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

by Craig Biddle (Author) "If there is no God, anything goes..." (more)
Key Phrases: being moral consists, social subjectivism, personal subjectivism, Ayn Rand, New York, The Objectivist Ethics (more...)

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

Product Description
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.

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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: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #53,955 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Guide to Happiness, January 28, 2002

By	thewahlmighty (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews

This book demonstrates why the ethics of religion and subjectivism (whether social or personal) lead to psychological torture--then offers an alternative morality, explaining what supports it and the virtues that it requires.

Rejecting from the start the popular myth that morality comes from God, Biddle declares that "it is not a matter of divine revelation." Nor, he continues, "is it a matter of social convention or personal opinion. Being moral does not consist in obeying commandments, or in doing whatever is culturally expected, or in doing whatever one wants to do."

True morality, he believes, is not "a matter of faith or conformity or feelings" but "of the factual requirements of human life and happiness." Because of this, the subject of morality--for Biddle as for Rand (the philosopher whose ethics he presents in this book)--is "an indispensable guide to living well and loving life."

Thus, if you love your life and want to live it to the fullest--"if," the author says, "you want to achieve the greatest happiness possible"--then this book is definitely for you. With eloquence and above all clarity, Biddle demonstrates the essential means to that end--a proper, meaning objective, morality.

30 of 32 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 (REAL NAME)

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

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.