Description
Book SynopsisThe Human Condition is a response to the growing disenchantment in the Western world with contemporary life. John Kekes provides rationally justified answers to questions about the meaning of life, the basis of morality, the contingencies of human lives, the prevalence of evil, the nature and extent of human responsibility, and the sources of values we prize. He offers a realistic view of the human condition that rejects both facile optimism and gloomy pessimism; acknowledges that we are vulnerable to contingencies we cannot fully control; defends a humanistic understanding of our condition; recognizes that the values worth pursuing are plural, often conflicting, and that there are many reasonable conceptions of well-being. Kekes emphasizes the importance of facing the fact that man''s inhumanity to man is widespread. He rejects as simple-minded both the view that human nature is basically good and that it is basically bad, and argues that our well-being depends on coping with the comp
Trade Reviewrich and comprehensive ... [Kekes] always has something original and controversial to say. * Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *
Table of ContentsACKNOWLEDGMENTS ; INTRODUCTION ; 1. THE QUESTION ; 2. INCREASING CONTROL ; 3. CORRECTING ATTITUDES ; 4. AIMING AT WELL-BEING ; 5. DIMENSIONS OF VALUE ; 6. THE HUMAN DIMENSION AND EVIL ; 7. RESPONSIBILITY FOR EVIL ; 8. THE CULTURAL DIMENSION AND DISENCHANTMENT ; 9. THE PERSONAL DIMENSION AND BOREDOM ; 10. SECULAR HOPE ; CONCLUSION ; NOTES ; WORKS CITED
