Search for Meaning: A Short History

Dennis Ford

Published by University of California Press 2007

Search for Meaning

A Short History

Dennis Ford
Edited by: Dennis Ford

https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520934207

Overview
Contents

About this book

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.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
Preface: When Meaning Becomes a Question Publicly Available Download PDF	XI
1. Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
PART I. CLASSICAL SOURCES OF MEANING
2. Myth and Meaning Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	27
3. Philosophy and Meaning Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	53
4. Science and Meaning Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	81
5. Postmodernism and Meaning Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	112
PART II. CONTEMPORARY SOURCES OF MEANING
6. Pragmatism and Meaning Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
7. Archetypal Psychology and Meaning Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	170
8. Metaphysics and Meaning Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	195
9. Naturalism and Meaning Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	225
10. Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	248
Appendix: How Meaning Affects Our Sense of Right and Wrong Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	261
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	265
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	279
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	287

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: University of California Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 313
Keywords: Philosophy; Political

eBook

Published: August 31, 2007
ISBN: 9780520934207

Paperback

Planned Publication: August 31, 2007
ISBN: 9780520257931