What Is the Good Life?

by LydiaG.Cochrane (Translator), Luc Ferry (Author)

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Paperback
2013
$48.21

$48.21

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
Edition: Reprint
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 17 Oct 2013
ISBN 10: 022610138X
ISBN 13: 9780226101385

Media Reviews

Luc Ferry's most recent book continues his quest of exploring the metaphysical and religious traditions of the past to see what we can still learn from them about self-transcendence and life's meaning, despite no longer being able to accept their postulates about the divine or about the harmony of the cosmos. Ferry develops some quite innovative ideas about the inner, 'human' significance of Greek, Christian, and Nietzschean conceptions of the good life. This is a courageous and insightful book by one of the ablest philosophers today. --Charles Larmore Charles Larmore (01/10/2005)
Luc Ferry has written a truly thought-provoking piece of work developed over a number of years, which one should read attentively and carefully. . . . The issue at stake is important, namely to develop a concept for wisdom for today . . . . Luc Ferry is a member of the contemporary movement that is rethinking the existential and practical role of philosophy. Abandoning a purely theoretical approach, one that is concerned only with knowledge for knowledge's sake, he resumes and revitalizes an ancient line of questioning, one with a long history behind it, which has only slightly faded out in recent times: 'what does the good life consist of?'. . . . What is striking. . . above all is the honesty of [the author's] reflections and the true openness of his thinking. --Roger-Pol Droit Le Monde (01/10/2005)
For anyone who wants to know why French philosophy after Foucault and Derrida continues to be of global importance, Luc Ferry's What Is the Good Life? is a must. In his latest book, Ferry offers the clearest and most deeply personal exposition of his post-metaphysical humanism. To those unfamiliar with the work of Luc Ferry, What Is the Good Life? is an ideal introduction to the thought of one of the leading intellectuals of today's France. --Edmund Leites Edmund Leites (01/10/2005)
Ferry boldly attempts to bring the intellectual traditions of humanism, religion, and materialism into dialogue with one another. At a time when most academic philosophy is technical and trivial, this volume stands apart. --Gordon Marino Wilson Quarterly
Ferry is one of those rare philosophers . . . who writes in a non-academic style that immediately draws you in. And yet this book is much more than a simple entertainment. It's a banquet for a hungry mind, serving rich philosophy trimmed with sociology, anthropology, theology, psychology, and history. . . . What makes this book a terrific read is not the 'punch line' found in the last chapter, the ultimate answer to the question of what makes the good life; it's Ferry's illumination of the human journey through history that has brought us to this answer. --Peter B. Raabe Metapsychology
A stunningly written, bravely conceived, and profoundly important book that quite simply needs to be read. --Michael S. Hogue Journal of Religion
As an extended 'friendly debate, ' as Ferry puts it, with materialism and religion, and with the ancient world and contemporary deconstruction, the book succeeds admirably. Moreover, it would be ungenerous not to recognize Ferry as the wonderfully aware, marvelously learned, sensible, good philosophical company that he is. He writes so clearly that whatever disagreements one has are . . . also his gift. --Guy Mansini Review of Metaphysics

Author Bio

Luc Ferry has taught at the Sorbonne and at the University of Caen and is the former Minister of Youth, National Education, and Research in the French government. He is the author or coauthor of eight previous books published by the University of Chicago Press, including, most recently, The New Ecological Order and Man Made God. Lydia G. Cochrane has translated several books from French and Italian for the University Chicago Press, including Alain Boureau's The Lord's First Night and Renzo Dubbini's G eography of the Gaze.