On the Meaning of Life (Thinking in Action)

John Cottingham argues for a spiritual dimension to life which he defines as shared meaning, values and commitments (page ix). However, having argued for this metaphysical quality to life, he then insists on its ‘objectivity’. ‘Meaning and worth’, he writes, ‘cannot be created by human fiat alone’ (p17). ‘Value is typically grounded not in arbitrary preference but in objectively assessable features of the world’ (p20), ‘all converge on the premise that there are objective values’ (p33). It is, he claims ‘a fantasy that we can create our own values’ (p62). ‘We cannot create our own values’ he repeats on his closing page (p104). These are the preconceptions of a theist. Cunningham’s paradigm thereby excludes the atheist.He then contradicts this by accepting that morality cannot be prescribed or dictated by any god. It must have human agency. ‘Our moral insights ought to be able to stand alone’ and ‘moral evaluation turns out to have a certain sort of autonomy’ (p65). He celebrates hope (p75), but how can hope be objective any more than thankfulness? He allows for human choice, but then wants to deny that choice by insisting on the objectivity of virtue. We can choose to live virtuously, but we cannot choose what that virtue should be.These are all bold statements without supporting argument. Virtue can be argued to have alternative sources from i) a deity, ii) a Darwinian mutation, iii) a metaphysical force, to iv) human agency. Cottingham seems to deny them all. He insists on an objectivity he cannot explain. Choice of a virtue such as mercy can be an entirely arbitrary human choice, and does not thereby lose its value. This is the atheist and humanist interpretation of virtue, and is one Cottingham should allow and not summarily dismiss.He prioritises praxis to doctrine in religion (p86), which is a welcome emphasis if he can persuade religion to follow it, which is doubtful. He claims that ‘human beings are hungry for significance’ (p32), but perhaps not all are, and Cottingham is writing for an intellectual minority? This would need some real research. For many of us our own life is our 100% awareness and is perfectly satisfactory for that, without the need to worry about its microscopic place in the cosmos.Cottingham could have examined and portrayed virtue more attractively as André Comte-Sponville does in his ‘A Short Treatise of Great Virtues’.Geoff CrockerAuthor ‘An Enlightened Philosophy – Can an Atheist Believe Anything?’Editor ‘Atheist Spirituality’ www dot atheistspirituality dot net

The author ends up suggesting that the meaning of life boils down to "saying grace" and pursuing other Christian practices. Supposedly it doesn't matter if you don't believe in any Christian dogmas, just doing them will make your life meaningful. Cottingham seems blind to the fact that we are now living in a secular society. Christian practices, for many people in the UK, now look no more sensible than feeding milk to statues of an Indian Elephant god. For secular people this book is useless. It's also bad for Christians, because its unthinking dismissal of atheist paths to meaning will only tend to make them complacent. And those paths certainly exist, and many works from those of Epicurus to Richard Dawkins outline them. For secular readers, these authors offer valid paths to meaning that Cottingham dismisses far too readily. All in all, this book is best avoided.

I read this book a while ago after picking it up at random from a friend's shelf. It is beautifully written and argued; it's deceptively easy to read and carries its argument forward so subtly that you really don't know what his conclusion is going to be until you get there. It neither argues for religion in its tradiitonal form nor against it, but leaves it up to you, the reader, to decide; how refreshing after the narrow dogmatism of Richard Dawkins or some religious apologists. Highly recommended.

One of the best books on the supernatural theory of the meaning of life.

Very poorly written. Starts off with an introduction saying that he'd take a viewpoint to satisfy both atheists and theists, and for the sake of arguement would leave God out of it, but mentions the guy on most pages.Also a major problem - a big misunderstanding of Nietzsche's idea of self-overcoming. The principle as put forth by Nietzsche is having a certain character and integrity, which one then applies to one's lifestyle, actions, choices etc... but Cottingham ignores all this and misinterprets the idea completely. If you are new to philosophy this book may confuse you and give you the wrong view of many thinkers.The back of the book says that he's a Professor of Philosophy, but I would seriously doubt his ability based on this book. The third section is of semi-use, and that's all the book amounts to really.If you need an idea on the meaning of life, (though one should know that each person will differ as to what has meaning, and to what significance), I would suggest reading the philosophy of Existentialism, which deals with issues of living an authentic life, choice, freedom & responsibility, humanism, and ethics. A good book for this would be Existentialism For Dummies.