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Title
The question of life's meaning : an African perspective / Aribiah David Attoe.
ISBN
9783031418426 (electronic bk.)
3031418425 (electronic bk.)
9783031418419
3031418417
Published
Cham : Palgrave Macmillan, [2023]
Copyright
©2023
Language
English
Description
1 online resource (viii, 203 pages)
Other Standard Identifiers
10.1007/978-3-031-41842-6 doi
Call Number
BD431
Dewey Decimal Classification
113/.8
Summary
"The author of this challenging book beautifully curates a tussle between the meaningfulness and meaninglessness of life in the first two parts. By the third part, it becomes clear that the outcome of this tussle was always inevitable: what is the point of a pointless universe? Once you get this gist in chapter nine, it is read on at your own peril. The final thesis of this work exposes the insincerity of life, the deceptions of fate and the mischiefs of God itself. Only death is real, honest and trustworthy! Indeed, if life were meaningless, what other choices do we have? The author's attempt to answer this question is a bold and brutal inquiry into an ultra-sensitive topic. Only a dare-devil philosopher could write this book!" -Jonathan O Chimakonam, Department of Philosophy, University of Pretoria; President, The Conversational Society of Philosophy "Aribiah Attoe has written the first monograph to squarely address the philosophy of life's meaning in the African tradition. In it Attoe eschews long-standing religious views, such as that life's meaning consists of fulfilling a destiny God has assigned, promoting a divine vital energy, or becoming an ancestor. Instead, Attoe mines and refines approaches in African thought that he deems compatible with a contemporary scientific outlook. The results include fresh answers to major questions such as what make parts of a life meaningful, whether life as a whole is meaningful, and how to respond to the prospect of meaninglessness." -Thaddeus Metz, Professor of Philosophy, University of Pretoria, South Africa In answering the question of life's meaning, the African perspective is only just beginning to emerge. While this is true, a critical examination of African theories of meaningfulness, the possibility of life's meaninglessness, as well as ideas about the proper mode/mood for living with the meaninglessness of life are largely underexplored within the African philosophical tradition. This book provides several plausible accounts of meaning in/of life from an African perspective, examines the relationship between death and life's meaningfulness, and explores the possibility of life's meaninglessness, proposing the "philosophy of indifference" as the proper mode/mood for living with the meaninglessness of life. Aribiah David Attoe is a Lecturer at the University of Witwatersrand and a member of the prestigious Conversational School of Philosophy.
Note
Includes index.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
Source of Description
Online resource; title from PDF title page (SpringerLink, viewed October 16, 2023).
Part I. Laying the Groundwork
1. Introduction
2. Understanding "Meaning"
3. African Metaphysical Thought: What We Mean and Why It Is Important
Part II. African Conceptions of Meaning in Life
4. Some Traditional African Conceptions of Meaning in Life
5. Rejecting the Obsolete
6. Accounts of Life's Meaningfulness from a Contemporary African Perspective
7. Passionate Yearning Theory as a Theory of Meaning in Life
Part III. The Meaning(lessness) of Life
8. A "Concept" of the Meaning of Life
9. Death and Meaninglessness
Part IV. Living with Meaninglessness
10. The Path of Meaninglessness: Beyond Ada Agada's Consolationism
11. The Philosophy of Indifference: An Introduction
12. Indifference and the Future of Human Existence: Towards an Anti-Natalist Destiny and Specie Suicide?
13. Conclusion. .
