What is the meaning of life? How do we find that meaning? To whom should we listen as we shape the path we will walk through the world? The Meaning of Life: Perspectives from the World's Great Intellectual Traditions is an invigorating way to begin or continue your pursuit of these and other questions. Professor Jay L. Garfield's 36 lectures offer you a rigorous and wide-ranging exploration of what various spiritual, religious, and philosophical traditions from both the East and the West have contributed to this profound line of questioning.
Meaning of Life: Perspectives from the World's Great Intellectual Traditions
Guided by a passionate and thorough professor, this intellectually gripping course offers a rigorous and wide-ranging exploration of what various spiritual, religious, and philosophical traditions from both the East and the West have contributed t...
Rated 5 out of
5
by
GraceWest from
Excellent teacher
This professor is invested in the material. He teaches from a place of eagerness to share what he knows and he encourages thought.
Date published: 2024-11-19
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Dmitriy from
A wish granting jewel for meaning of life
One of my favorite Great Courses, if not the most favorite. It took me a few passes over a few years to fully digest the subject matter but it was well worth it. I didn't mind the wait; isn't the meaning of life the most important question to ask in one's life? Professor Garfield is a true guru on the subject, and I feel fortunate to discover his course.
Date published: 2024-10-20
Rated 5 out of
5
by
ONeill from
One Of My Favorites
Excellent course and an excellent professor. Professor Garfield is a passionate speaker who provides exceptional insight into some of the world's great literary philosophies. This course made me think. Highly recommended.
Date published: 2024-08-19
Rated 4 out of
5
by
Ewnder Furneth from
Recommended but
I have a hard time imagining purpose, worth and meaning of life outside the concept of justice. (And I think justice is founded in reason regarding our experience of interests and that that is the foundation of ethics.) So naturally I wish there had been more discussion of justice or ethics as it relates to the meaning of life.
Date published: 2024-01-24
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Varner73 from
Why not Existentialism
Just finished your course and enjoyed it immensely. It took me to new ideas and traditions about which I knew little. I am curious, however, why you did not discuss Existentialism; arguably, if life has no meaning how can one live a meaningful life?
Date published: 2024-01-07
Rated 5 out of
5
by
the professor from
Global Perspective of the Meaning of Life
Professor Jay L. Garfield delivers a very thought provoking course on worldly perspectives of The Meaning of Life. It is a difficult task to condense the thoughts on the Meaning of Life from the diverse cultures into 36, 30 minute lectures, but the professor does an excellent job of doing so. Dr. Garfield delivers the lectures smoothly and naturally, with no slide reading. It was pleasure to partake in the course and observe a mosaic of worldly views on how to consider a personal program on developing a personal life outline for a meaningful life. The lectures push the learner to seek additional writing on the many perspectives in an effort to cultivate a personal plan of action. Excellent course with an outstanding professor. Well worth the investment of time and resources.
Date published: 2023-12-23
Rated 3 out of
5
by
Hiker1973 from
Sometimes the Professor was hard to understand
I am glad Professor Garfield took the time to make this course. However, I wish his explanations were more clearly presented. For example, just giving many more examples to his statements would have been very helpful. I recall one episode where the Professor was judging his students for commenting on a book that was "too difficult to understand" and he thought his students were "not smart enough". This comment was offensive to me. I have always thought that if a subject is not clearly presented, then it is the fault of the instructor. HOWEVER, I am happy I watched this course because I gained insight into many authors that were not familiar to me.
Date published: 2023-10-23
Rated 5 out of
5
by
dirrgang from
Very interesting introduction
I found the course very interesting, I only wish there was more. I'd be curious to know what makes a "worthwhile life" in the eyes of Islam, for instance.
Date published: 2023-09-03
Overview
About
Dr. Jay L. Garfield is Doris Silbert Professor in the Humanities, Professor of Philosophy, and director of both the Logic Program and of the Five College Tibetan Studies in India Program at Smith College. The holder of a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh, Professor Garfield also serves on the faculties of the University of Massachusetts, Melbourne University in Australia, and the Central University of Tibetan Studies in India. A specialist in the philosophy of mind, foundations of cognitive science, logic, philosophy of language, Buddhist philosophy, cross-cultural hermeneutics, theoretical and applied ethics, and epistemology, he has been widely honored by fellow scholars. Professor Garfield has written more than 100 scholarly articles and reviews and has written or edited, alone and with colleagues, more than 15 books, including Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika (2002); Empty Words: Buddhist Philosophy and Cross-Cultural Interpretation (2006); Buddhist Philosophy: Essential Readings (2009); Pointing at the Moon: Buddhism, Logic, Analysis (2009); Trans-Buddhism: Transmission, Translation and Transformation (2009); Moonshadows: Conventional Truth in Buddhist Philosophy (2010); and The Oxford Handbook of World Philosophy (2010).
Trailer
01: The Meaning of the Meaning of Life
Establish the solid ground from which your journey will begin. You'll learn the meanings that the word "meaning," itself, may embody and preview the approaches you will take to the question that gives the course its name....
33 min
02: The Bhagavad-Gita-Choice and Daily Life
One of the core texts of the Mahabharata-a major moral and religious text for most Hindus-introduces you to the critically important skill of truly reading a text, deeply and with comprehension. It also begins your consideration of the concept of human choice....
30 min
03: The Bhagavad-Gita-Discipline and Duty
Plunge more deeply into the Bhagavad-Gita's wisdom by grasping the three kinds of yogas, or disciplines, embedded in its metaphors. See why these disciplines of action, knowledge, and devotion are all required if life is to be coherent, integrated, and rational....
