In What Is Good? Grayling explores the long history of humanity's
search for answers to questions such as, 'What values should we
live by in order to live the genuinely good life?' Starting with
the ancient Greeks and finishing with the moral complexity of the
20th century, Grayling sees the search for truths about 'the good'
as a tussle between an enlightened, rational humanism and the
'religions of the book' - Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
Grayling's philosophical survey is vast in scope, encompassing
classical philosophers such as Socrates, the birth of Christian
morality, the Reformation, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and
the final triumph of science in the past two centuries. Perhaps
surprisingly for a book that covers so much ground, one of its
strengths is the amount of detail Grayling manages to pack in: his
chapter on the Greek philosophers, for example, includes a
discussion of Homeric ideals as well as those of the great thinkers
of the age. This is that rare and wonderful thing: a book on
philosophy that is readable without being patronising. Indeed, it
is one of Grayling's central contentions that philosophy should
attempt to address the problems the world currently faces, instead
of hiding behind dry, logical analysis of terms and concepts. This
inevitably involves communicating philosophical ideas to people who
do not study philosophy, and Grayling is the ideal writer to do
this. Although Grayling's book is a historical survey, it is also
packed with lively ideas and discussion. Such is his authorial
skill, readers may find themselves seduced into believing that the
only common-sense view of the world is the humanism that Grayling
proposes. For this reason, What Is Good? would ideally be read in
conjunction with something like John Gray's Straw Dogs, which
attacks this humanist view of the world without resorting to
religion. (Kirkus UK)
A.C. Grayling answers the most important question - How do we live
a good life? One of the most fundamental questions in our life is
to find out what we value - what principles we want to live by and
which codes we will use to guide our behaviour. Most of us want to
live a good life. But what, in today's secular society, does 'good'
actually mean? To classical Greeks, the acquisition of knowledge,
the enjoyment of the senses, creativity and beauty were all aspects
of life to strive for. Then came the volcanic declarations of St
Paul and his fundamentalist ideas on sin and human nature. In WHAT
IS GOOD?, A.C. Grayling examines these and other proposals on how
to live a good life, from the 'heroic' ideals of the Greek poets to
Kant's theories on freedom and the UN Declaration on Human Rights.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(1)
