What's It All About?: Philosophy and the Meaning of Life

Baggini has re-established here a meaningful relation between philosophy and everyday life. This is a relation philosophers lost a long time ago. This book presents a plurality of issues which concern every individual. It presents surface aspects that read easily and naturally. The good news here is that these surface aspects have deep roots. And the reader can trace these roots to her own deep satisfaction. Baggini is... Read Full Review

If you ever wondered what is the meaning of life, or simply like philosophy, I think you'll like this book. It discusses many views on the subject in a interesting manner (playing the devil's advocate). I like the feeling of "I would never have thought of that!" that the book gives. Also, even if you don't find the meaning of life, you can find known ways of having a frustrated life (and maybe avoid them).

This is an fast paced overview of various philosophies that takes a fun approach to debunking many of the accepted purposes for our existance. If you majored in philosophy, this one will be a bit simplistic, but for the rest of us, it makes for an easy comparison of the various "isms". No, it doesn't really give us the definative answer(s), but great food for thought. Does give short shrift to New Age and Eastern religions... Read Full Review

I once thought that perhaps Will Durant's book was the best introduction to philosophy, and then I thought "Sophie's World" was. Now both of those books are well worth your time if you intend to get a peek at the Western philosophical tradition. However, I think this is the best introduction to philosophy, not merely as what philosophers think about, but as thought about meaningful stuff. Baggini's arguments are concise... Read Full Review

I found this to be a wonderful book for someone both interested in and open to thinking about the meaning of life. The analysis is from a rationalist and humanist perspective. It proceeds step by step though the most common answers to the meaning of life question exmining them in a very direct and informative manner. In the end it leaves one with a framework to construct one's own meaning of life for oneself, one that is... Read Full Review