Audiobook4 hours
Sick Souls, Healthy Minds: How William James Can Save Your Life
Written by John Kaag
Narrated by Daniel Henning
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
From the celebrated author of American Philosophy: A Love Story and Hiking with Nietzsche, a compelling introduction to the life-affirming philosophy of William James
In 1895, William James, the father of American philosophy, delivered a lecture entitled "Is Life Worth Living?" It was no theoretical question for James, who had contemplated suicide during an existential crisis as a young man a quarter century earlier. Indeed, as John Kaag writes, "James's entire philosophy, from beginning to end, was geared to save a life, his life"?and that's why it just might be able to save yours, too. Sick Souls, Healthy Minds is a compelling introduction to James's life and thought that shows why the founder of pragmatism and empirical psychology?and an inspiration for Alcoholics Anonymous?can still speak so directly and profoundly to anyone struggling to make a life worth living.
Kaag tells how James's experiences as one of what he called the "sick-souled," those who think that life might be meaningless, drove him to articulate an ideal of "healthy-mindedness"?an attitude toward life that is open, active, and hopeful, but also realistic about its risks. In fact, all of James's pragmatism, resting on the idea that truth should be judged by its practical consequences for our lives, is a response to, and possible antidote for, crises of meaning that threaten to undo many of us at one time or another. Along the way, Kaag also movingly describes how his own life has been endlessly enriched by James.
Eloquent, inspiring, and filled with insight, Sick Souls, Healthy Minds may be the smartest and most important self-help book you'll ever read.
In 1895, William James, the father of American philosophy, delivered a lecture entitled "Is Life Worth Living?" It was no theoretical question for James, who had contemplated suicide during an existential crisis as a young man a quarter century earlier. Indeed, as John Kaag writes, "James's entire philosophy, from beginning to end, was geared to save a life, his life"?and that's why it just might be able to save yours, too. Sick Souls, Healthy Minds is a compelling introduction to James's life and thought that shows why the founder of pragmatism and empirical psychology?and an inspiration for Alcoholics Anonymous?can still speak so directly and profoundly to anyone struggling to make a life worth living.
Kaag tells how James's experiences as one of what he called the "sick-souled," those who think that life might be meaningless, drove him to articulate an ideal of "healthy-mindedness"?an attitude toward life that is open, active, and hopeful, but also realistic about its risks. In fact, all of James's pragmatism, resting on the idea that truth should be judged by its practical consequences for our lives, is a response to, and possible antidote for, crises of meaning that threaten to undo many of us at one time or another. Along the way, Kaag also movingly describes how his own life has been endlessly enriched by James.
Eloquent, inspiring, and filled with insight, Sick Souls, Healthy Minds may be the smartest and most important self-help book you'll ever read.
Author
John Kaag
John Kaag is a professor of philosophy at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. He is the author of American Philosophy: A Love Story and Hiking with Nietzsche, both of which were named best books of the year by NPR. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, and many other publications. He lives outside Boston with his wife and children.
Related to Sick Souls, Healthy Minds
Related audiobooks
The Existentialist's Survival Guide: How to Live Authentically in an Inauthentic Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Think Least of Death: Spinoza on How to Live and How to Die Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Varieties of Religious Experience Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pragmatism and The Meaning of Truth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Midlife: A Philosophical Guide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Henry at Work: Thoreau on Making a Living Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Parfit: A Philosopher and His Mission to Save Morality Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Introduction to Metaphysics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Select Essays Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Conscience: The Origins of Moral Intuition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Essays of Montaigne Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Praise of Wasting Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stone Reader: Modern Philosophy in 133 Arguments Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxiety: A Philosophical History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All Things Shining: Reading the Western Canon to Find Meaning in a Secular World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Honor Matters Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On Bullshit Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5On Quality: An Inquiry into Excellence: Unpublished and Selected Writings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Birth and Death of Meaning: An Interdisciplinary Perspective on the Problem of Man; 2nd Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Finite and Infinite Games Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Courage to Be Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Live: Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Function of Reason Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Socrates Express: In Search of Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Conquest of Happiness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reasons and Persons Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Philosophy For You
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Summary: The Laws of Human Nature: by Robert Greene: Key Takeaways, Summary & Analysis Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power, and Thrive Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stoicism: How to Use Stoic Philosophy to Find Inner Peace and Happiness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Tao of Pooh Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Holographic Universe: The Revolutionary Theory of Reality Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Stoic Mindset: Living the Ten Principles of Stoicism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Be Free: An Ancient Guide to the Stoic Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Many Lives, Many Masters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mastering Logical Fallacies: The Definitive Guide to Flawless Rhetoric and Bulletproof Logic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life, and Achieve Real Happiness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of Living: Peace and Freedom in the Here and Now Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of Communicating Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/512 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson - Book Summary: An Antidote to Chaos Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tao Te Ching: A New English Version Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Courage to Be Happy: Discover the Power of Positive Psychology and Choose Happiness Every Day Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Awakening Your Ikigai: How the Japanese Wake Up to Joy and Purpose Every Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Doors of Perception Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life Is a 4-Letter Word: Laughing and Learning Through 40 Life Lessons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5People of the Lie Vol. 1: Toward a Psychology of Evil Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related categories
Reviews for Sick Souls, Healthy Minds
Rating: 4.2272727272727275 out of 5 stars
4/5
22 ratings0 reviews