Meaning in Life V 3 – The Harmony of Nature and Spirit: Volume 3 Reprint Edition

A gold mine for those who wish to better understand the intellectual foundations of the good life.

–Marvin Kohl, The New School for Social Research

-A gold mine for those who wish to better understand the intellectual foundations of the good life.—Marvin Kohl, The New School for Social Research

“A gold mine for those who wish to better understand the intellectual foundations of the good life.”–Marvin Kohl, The New School for Social Research

“A gold mine for those who wish to better understand the intellectual foundations of the good life.”–Marvin Kohl, The New School for Social Research

“A gold mine for those who wish to better understand the intellectual foundations of the good life.”–Marvin Kohl, The New School for Social Research

“Rarely does one get a chance to see such a polished, mature, and humane piece of writing, all the rarer in philosophy.”–Thomas Alexander, Southern Illinois University

“Pursuing an idea (stated in the earlier volumes) that our imagination makes ideals by which we create meaning, Singer contends that the aesthetic principles exemplified in art (freedom with conventional constraint; harmonious integration; consummatory experience) apply as well to life and, if realized, bring happiness. He then argues that both ethics and religion are based on aesthetic aspects of experience and concludes by analyzing love in terms of compassion, sympathy, and empathy. The book’s freshness, perceptiveness, and clarity make it worthwhile for educated lay readers and professionals alike.” — Library Journal

“Pursuing an idea (stated in the earlier volumes) that our imagination makes ideals by which we create meaning, Singer contends that the aesthetic principles exemplified in art (freedom with conventional constraint; harmonious integration; consummatory experience) apply as well to life and, if realized, bring happiness. He then argues that both ethics and religion are based on aesthetic aspects of experience and concludes by analyzing love in terms of compassion, sympathy, and empathy. The book’s freshness, perceptiveness, and clarity make it worthwhile for educated lay readers and professionals alike.” — Library Journal

Philosophical thinking has traditionally decreed that the human condition is split into two realms of being: nature and spirit – the one physical and psychological; the other an inherently transcendent dimension that exceeds the natural. Irving Singer finds this distinction unacceptable. Preceded by The Creation of Value and The Pursuit of Love, this final book in Singer’s Meaning in Life trilogy argues that separating nature and the life of spirit not only precludes an understanding of how consciousness, awareness of value, and the pursuit of ideal possibilities originate in nature but also masks the discovery of how experience can be both meaningful and a source of happiness. Studying the interaction between nature and spirit, Singer examines the ways in which we may resolve our sense of being divided and thereby overcome the suffering in life. He speculates about concepts of happiness, play, acceptance of mere existence, and the need to live in unity with nature.