On Meanings of Life

Addressing the question of what makes life meaningful, Jerome Eckstein explores the ways in which we can heighten or diminish the quality of our life experience. He focuses on two contrasting attitudes toward life experiences: "interested" (goal-oriented) and "intraested" (non-goal-oriented, i.e., something directed only at itself) and shows that both attitudes are important and necessary in order to make life meaningful. Philosophy, psychology, religion, myth, poetry, and music are all brought to bear on such specific life-meaning issues as work, play, love, art, neurosis, and happiness, and in a touching epilogue, Eckstein discusses his own life meanings in terms of metaphysical loneliness, laughter, and dignity.