What is the point of living? If we are all going to die anyway, if nothing will remain of whatever we achieve in this life, why should we bother trying to achieve anything in the first place? Can we be mortal and still live a meaningful life? Questions such as these have been asked for a long time, but nobody has found a conclusive answer yet. The connection between death and meaning, however, has taken centre stage in the philosophical and literary work of some of the world's greatest writers: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Soren Kierkegaard, Arthur Schopenhauer, Herman Melville, Friedrich Nietzsche, William James, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Marcel Proust, and Albert Camus.
This book explores their ideas, weaving a rich tapestry of concepts, voices and images, helping the reader to understand the concerns at the heart of those writers' work and uncovering common themes and stark contrasts in their understanding of what kind of world we live in and what really matters in life. **
Review
“Drawing on ideas from some of the world's most intriguing thinkers, Hauskeller invites us on a philosophical journey, in which we consider different aspects of life and death. Bringing together exciting philosophers such as Wittgenstein and Nietzsche, and renowned literary figures such Tolstoy and Proust, the book offers a new set of perspectives on the time-honoured question of the meaning of life and death.” ― Havi Carel, Professor of Philosophy, University of Bristol, UK
“Highly recommended. Hauskeller has made a wise selection of work by philosophers and fiction writers about the connection between death and meaning in life. The book as a whole represents many of the main ideas in this area of such deep existential interest.” ― John Martin Fischer, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and University Professor, University of California, USA
About the Author
Michael Hauskeller is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Liverpool, UK and the author of of Biotechnology and the Integrity of Life (2007), Better Humans? Understanding the Enhancement Project (2013) Sex and the Posthuman Condition (2014), Handbook of Posthumanism (2015) and Mythologies of Transhumanism (2016).

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Hauskeller, Michael

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc ProQuest

Bloomsbury Academic; Bloomsbury

Taylor & Francis Ltd

Bloomsbury UK

I.B. Tauris

London ; New York Oxford New Delhi Sydney, 2020

United Kingdom and Ireland, United Kingdom

London Ann Arbor Michigan, 2019

Bloomsbury UK, New York, 2019

London, England, 2019

London, UK, 2020

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9781350073654

Title Page 4
Copyright Page 5
Contents 8
Acknowledgements 10
Prelude 11
Chapter 1: The worst of all possible worlds 18
The misery of life 18
The world as a problem 22
The true nature of the world 25
Making sense of the world 28
Temporal immortality 30
How not to be: The negation of the will 34
Life’s true purpose 37
Chapter 2: The despair of not being oneself 40
The aesthetic mode of life 42
The ethical mode of life 47
The religious mode of life 51
Despair and the sickness unto death 54
Learning to be silent 57
Chapter 3: The interlinked terrors and wonders of God: Herman Melville (1819–1891) 60
The ungraspable phantom of life 60
No hearts above the snow line 64
The tiger heart that pants beneath the ocean’s skin 67
That beautiful creature, the rattlesnake 70
Like a true child of fire 76
Playing the fool in a sensible way 79
Chapter 4: The hell of no longer being able to love: Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881) 82
Nothing matters 82
Of lice and men 86
Two times two makes five 91
Corpses everywhere 95
So many beautiful things 100
Spiders in all the corners 102
Chapter 5: The inevitable end of everything: Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) 108
How to live? 108
The dragon of death, waiting to tear us to pieces 109
Looking for a way out 114
Faith 118
The fragility of meaning 121
Two kinds of love 125
Chapter 6: The joy of living dangerously 130
The last human and the superhuman 132
Beyond good and evil 135
The morality of pity and the value of suffering 137
Sacred, healthy selfishness 140
All good things laugh: Against the spirit of heaviness 143
Death and eternal recurrence 146
Chapter 7: The dramatic richness of the concrete world 150
Making a difference 150
The rapture of bones under hedges 152
The healthy-minded and the sick souls 156
From midnight to daylight 159
The right to believe 163
The atrocious harmlessness of things 166
Chapter 8: The only life that is really lived 172
The terrible deception of love 174
The paradox of desire 177
The constant dying of the self 180
Stepping into the same river twice 184
Explorers of the unseen 189
Placed beyond time 192
Chapter 9: Our hopeless battle against the boundaries of language: Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) 196
The nature and use of philosophy 197
The riddle of life and its dissolution 200
An alien in the world 204
Ethics as an enquiry into the meaning of life 207
Language as a toolbox 210
The things we cannot doubt 214
Chapter 10: The benign indifference of the world 218
The absurd 218
Freedom 222
So what? 225
Defending life 229
Rebellion and solidarity 232
Death and limits 235
Postlude 240
Notes 241
Chapter 1 241
Chapter 2 241
Chapter 3 242
Chapter 4 243
Chapter 5 243
Chapter 6 244
Chapter 7 245
Chapter 8 247
Chapter 9 247
Chapter 10 247
Sources 248
Chapter 1: The worst of all possible worlds: Arthur Schopenhauer 248
Chapter 2: The despair of not being oneself: Søren Kierkegaard 248
Chapter 3: The interlinked terrors and wonders of god: Herman Melville 249
Chapter 4: The hell of no longer being able to love: Fyodor Dostoyevsky 249
Chapter 5: The inevitable end of everything: Leo Tolstoy 250
Chapter 6: The joy of living dangerously: Friedrich Nietzsche 251
Chapter 7: The dramatic richness of the concrete world: William James 251
Chapter 8: The only life that is really lived: Marcel Proust 252
Chapter 9: Our hopeless battle against the boundaries of language: Ludwig Wittgenstein 252
Chapter 10: The benign indifference of the world: Albert Camus 253

