The Best Things in Life: A Guide to What Really Matters (Philosophy in Action)

209 Pages·2010·0.53 MB·English

by  Thomas Hurka

The Best Things in Life
PHILOSOPHY IN ACTION
Small Books about Big Ideas
WALTER SINNOTT-ARMSTRONG,
SERIES EDITOR
This series publishes short, accessible, lively, and original
books by prominent contemporary philosophers. Using the
powerful tools of philosophical reasoning, the authors take
on our most pressing and difficult questions—from the
complex personal choices faced by ordinary individuals in
their everyday lives to the major social controversies that
define our time. They ultimately show the essential role that
philosophy can play in making us think, and think again,
about our most fundamental assumptions.
THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE
A Guide to What Really Matters
THOMAS HURKA

2011
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hurka, Thomas, 1952–
The best things in life : a guide to what really matters / by Thomas Hurka.
p. cm. — (Philosophy in action)
ISBN 978-0-19-533142-4
1. Life. I. Title.
BD431.H74 2010
170 ′ .44—dc22
2010009513
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
CONTENTS
I ntroduction 1
one Feeling Good 9
two F inding That Feeling 31
three T he Place of Pleasure 53
f our Knowing What’s What 75
five Making Things Happen 97
s ix Being Good 119
vi Contents
seven L ove and Friendship 141
eight Putting It Together 163
B ibliography 1 89
I ndex 1 95
The Best Things in Life
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INTRODUCTION
L
et’s say you’re making an important decision. Should you
volunteer in Africa for two years after college or go straight
into a paying job? Should you stay in a loveless marriage for
your children’s sake or seek a divorce? Should you take a safe
bank job or try to make a living from your music? In each
case you can see arguments on both sides, but you want to
make the right choice. What is the right choice, and what
makes it so?
Your initial questions, about Africa or your marriage, are
specific practical ones, about what you should do now. But
the last question, about what makes a choice right, is philo-
sophical; it concerns the general standards that should guide
any choice in any situation. This book is about that philosoph-
ical question, or about an important part of the answer to it.
A complete answer to the question would identify all the
factors relevant to a choice and tell you how to weigh them
against each other to reach a final judgment about what you