Made for Happiness
Discovering the Meaning of Life with Aristotle
- Publisher
- House of Anansi Press Inc
- Initial publish date
- Aug 2017
- Category
- Religious, General
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9780887846694
- Publish Date
- Nov 2001
- List Price
- $21.95
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781487002572
- Publish Date
- Aug 2017
- List Price
- $16.95
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781770890800
- Publish Date
- Nov 2001
- List Price
- $16.95
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Description
This bestselling work is an uplifting and practical look at philosophy and how it can be applied in our everyday lives from the author of the international bestseller, Becoming Human.
In Made for Happiness, Jean Vanier examines the basis for modern moral philosophy and its role in our lives today. Having discovered through his work with the intellectually disabled the degree to which our society is divided, and our values misplaced, Vanier invites us to read with fresh eyes theories of happiness written 2,400 years ago.
The book follows the links between psychology, spirituality, and morality: psychology helps us face our fears and limitations; spirituality gives us strength; and morality helps us to choose the best actions, those that will make us happier, and thus more human. The combination of these paths to knowledge and wisdom gives meaning to our lives and allows us to make the best use of our freedom on our way to happiness.
About the authors
JEAN VANIER, the son of former governor general Georges Vanier, was educated in England and Canada. After eight years in the Royal and the Canadian Navy, he went to study in France, where he received his doctorate in philosophy, later teaching at St. Michael’s College (University of Toronto). Distressed by the plight of people with developmental challenges, he founded L ’Arche communities, and Faith and L ight, two international networks of communities for people with disabilities. With many bestselling books and humanitarian awards to his name—including the Pope Paul VI International Prize, the International Peace Award and the Companion of the Order of Canada—Vanier lives in Trosly, France, in the original L’Arche community he founded in 1964.
Ian Brown is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster. He is the author of the national bestsellers The Boy in Moon: A Father's Search for His Disabled Son, Man Overboard: True Adventures with North American Men, and Free Wheeling, which won a National Business Book Award. Brown’s reporting and writing have won six gold National Magazine awards and two National Newspaper Awards. A roving feature writer for the Globe and Mail, he is also a contributor to This American Life on U.S. public radio, and host of both CBC Radio’s Talking Books and Canada’s pre-eminent documentary television series, “Human Edge” and “The View From Here.” He lives in Toronto with his wife and two children.
Kathryn Spink est une auteure et une traductrice de renommée mondiale. Biographe autorisée de Mère Teresa de Calcutta, ses ouvrages ont tracé les portraits de plusieurs groupes religieux, entre autres la communauté du Frère Roger de Taizé. Elle est la traductrice en anglais des oeuvres de Dominique Lapierre.
Excerpt: Made for Happiness: Discovering the Meaning of Life with Aristotle (by (author) Jean Vanier; introduction by Ian Brown; translated by Kathryn Spink)
Many of Aristotle’s principles are valid for any ethics. Being human doesn’t mean simply obeying laws that come form outside, but attaining maturity. Being human means becoming as perfectly accomplished as possible. If we do not become perfectly accomplished, something is lost to the whole of humanity. For Aristotle this accomplishment derives from the exercise of the most perfect activity: that of seeking truth in all things, shunning lies and illusions, acting in accordance with justice, transcending oneself to act for the good of others in society.
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