What is the point of living? If we are all going to die anyway, if nothing will remain of whatever we achieve in this life, why should we bother trying to achieve anything in the first place? Can we be mortal and still live a meaningful life? Questions such as these have been asked for a long time, but nobody has found a conclusive answer yet. The connection between death and meaning, however, has taken center stage in the philosophical and literary work of some of the world's greatest writers: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Soren Kierkegaard, Arthur Schopenhauer, Herman Melville, Friedrich Nietzsche, William James, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Marcel Proust, and Albert Camus. This book explores their ideas, weaving a rich tapestry of concepts, voices and images, helping the reader to understand the concerns at the heart of those writers' work and uncovering common themes and stark contrasts in their understanding of what kind of world we live in and what really matters in life. -- Provided by publisher

What is the point of living? If we are all going to die anyway, if nothing will remain of whatever we achieve in this life, why should we bother trying to achieve anything in the first place? Can we be mortal & still live a meaningful life? Questions such as these have been asked for a long time, but nobody has found a conclusive answer yet. The connection between death & meaning, however, has taken centre stage in the philosophical & literary work of some of the world's greatest writers: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Soren Kierkegaard, Herman Melville, Friedrich Nietzsche, William James, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Marcel Proust, & Albert Camus. This text explores their ideas, weaving a rich tapestry of concepts, voices & images, helping the reader to understand the concerns at the heart of those writers' work & uncovering common themes & contrasts in their understanding of what kind of world we live in & what really matters in life

Prelude
Chapter 1: Arthur Schopenhauer and the Worst of All Possible Worlds
Chapter 2: Søren Kierkegaard and the Despair of Not Being Oneself
Chapter 3: Herman Melville and the Interlinked Terrors and Wonders of God
Chapter 4: Fyodor Dostoyevsky and the Hell of No Longer Being Able to Love
Chapter 5: Leo Tolstoy and the Inevitable End of Everything
Chapter 6: Friedrich Nietzsche and the Joy of Living Dangerously
Chapter 7: William James and the Dramatic Richness of the Concrete World
Chapter 8: Marcel Proust and the Only Life That Is Really Lived
Chapter 9: Ludwig Wittgenstein and our Hopeless Battle against the Boundaries of Language
Chapter 10: Albert Camus and the Benign Indifference of the World
Postlude
Sources.

2022-10-23