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

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

By: Jay L. Garfield,The Great Courses
Narrated by: Jay L. Garfield
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Publisher's summary

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
  • 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

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What listeners say about The Meaning of Life: Perspectives from the World's Great Intellectual Traditions

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Thoughtful, Evenhanded, Precise, and Well Spoken

This lecture series discusses The Bhagavad Gita, Aristotle, The Book of Job, Stoicism (including Epictetus, Seneca, Lucretius, and Marcus Aurelius), Confucius, The Dao De Jing (including Zhuangzi), Buddhist teachings (including Santideva and Zen), Hume, Kant, Mill, Tolstoy, Nietzsche, Gandhi, Lame Deer, and the Dalai Lama. He concentrates on bringing out what each subject has to say particularly on the meaning of life, and he always reminds the listener of themes that we have heard in previous lectures and how they compare to the current lecture. He took every perspective seriously, and during each lecture I felt he was making a great case for each viewpoint. He respects Nietzsche and Gandhi equally. He is calm yet engaging speaker. One revelation I had was the difference in how the ancient world generally understands the meaning of life as opposed to the modern world. I got a lot out of listening, and may listen again after a few months. If I were to guess, I would guess he gives slightly more time to compassion/nature of self, but he gives almost equal time to other topics such as the aesthetic/creative and knowledge/progress ideas of the good life.

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98 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

So far this is my favorite Audible purchase

What about Professor Jay L. Garfield’s performance did you like?

He is excellent. His voice does reminded me a little bit of a nerdy professor at first, but his enthusiasm and passion for the the subject matter has blown me away. I think he's my favorite narrator that I've come accross to date. I just wish I would have stumbled across him before moving, as I lived not too far from where he teaches.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. There is a lot of material covered in each lecture. I can't do too many at once, as each topic needs a little time for reflection. ...although on occasion I do want to push myself and see how many I can do back to back.

Any additional comments?

Jay Garfield makes an excellent performance in these lectures. He is fascinated by the material he is covering, and seems to love each topic he covers. Each lecture is between 30 and 45 minutes, which is just about perfect. So far, he has kept my interest for every lecture. I admit, I'm only 15 hours in, but I had to come online and see if he narrates anything else.... unfortunately, it doesn't look like he does at the moment.

Each lecture gives a brief overview of the various world religeons and major philosophies. The purpose isn't to tell you what the meaning of life is, but rather to discuss some of the major world ideas about the meaning of life - not just in respect to religion, but also from a philisophic viewpoint as well.

Overall, I'm thrilled with this purchase, which is why I wrote this review. A+ on all counts.

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Really awesome

Disclaimer: I'm not a professional reviewer, and this is my first review.

I must admit I listened only to the first 4 lectures of this course, and I felt the need to write a review. I was really pleasantly surprised by the level of scholarship and professionalism professor Garfield displays. I knew and was familiar with many concepts Professor Garfield explains, but the way he explains them, the repetition he makes, and the explanation of the etymology of single words makes this course a must have.
I'm also going slow into listening the material, because Professor Garfield emphasizes some concepts, and convey some ideas which are really rich, and most of all spiritual.
Some of these ideas In order to be "digested" need quite some time, and many ideas leave me totally absorbed by the implications. And of course the comparison with ideas/concepts from western theology.
So one of the goals of this review is to thank Professor Garfield for explaining the material so well, and of course for being so thorough.

I'm truly happy that Audible and the Great Courses started this partnership. Because it was something missing, and now I can enjoy all these great professors, and their knowledge.

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37 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Misses Some of the Meaning of Life

What did you like best about The Meaning of Life: Perspectives from the World's Great Intellectual Traditions? What did you like least?

Best - for the traditions he covered, he did a passable job of explaining the concepts of the books he covered. He clearly had an appreciation for some ideas of the meaning of life. And, he emphasized source material, which I appreciated.

Least - terrible coverage of Judeo-Christian tradition, insufficient coverage of existentialism and western post-modernists, too little on the personal implications of modernism relative to the political and economic. Many of his observations about eastern religions seemed simplistic and overly influenced by a desire to turn them into something that a westerner could learn to like in a semester course on the meaning of life.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Seriously - the book of Job represents the meaning of life for ~4 billion Jews, Christians, and Muslims? I think not.

Also, WRT modernism and post-modernism, to little personal and too much political and economic. He made it sound like the whole history of modern and post-modern philosophy should be understood as a backdrop for the culture wars. Gandhi, Lame Deer, and the Dalai Lama all come from oppressed populations and it is natural that they should complain against the politics and economics of modern first and second world nations. There was no voice from one of those modern societies - the closest in time and place was Nietzsche.

I really, really wanted to hear him talk more about the significance of choices (which he alluded to a lot) against a deterministic context.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Everything was beautiful or elicited some other positive emotion. Actually, I began to wonder if he ignored the Judeo-Christian tradition because he couldn't find anything beautiful in it. Or maybe the stark determinism of modern scientific naturalism was too much for a course where the significance of choices was a primary topic. Perhaps it's inevitable in a course like this, but I felt more like I was looking at a vision of the lecturer's soul than a relatively even-handed academic treatment of the topic, and in that sense it felt more like listening to a set of religious lectures than academic ones. Maybe that's what he was shooting for.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

It's hard to imagine as a movie, so I'm pretty sure not.

