The Good Life

Hackett Readings in Philosophy

by Charles B. Guignon (Editor), Lao Tzu, William James

Organized around themes such as harmony with one’s self and with the world, right relation to God, the use of reason, self-exploration, and living in a disordered world, the selections in this anthology explore traditional philosophical thought from Plato to de Beauvoir on the topic of human flourishing.

Genres: Philosophy

344 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1999

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thought provoking collection of philosophical writing; entries build upon one another nicely. I took off a star because some excerpts seemed poorly chosen for an introductory-level anthology (prepare to do additional research into the writers' concepts and terminology in order to make some chapters accessible; this could have been avoided by including some of this material in the excerpts), however this was uncommon. Also, there was a lack of diversity in authors. And a personal pet peeve was the choice of reading for Siddhattha Gotama Buddha; there are many more descriptive choices for introducing the reader to the eightfold path, and the editor's particular chosen passage spoke to me of a lack of research, interest, and/or effort in choosing one to represent an ancient discipline of self-knowledge.. especially one whose teachings are echoed in many other recent writings praised by the editor or their authors as groundbreaking.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a nice refresher on many of the philosophies I studied during my undergraduate degree and put me in a good head space. I really enjoyed many of the exerpts...especially Emerson, Siddhartha Gautama, Sartre, Lao Tzu, Nietzsche and Simone de Beauvoir. I definately recommend this book if you have a busy schedule because you can pick it up and read one writer's thoughts at a time in a condensed piece without needing the time to read an entire book.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for an Introduction to Philosophy class in college at Uark. I found that the exploration of the "good life" from the different points of view presented here very interesting - it has a very wide range, from Aristotle to Augustine to Sarte and Nietzsche. Definitely worth reading if you have an interest in philosophy or just what you consider to be good and important in life.

[John Pillar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good survey of what it means to live a good life, from a number of different perspectives. Depending on the work, sometimes it was difficult to jump into the middle without having a better understanding of the writer's context, but overall the selected material provided a good sample of varying philosophical thought.

[K Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite interesting. Many different philosophers so you get plenty of viewpoints. Some of the excerpts are pretty hard to read. Overall good book. The narrator tends to sum up the passage perfectly in the introduction of the excerpt.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

reading for class! so far so good

[Virginia Curran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend to anyone contemplating what it is to live "The Good Life".

[Aidan Corrie]

Read for a class, GREAT!

[Kat Irish · Rating 5 out of 5]

a nice introduction to some philosophical concepts and their origins. personally, i enjoyed the overarching theme of “living the good life” and felt as though each section of the collection left something with me.

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The western canon of philosophers is a little overrepresented in this but it's otherwise a rather interesting collection of writings about what constitutes a good life. Glad I read it.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

beginners guide to bullshitting

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting collection of readings. The intros are inconsistent and I enjoyed some writings more than others, but overall a good collection.