As humans, we want to live meaningfully, yet we are often driven by impulse. In Religion and the Meaning of Life, Williams investigates this paradox - one with profound implications. Delving into felt realities pertinent to meaning, such as boredom, trauma, suicide, denial of death, and indifference, Williams describes ways to acquire meaning and potential obstacles to its acquisition. This book is unique in its willingness to transcend a more secular stance and explore how one's belief in God may be relevant to life's meaning. Religion and the Meaning of Life's interdisciplinary approach makes it useful to philosophers, religious studies scholars, psychologists, students, and general readers alike. The insights from this book have profound real-world applications - they can transform how readers search for meaning and, consequently, how readers see and exist in the world.
Clifford Williams is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Trinity International University. He is the author of Free Will and Determinism: A Dialogue (1980) and Existential Reasons for Belief in God: A Defense of Desires and Emotions for Faith (2011).
Introduction; 1. Why should we care about meaning?; 2. Boredom; 3. Denial of death; 4. Acquiring meaning; 5. Suicide; 6. The divine one; 7. Life after death; 8. Obstacles; 9. How should we live so as to die well?; Epilogue. Facts the heart can feel; References; Index.
'An insightful exploration of what makes life meaningful, and its connections with belief in a God of the sort worshipped by the Jewish, Christian and Islamic religions.' T. J. Mawson, University of Oxford