Determinism, Death, and Meaning (Routledge Studies in Metaphysics) - Hardcover

Maitzen, Stephen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1032132175 ISBN 13: 9781032132174

Publisher: Routledge, 2021

Synopsis

This book offers new arguments for determinism. It draws novel and surprising consequences from determinism for our attitudes toward such things as death, regret, grief, and the meaning of life.

The book argues that rationalism is the right attitude to take toward reality. It then shows that rationalism implies determinism and that determinism has surprising and far-reaching consequences. The author contends that the existence of all of humanity almost certainly depends on the precise time and manner of your death and mine; that purely retrospective regret, relief, gratitude, and grief are irrational for all but those who hold extreme values; and that everyone’s life has an unending impact on the future and thereby achieves the strongest kind of meaning that it makes sense to desire.

Written in a direct and accessible style, Determinism, Death, and Meaning will be of interest to researchers and advanced students working in metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and value theory, as well as general readers with a serious interest in these topics.

About this title

About the Author

Stephen Maitzen is the W. G. Clark Professor of Philosophy at Acadia University, Nova Scotia, Canada. His work appears in several edited collections and in major scholarly journals, including The Journal of Philosophy, Erkenntnis, Synthese, and Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. He has received Acadia’s highest recognition for excellence in teaching.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1032132175
• ISBN 13: 9781032132174
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208