrender our freedom to an outside authority sometimes with dire consequences...or have it taken from us abruptly, or by the drip-drip-drip encroachment of a soft-fascism "for our own good." But then they say we have too much freedom and too many choices adding that "without a well-developed sense of meaning, the way in which we exercise our boundless [?] freedom will be strongly influenced by our personal whims, the wishes of others, the marketplace, fads, and domestic and international political events." My first thought was: Okay, I can think of people I know operating this way. But how is that to be corrected? Behavior management? By whose authority? Do those things need to be corrected? How? By limiting the freedom to act on whim? Their approach to the issue of freedom reminded me of this:
"Freedom of choice places the whole blame of failure on the shoulders of the individual. Unless a man has the talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden. Of what avail is freedom to choose if the self be ineffectual? We join a mass movement to escape individual responsibility, or, in the words of the ardent young Nazi, 'to be free from freedom.'" Eric Hoffer - The True Believer-Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (1951) Decisions, decisions--it's always tough when one decides. Decisions limit other options. I call it adulthood, i.e. living--or dying--with the consequences. For me, that provides meaning.
After reading this early part of the book, I considered that there were one of two things one could say about the authors: (A) They are people of good hearts trying to provide the reader with a wake-up-call about a serious subject; or (B) They are pretentious self-appointed cultured despisers, in the comfort of their faculty lounge cocoon, on a rant about the flaws of the ignorant masses.
I am actually quite empathetic to the authors for taking their approach regardless of how one may judge their tone. I mean, how do you address the subject of the meaning of life without convincing the reader that his or her life is possibly a mess before you offer the cure? Note R. S. Aldrich's lament back in 1946: "What a task confronts the American clergy preaching the good news of a Savior to people who for the most part have no sense of sin." Over the years, I've certainly heard a good number of sermons that followed a similar formula (perhaps with a little more humility, however, since the speaker is typically well-known to the congregation and is standing right in front of everybody!)
In these early chapters the authors also show us a "life matrix" with "being" as the highest state of meaning. They refer to a spiritual quest, intellectual growth, emotional balance, and psychological homeostasis (a state of psychological equilibrium obtained when tension or a drive has been reduced or eliminated). They outline a search process and suggest that meaning may "lie in the search itself." (I have added brief comments in parentheses):
1. Review the most meaningful events in your life history. [I have thought this through several times over the years, e.g. identifying the happiest and/or most significant moments of my life, i.e. not necessarily happy. It's a healthy exercise in identifying values and significance in one's life. Note: Listing your wedding day or the birth of your children is cheating.]
2. Come to terms with the meaninglessness in your life. [Sometimes that which was challenging, intellectually stimulating, creative, and emotionally satisfying evolves to a state of meaninglessness over time. The solution? Stop doing it when it gets to that point.]
3. Confront your separation from yourself, others, and the ground of your being. [As for myself, if I am going to "get in touch with my feelings," I have to think about it for a while.]
4. Contemplate the consequences of a life devoted to having. [Think of the most important material possession you own. What would you put yourself through, psychologically and otherwise, if suddenly you no longer had it?]
5. Seek meaning through being--through your creations, love relationships, sense of community, and pain and suffering. [Yes, yes, yes--except I am not actually seeking pain and suffering. I do recognize that suffering can be a means to finding meaning, however.]
6. Formulate a personal philosophy, which addresses meaning, values, ethical principles, and social responsibility. [I keep working on a coherent ethical world-view...so I read, and write essays. The difficult act of writing them helps me find meaning.]
7. Formulate a personal strategy, which includes an external environmental forecast, a situation assessment, objectives, goals, and strategies. [I spent a 39-year career working on plans and strategies; no more, thanks. I just want to live and grow as a human being consistent with my beliefs. But as Aristotle said, "Count no man consistent until he is dead."]
Chapter 5 is on "Being," and the authors correctly note that, up to this point, they have been delving into "unappealing alternatives--meaninglessness, separation, and having." Going forward, they offer three considerations: (1) "There may be no meaning whatsoever to life. Life may indeed be absurd." (2) "Life may have meaning, but meaning has eluded us...." (3) "To avoid the pain...associated with meaninglessness and separation, we may seek meaning through having...." They say, if there is any meaning to life, "then it is we who must discover it ourselves... through being." In other words, it's a personal problem; it will not and cannot be handed to us. "We alone are responsible for the creation of our own meaning."
The authors refer to the search for meaning as "the crafting of our soul." They make an important statement: "If there is life after death...we know not how to influence the condition of our soul, which survives after death... [and which is] a completely nontransferable asset." They ask perhaps the most critical question: "... how then shall we live our life?" To truly live, we must "express our being by creating, loving, caring, sharing, and suffering." And eventually dying. They have several interesting things to say about creativity but this one resonated: "Our creations remind us that we ought not overly intellectualize the search for meaning...we receive meaning...from the very act of creation." They stress the necessity of being in loving relationships; and moving on to pain and suffering, they state that, "our culture has managed to empty suffering of meaning. About all we are taught to feel...is resentment." They quote Nietzsche, "That which does not destroy me strengthens me" and I'll paraphrase a old motto of Outward Bound, "My infirmity is my opportunity." They quote Viktor Frankl, "suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds meaning." On this theme, the authors state, "it is not pain which has meaning but what we bring to our pain that gives it meaning" i.e. it has a great deal to do with our attitude, a Viktor Frankl theme expressed below by Charles Swindoll:
"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Read more ›
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Thomas H. Naylor, William H. Willimon, & Magdalena R. Naylor
The Search for Meaning
(Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1994) 221 pages
(ISBN: 0-687-02586-9; hardcover)
(Library of Congress call number: BD435.N39 1994)
This book grew out of an interdisciplinary college seminar
offered by the authors: an international economist,
a college chaplain, & a psychiatrist.
Many of the problems of the world are traced to meaninglessness.
The authors do not offer any easy answers,
but they do offer some advice on organizing
one's life around one's own goals and purposes.
The good life is a slight modification of the middle-class way of life.
Being is better than having.
We can find meaning in love, work, family,
and commitment to purposes beyond ourselves.
Other books along this same line will be found on the Internet:
"Meaning in Life Bibliography".
James Leonard Park, existential philosopher.
The Search for Meaning
(Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1994) 221 pages
(ISBN: 0-687-02586-9; hardcover)
(Library of Congress call number: BD435.N39 1994)
This book grew out of an interdisciplinary college seminar
offered by the authors: an international economist,
a college chaplain, & a psychiatrist.
Many of the problems of the world are traced to meaninglessness.
The authors do not offer any easy answers,
but they do offer some advice on organizing
one's life around one's own goals and purposes.
The good life is a slight modification of the middle-class way of life.
Being is better than having.
We can find meaning in love, work, family,
and commitment to purposes beyond ourselves.
Other books along this same line will be found on the Internet:
"Meaning in Life Bibliography".
James Leonard Park, existential philosopher.
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