Description
Book SynopsisMindfulness is celebrated everywhereespecially in health psychology and spiritual practices, but also in the arts, business, education, environmentalism, sports, and the use of digital devices. While the current mindfulness movement may be in part the latest fad in a narcissistic and therapeutic culture, it is also worthy of greater philosophical attention. As a study in ethics and moral psychology, Mindfulness in Good Lives remedies the neglect of this subject within philosophy. Mike W. Martin makes sense of the striking variety of concepts of mindfulness by connecting them to the core idea of value-based mindfulness: paying attention to what matters, in light of relevant values. When the values are sound, mindfulness is a virtue that helps implement the kaleidoscope of values in good lives. Health psychologists, who currently dominate the study of mindfulness, often present their research as value-neutral science. Yet they invariably presuppose moral values that should be made tra
Trade Review
Martin (emer., Chapman Univ.) intends Mindfulness in Good Lives to uncover the values at the base of mindfulness, and he provides a serious philosophical examination of the concept. Popular approaches link mindfulness with Asian spiritual practices, and therapeutic psychologists sometimes embrace mindfulness as a magic cure for all of life’s problems. By contrast, Martin takes the idea of mindfulness seriously and thinks of it in relatively simple terms: he writes in chapter 1 that mindfulness “highlights the importance of paying attention to what matters, in light of values.” He also claims that the values connected with mindfulness are often somewhat "hidden" by psychologists and others who claim to use only value-neutral science. Martin wants to make the underlying values explicit. He explains that his "overarching aim [in the book] is to understand mindfulness as a virtue in good lives—as an excellence that helps implement sound values.” This is quite different from much of the therapeutic psychological literature, in which being “mindful” sometimes seems to mean little more than being nonjudgmental. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers.
* Choice Reviews *
Mindfulness in Good Lives is a needed examination of the relationship between mindfulness and morality. Martin makes a case for understanding mindfulness as a virtue in itself, and therefore a valuable prerequisite for living potential good lives. -- Finn Janning, author of A Philosophy of Mindfulness: A Journey with Deleuze
Martin offers a robust analysis of mindfulness as itself a cardinal virtue undergirding a good life, which connects with other virtues such as calm and control, intelligent and creative problem solving, rational valuing, beauty, peace, compassion, professional responsibility, and positivity, among other values. Indeed, which values are emphasized depends on the activity and context, thereby introducing diverse flavors of mindfulness. Mental health practitioners and laypersons alike interested in the contributions of mindfulness to living a good life will therefore do well to read this extraordinarily insightful book, destined to become a classic. -- Elliot D. Cohen, Author of Making Peace with Imperfection
Table of ContentsContents
Preface
Chapter 1 Mindfulness Movement
Part One: Making Sense of Mindfulness
Chapter 2 Attending to What Matters
Chapter 3 Living in the Present
Chapter 4 Ways of Attending
Chapter 5 Thoreau’s Wakefulness
Part Two: Concepts of Mindfulness
Chapter 6 Meditation and Morality
Chapter 7 Mindful Decision Making
Chapter 8 Mindful Valuing and Psychotherapy
Part Three: Well-Being
Chapter 9 Happiness and Virtues
Chapter 10 Mindful Work in Balanced Lives
Chapter 11 Authenticity and Seize the Day
Chapter 12 Mindfulness Movement Critics
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
