The Meaning of Things

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The Meaning of Things: Applying Philosophy to Life
Grayling Meaning.JPG
Author A. C. Grayling
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Publication date
August 9, 2001
Media typePrint
Pages196
ISBN 978-0297607588

The Meaning of Things: Applying Philosophy to Life, published in the U.S. as Meditations for the Humanist: Ethics for a Secular Age, is a book by A. C. Grayling. First published in 2001, the work offers popular treatments of philosophical reasoning, weaving together ideas from various writers and traditions. It consists of short essays on a variety of subjects which, although deeply rooted in philosophy, are everyday phenomena encountered, recognized, and understood by everyone. The brief essays in the volume were originally published as installments in Grayling's "The Last Word" column in The Guardian.

Contents

Contents

Part I: Virtues and Attributes
Moralising Tolerance Mercy Civility Compromise Fear Courage Defeat Sorrow Death Hope Perseverance Prudence Frankness Lying Perjury Betrayal Loyalty Blame Punishment Delusion Love Happiness

Part II: Foes and Fallacies
Nationalism Racism Speciesism Hate Revenge Intemperance Depression Christianity Sin Repentance Faith Miracles Prophecy Virginity Paganism Blasphemy Obscenity Poverty Capitalism

Part III: Amenities and Goods
Reason Education Excellence Ambition Acting Art Health Leisure Pace Reading Memory History Leadership Travel Privacy Family Age Gifts Trifles

Quotations

Editions

The 2001 hardcover edition of The Meaning of Things was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. A paperback edition was published in 2002 by Phoenix, an imprint of the Orion Publishing Group. The American edition hardcover edition was published by Oxford University Press in 2002. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, also an imprint of Orion Publishing Group, published a paperback edition in 2002 and a Kindle edition in 2011. [1]

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