The Meaning of Life: Perspectives from the World's Great Intellectual Traditions cover art

The Meaning of Life: Perspectives from the World's Great Intellectual Traditions

Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for £5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Meaning of Life: Perspectives from the World's Great Intellectual Traditions

By: Jay L. Garfield, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Jay L. Garfield
Try Standard free

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £18.72

Buy Now for £18.72

About this listen

What is the meaning of life?

It's a question every thoughtful person has pondered at one time or another. Indeed, it may be the biggest question of all - at once profound and universal, but also deeply personal.

We want to understand the world in which we live, but we also want to understand how to make our own lives as meaningful as possible; to know not only why we're living, but that we're doing it with intention, purpose, and ethical commitment. But how, exactly, do we find that meaning, and develop that commitment? How can we grasp why we are here? Or how we should proceed? And to whom, exactly, we should listen as we shape the path we will walk? This comprehensive 36-lecture series from a much-honored scholar is an invigorating way to begin or continue your pursuit of these questions, and it requires no previous background in philosophical or religious thought.

It offers a rigorous and wide-ranging exploration of what various spiritual, religious, and philosophical traditions from both the East and West have contributed to this profound line of questioning, sharing insights from sources that include ancient Indian texts, such as:

  • The Bhagavad-Gita
  • Foundational Chinese texts like the Daodejing and the Chuang Tzu
  • Classical Western texts, such as Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics and Marcus Aurelius's Meditations
  • Modern philosophers and writers like David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Leo Tolstoy
  • The unique perspectives offered by Native Americans, in this case, the Lakota Sioux medicine man and writer, John Lame Deer
  • Plus more recent and contemporary philosophers, such as Mohandas Gandhi and the Dalai Lama.
    • PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2011 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2011 The Great Courses
Philosophy Thought-Provoking Inspiring
All stars
Most relevant
I enjoyed this course so much. Jay Garfield communicates his excitement for the subject with carefully drawn portraits of thought around life's meaning from different thinkers. I was reintroduced to familiar texts with a fresh approach, and I learned some fascinating aspects of other world figures that leaves me both wanting to know more and inspired to personal change. So pleased I listened to this course. 😀

Enriched and inspired

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

amazing insight into what we consider life to be. better understanding of Ghandi and his influence among other philosophers.

amazing insight

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I enjoyed the content and presentation; thought provoking and insightful.

This is a great listen for anyone who's wondered about whether there is or could be a purpose or meaning to life; or who is interested in ways in which people have thought about 'being' and connection.

The most informative and thought provoking book I've heard

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

so good that I will listen to it again at some point. I will maybe read the texts too.

so good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

it will definitely give you perspective and open a channel to self discovery, and perhaps you might want to pick one of the suggested authors or books to start that journey. For me personally, I learned a great deal about ideas and ways to see myself and others.

it will definitely give you perspective

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews