Good Reads summary:What is truth? What is love? Does life have meaning? Bestselling author Richard David Precht, “the Mick Jagger of the nonfiction book” (Tagesanzeiger Zürich), has traveled the globe searching for answers—and his odyssey has become one of the most talked-about books around the world. Combining classic philosophy and cutting-edge neuroscience, Precht guides readers through the thickest jungles of academic discourse with the greatest of ease, taking on subjects as challenging and divisive as abortion, cloning, the eating of animals, euthanasia, the ethics of reproductive science, and the very future of humanity.
My Thoughts: I admit I picked this book up at the library because I was interested in happiness and the book sounded like it gave a philosophical bent on the subject. While it is not the premise of the book the book is still a fascinating look into the history of philosophy and a look at the questions of our time.
The first part of the book delves into the history an attempts to answer questions such as what is the self? How to prove God is real and other such questions philosophy have been grappling with since the beginning of time. The second part of the book is more focused on Modern questions and it does ask how to be happy (in a philosophical way). It also tackles such big questions such as abortion and not eating meat.
The chapters are short so it never feels like the book is dragging. Some chapters are only a few pages in length. The author avoids what could be a dry philosophical text and instead with skill of writing he turns it into a fun book to read. It is accessible even to people that don’t have a background in philosophy.In the end it all sums it up nicely and does include a short chapter on how to be happy.