Life: A User’s Manual: Philosophy for (Almost) Any Eventuality

by Julian Baggini, Antonia Macaro

How should I live?
What is my purpose?
Can I find happiness?

Ever felt as though life would be simpler if it came with an instruction manual? There are no easy answers to the big questions. And life does not follow a straight path from A to B.

Since the beginning of time, people have asked questions about how they should live and, from Ancient Greece to Japan, philosophers have attempted to solve these questions for us. The timeless wisdom that they offer can help us to find our own path. In this insightful, engaging book, renowned existential psychotherapist and philosophical counsellor Antonia Macaro and bestselling philosopher Julian Baggini cover topics such as bereavement, luck, free will and relationships, and guide us through what the greatest thinkers to ever walk the earth have to say on these subjects, from the Stoics to Sartre.

Discover advice from the world's greatest thinkers on questions like:
Is there a right way to grieve?
What is free will?
How can we learn from past mistakes?
Do we make our own luck?

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Self Help, Audiobook

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2020

About the author

Julian Baggini is a British philosopher and the author of several books about philosophy written for a general audience. He is the author of The Pig that Wants to be Eaten and 99 other thought experiments (2005) and is co-founder and editor of The Philosophers' Magazine. He was awarded his Ph.D. in 1996 from University College London for a thesis on the philosophy of personal identity. In addition to his popular philosophy books, Baggini contributes to The Guardian, The Independent, The Observer, and the BBC. He has been a regular guest on BBC Radio 4's In Our Time.

Reviews

[Tariq Mahmood · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book provides very short introduction to most human life challenges along with reference reading for those who want to explore more on the subject. This makes reading complex topics very easy to digest.

[Any Length · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of all the books about philosophy - most of them I didn't enjoy, this one I did. And my idea about the general usefulness of philosophers extending to about 5 per earth is expanding to about 50 good ones. The rest are still just "well read taxi - or uber drivers with a sense of self-importance".

[Jeff Chay · Rating 1 out of 5]

A shallow, trifling collection of platitudes and truisms on how to live life, summarily dispensed with the odd philosophical name-drop here and there but sorely lacking in real substance or insight. Unless you are an alien who has crash landed onto Earth and urgently needs to absorb as much clichéd everyday wisdom as can be crammed into less than 400 pages, you probably won’t learn much from this book.

[Ciro Borriello · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prontuario filosofico dedicato ai termini che usiamo nella più stretta attualità.
Benchè le note fossero in parte scarne (per alcune parole non si arriva nemmeno ad una pagina), questo prontuario porta a riflettere sulla vita in generale.

[Linda Irwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some interesting thoughts - I'd like to read again and make a few notes to reflect on what I learnt!

[Ex Libris Meis]

WAR

“Only a few generations ago, most people in the developed world had either fought in a war or knew someone who had.
Now war is something that many of us have never had to experience at all.”
..........................................................................................................................................................................
“As citizens, we have to ask ourselves: when should we support such military ventures and when should we do all we can to stop them?

Absolute pacifism provides a simple answer, but few are willing to say that a world without any killing at all is possible.
Even Ghandi, who promoted ahimsa (non-violence), accepted that pure pacifism was an ideal to be strived towards and not something that could ever be fully achieved:
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Most people see war as a regrettable necessity."

http://www.exlibrismeis.com/en/2022/0...

[David Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is mind boggling. By the far best idiots guide / 101 / for beginners genre. This time about philiosophy. Whilst such books are too repetitive this is the opposite. Each chapter so unique succinct and to the point i found it too short. Really well researched and has opened many doors to explore. As typical for philosophy its full of (great) thought provoking questions as opposed to answers.

I’d almost say too many nuggets im drowning. Definitely will get a second more patient re read.

Essential reading!

[Donald Schopflocher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Organized as a dictionary, this pop philosophy introduction features short essays on philosophers’ contributions to the question ‘how should I live?’. Clearly introductory, but pointing to sources for further discussion, this may be most useful to those with at least a passing acquaintance to philosophy in search of further insights and sources.

[Emīls Ozoliņš · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like it could’ve been ordered a little better than alphabetically, but it still was worth the read.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A life-changing read.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly flicked through this book. Perhaps it was more of a “this book didn’t come into my life at the right time” scenario, but I failed to find engagement with its reading.

[Adam · Rating 1 out of 5]

I listened to this whole book by accident.

[Tsalis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is more like a life a report of general life experience on earth with scientific back up theories.

[Lia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I definitely loved this book. The concepts, quotes and thoughts of the most important philosophers in history are here so well explained and makes me love philosophy even more. What is also definitely worth reading is the opinion of the authors about each of the philosophical terms reflected here. I recommend it 100% 👍🏻