Any additional comments?

I have to admit that my reaction to this course is atypical of my general reaction to other great courses.

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28 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

FUNDAMENTAL COURSE FOR EVERY SINGLE PERSON

What an absolutely beautiful course.

Professor Garfield grabs your hand on diving-adventures into deep oceans, pointing out what floats around, grows or lives in each one of them. How they compare, how they differ, why it (might) matter(s) - that's ultimately up to you, with 'wu-wei'; the taoistic concept of effortless masterful delivery.

When you surface again, you're a different person.

I've come into contact with the philosophies in this course over my life-time in one way or another, however, never-ever before, has it all fallen into place as beautifully as with the guidance of Prof. Garfield.

It has in a way been life-changing. It's not really new concepts, they are all slumbering within me, but it's a shifting of what's in the foreground vs background.

This should be a course taught in every classroom, every year, starting in kindergarten all the way up until we graduate, and then we'd continue this as individuals, in self-organizing groups. Just digging a little deeper, or focusing on where the fabric of life guides us.

I see a world that is built on ideas, yet, we're increasingly only focused on the crystallization of ideas, with an unhealthy 'instrumental mindset'. I think it's particularly destructive to children and teenagers growing up today. What is there to live for with such an empty view of life, communicated through what matters at school, in media, for parents, teachers, politicians?

Thank you Professor Garfield. What a WONDERFUL contribution to a better world. I'll make sure to spread it as well as I can, including the gifts of understanding that you have given me.

This is truly a 10 STARS out of 5 STARS.
Get it.

[I probably have 50+ Great Courses in my library, this is definitely at the top, along with all the Great Courses taught by J.R. Fears, and the Science Wars. My life wouldn't be the same without them.]

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Wow

What a (mostly) comprehensive examination of many of the great thinkers and traditions of faith and philosophy, explained in an engaging way that makes complex ideas clear without underestimating his listeners. I truly enjoyed and learned from this, and would love to have given this 5 stars across the board, but for two items. First, this exploration is really more accurately an exploration of "How to live a meaningful life", not "What is the meaning of life" - those two concepts intertwine but are not identical, and most of this series explores the former more than the latter. And second, I am surprised that he included no Christian thinker or philosophy. He looks at Job from the Old Testament, but to leave out Jesus (and the radical philosophy he brought to the time), seems to be a significant omission. I would have liked to hear Garfield speak on that, and to set that thought tradition alongside that of Buddha, the Bhagavad-Gita, Gandhi, Tolstoy, Kant, and others.

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    2 out of 5 stars

The analysis is incomplete

The author failed to mention any of the Christian theological philosophies.
It's like writing a book on the history of baseball with no reference to the Yankees or Red Sox.

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21 people found this helpful

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The Biggest Question in Life Explored Brilliantly

Jay L. Garfield is a wise and thoughtful guide to the philosophical exploration of the greatest question in life. Just what is the meaning of life?

He discusses the meaning of the question in the first place and then goes on to discuss a broad range of philosophers and traditions as he helps us understand the different approaches. I was impressed with the course right from the beginning and that positive impression only grew as I listened to the entire course.

Jay Garfield is passionate, humble, and respectful in his teaching. He covers a broad range of thinkers and links them nicely. He paints a broad landscape of the majesty of philosophy when it helps us explore the meaning of our individual and social human experience.

The course was not short and it covered a lot of material, but the pace was excellent. I learned a great deal, but would be happy to hear a lot more of Jay Garfield. A great Audible program for anyone interested in the big picture of human life - highly recommended. Jay Garfield is a brilliant teacher who shares his passion as much as his knowledge.

This would be a great course for anyone wanting to dip their toe into philosophy. I expect that it would encourage many to plunge in after that first dip.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Not Balanced

The Professor shows his expertise and bias toward the Eastern faiths and philosophies, but does that cover the meaning of life for all people? He manages to completely avoid Christianity and Islam - the faiths of most of the world's people. Even if now fewer people in the West are Christian, it still influences their thinking on the meaning of life.

One could (perhaps wrongly) say that Christianity and Islam are not "Intellectual Traditions", but the Professor spends three lectures on the Bhagavad Gita, also a religious scripture.

It seems to me that how one thinks about the meaning of life is often closely linked to how one thinks about the meaning of death, yet these lectures manage to ignore that and talk about Hinduism and Bhuddism without even discussing reincarnation.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Selling a point of view

Would you try another book from The Great Courses and/or Professor Jay L. Garfield?

NO

What was most disappointing about The Great Courses’s story?

Great until the end when he used philosophers to sell a point of view. I enjoy OBJECTIVE history. This book DOES NOT meet that objective. I do not like attempts to manipulate me.

What about Professor Jay L. Garfield’s performance did you like?

The first 75% of the book was good.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Yes ... it was really good for a while.

Any additional comments?

Big disappointment near the end. Very SELECTIVE in choice of philosophers as well as points to be considered. I know this is always true but seemed obvious to me that instructor was selling his own viewpoint.

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13 people found this helpful