In The Search for Meaning: A Short History, Dennis Ford explores eight approaches human beings have pursued over time to invest life with meaning and to infuse order into a seemingly chaotic universe. These include myth, philosophy, science, postmodernism, pragmatism, archetypal psychology, metaphysics, and naturalism. In engaging, companionable prose, Ford boils down these systems to their bare essentials, showing the difference between viewing the world from a religious point of view and that of a naturalist, and comparing a scientific worldview to a philosophical one. Ford investigates the contributions of the Greeks, Kant, and William James, and brings the discussion up to date with contemporary thinkers. He proffers the refreshing idea that in today's world, the answers provided by traditional religions to increasingly difficult questions have lost their currency for many and that the reductive or rationalist answers provided by science and postmodernism are themselves rife with unexamined assumptions.
The Search for Meaning A Short History
About the Book
Reviews
“Ford is to be commended for condensing an enormous amount of information and making it understandable to non-experts. . . . He presents [clearly] heavy-hitters like Plato, Aristotle, Immanuel Kant and William James, to name but a few.”—National Catholic Reporter
Ford's discussion of these eight "ways" is informed, intelligent and interesting. His discussion of myth is excellent and he shows how in the history of ideas we humans went from myth to philosophy (of a certain kind) to science.—Bob Lane Metapsychology Online Review
Ford's discussion of these eight "ways" is informed, intelligent and interesting. His discussion of myth is excellent and he shows how in the history of ideas we humans went from myth to philosophy (of a certain kind) to science.—Bob Lane Perlocutionary Blog
“Touching on a wide range of philosophical, religious, and scientific approaches to the search for meaning throughout history, Ford sheds light on our relationship to these questions today, illuminating many of our most unconscious beliefs and unexamined assumptions in the process.”—What Is Enlightenment"The Search for Meaning reads like an adventure novel of the mind. Supremely researched and also deeply personal, Dennis Ford has succeeded in rescuing experience from meaninglessness. The book's range is unusually wide, from the classical Greeks through Kierkegaard to contemporary thinkers like Huston Smith, James Hillman, and Joseph Campbell, combining a tough yet often impassioned look at the quest for greater truth. The reader will welcome this approach, realizing that there are far more strategies 'under the sun,' than classical philosophy in the perennial search for meaning in one's life."—Phil Cousineau, author of The Art of Pilgrimage and Once and Future Myths
"Around its centerpiece—meaning—this book weaves a tapestry so encompassing, so intriguingly beautiful, I am stunned by its accomplishment. Ford approaches this centerpiece from many angles, touching on a broad range of historical, spiritual and philosophical themes. Written in a manner that is both passionate and accessible, his book shows how people throughout history have struggled with life's greatest question: Why are we here? Although the eight paths explored in this book are quite different in their assumptions and conclusions, each offers the possibility of achieving what we all desire most—a sense of meaning in our lives. The author compares and reflects on the similarities and differences between the paths, masterfully reflecting on what each school of thought can offer us today."—Huston Smith, author of The World's Religions
"Ford deserves to be congratulated for addressing a terribly important message so eloquently. I found myself coming back to the book in order to revisit its honesty and questions."—Jeffrey J. Kripal, author of Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion
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"Ford deserves to be congratulated for addressing a terribly important message so eloquently. I found myself coming back to the book in order to revisit its honesty and questions."—Jeffrey J. Kripal, author of Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion
Table of Contents
Preface: When Meaning Becomes a Question
1. Introduction
PART I. CLASSICAL SOURCES OF MEANING
2. Myth and Meaning
3. Philosophy and Meaning
4. Science and Meaning
5. Postmodernism and Meaning
PART II. CONTEMPORARY SOURCES OF MEANING
6. Pragmatism and Meaning
7. Archetypal Psychology and Meaning
8. Metaphysics and Meaning
9. Naturalism and Meaning
10. Conclusion
Appendix: How Meaning Affects Our Sense of Right and Wrong
Notes
Bibliography
Index
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