EBOOK Meaning of Life: A Very Short Introduction

'Philosophers have an infuriating habit of analysing questions rather than        answering them', writes Terry Eagleton, who, in these pages, asks the most important        question any of us ever ask, and attempts to answer it.So what is the meaning of        life? In this witty, spirited, and stimulating inquiry, Eagleton shows how centuries        of thinkers - from Shakespeare and Schopenhauer to Marx, Sartre and Beckett - have        tackled the question. Refusing to settle for the bland and boring, Eagleton reveals        with a mixture of humour and intellectual rigour how the question has become        particularly problematic in modern times. Instead of addressing it head-on, we take        refuge from the feelings of 'meaninglessness' in our livesby filling them with a        multitude of different things: from football and sex, to New Age religions and        fundamentalism.'Many of the readers of this book are likely to be as sceptical of        the phrase "e;the meaning of life"e; as they are of Santa Claus', he writes. But        Eagleton contends that in a world where we need to find common meanings, it is        important that we set about answering the question of all questions; and, in        conclusion, he suggests his own answer.