30 min
04: The Bhagavad-Gita-Union and Purpose
Conclude your reading of the Bhagavad-Gita with an appreciation of the theophany-Krishna's revelation of the nature of divinity. True freedom, says the Gita's final message, comes from disinterested action, reflective knowledge, and a finding of value at the cosmic level of a universe divine in its own right....
32 min
05: Aristotle on Life-The Big Picture
Shift your perspective from India to the roots of Western thought about life's meaning by beginning your study of Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics. This introductory lecture sets out the framework of Aristotle's view, as set forth in the lecture notes kept by his son and pupil, Nichomacheus....
31 min
06: Aristotle-The Highest Good
Explore Aristotle's search for the "highest good." It is a search that takes you through his famous "function argument" and offers an explanation of the comprehensive state of being known as eudaimonea, the fully flourishing life that may well elude evaluation until long after death....
30 min
07: Aristotle-The Happy Life
Your examination of Aristotle's ethical teachings concludes with his explanation of virtue, its key dimensions, and its necessary coupling with action. Special attention is also paid to the importance of friendship....
32 min
08: Job's Predicament-Life Is So Unfair
As you move to the Hebraic tradition, you grasp how the core question has shifted. Instead of seeking our answer in our relationship to the cosmos, as in the Indian tradition, or to society, as in that of the Greeks, the focus is now on our relationship to a personal God....
30 min
09: Job's Challenge-Who Are We?
The book of Job brings an encounter with a troubling conclusion. Although life may indeed have meaning, it is a meaning shrouded by a mysterious divine, and we may need to live in ignorance of what that meaning may be....
32 min
10: Stoicism-Rationality and Acceptance
Your focus moves to the beginnings of Stoic moral theory in the writings of Seneca and Epictetus. Their accounts of a good life describe one that is moderate, reasonable, and controlled, living in harmony with the universe and society, and accepting of the inevitability of death....
29 min
11: Human Finitude-The Epicurean Synthesis
A brief introduction to Lucretius, the foremost Epicurean philosopher, serves as a gateway to the thought of Marcus Aurelius. Aurelius's Meditations synthesizes Stoic ideas about rational order and the importance of emotional control with Epicurean ideas about finitude and impermanence....
31 min
12: Confucius-Order in the Cosmos and in Life
Your focus shifts to China and the ideas attributed to the man known to the West as Confucius. Hear what his teachings have to say about concepts like warm-heartedness, propriety, virtue, filial piety, the nature of the universe, and the achievement of an effortless excellence of character....
29 min
13: Daodejing-The Dao of Life and Spontaneity
An exploration of a very different Chinese approach to understanding than that set forth in Confucianism begins with a cautionary demonstration of the startling differences in interpretation that will always be present among various translations of a text....
30 min
14: Daodejing-The Best Life Is a Simple Life
Some beautiful readings from the Daodejing bring out the profound differences in outlook that set it apart from Confucianism. Grasp how it turns away from social structures and the "cultivation" of individual excellence in favor of a simple, natural life....
31 min
15: Daodejing-Subtlety and Paradox
Conclude your immersion in the Daodejing with this examination of some of its most important aspects. Take in its perspectives on the nature of the universe, the subtlety and suppleness of virtue, the value of "negativity," and the delicacy of life....
31 min
16: Zhuangzi on Daoism-Impermanence and Harmony
Your exploration of Daoism ends with its longest classical text, the Zhuangzi. You find not only the themes of spontaneity and the suspicion of logic, but also ridicule of the Confucian emphasis on ritual, propriety, and rigid relationships....
32 min
17: The Teachings of the Buddha
This lecture begins with the search for enlightenment by a young Indian prince and concludes with an introduction to what he found-the so-called Four Noble Truths, including the eightfold path to sharing that enlightenment....
32 min
18: Santideva-Mahayana Buddhism
Here you begin your study of one of the major evolutions in Buddhist thought, the Mahayana, and one of its major texts-Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara-a "how-to" manual for leading an enlightened life....
32 min
19: Santideva-Transforming the Mind
Enhance your grasp of Mahayana Buddhism and Santideva's description of the meaningful life, achieved only through the "six perfections"-the pursuit of generosity, propriety, patience, effort, meditation, and wisdom....
31 min
20: Zen-The Moon in a Dewdrop and Impermanence
Expand your understanding of Buddhism with an introduction to Zen. This path to Buddhahood is aimed at direct transformation. Knowledge is handed directly from mind to mind, with great emphasis placed on a teacher-disciple lineage that each Zen master can trace directly to Zen's originating moment....
32 min
21: Zen-Being-Time and Primordial Awakening
This lecture takes you through Zen concepts like duality and non-duality, perception and conception, Dogen's presentation of time as the very nature of our world, and what is required to reawaken our primordial Buddha-nature....
32 min
22: Taking Stock of the Classical World
A look back at the classical traditions studied thus far reveals that although there is no unanimity, there are common dimensions, as well as a consensus about the value of a virtuoso life attained through contemplation and practice....
31 min
23: Hume's Skepticism and the Place of God
European modernity brings the first challenges of science and reason to the primacy of theology. David Hume argues that, although theism may well be reasonable, it cannot be rational, establishing the foundation for separate public and private spheres....
32 min
24: Hume's Careless and Compassionate Vision
You explore Hume's distinctions between Nature and Second Nature, the importance of our social lives to our cognitive lives, and the key roles our passions and imagination play in our beliefs and actions....
31 min
25: Kant-Immaturity and the Challenge to Know
The work of Immanuel Kant is considered the demarcation line for modern academic philosophy. Here you take up Kant's view of the Enlightenment as a call for people to emerge from their self-imposed immaturity and realize their nature as fully formed human beings....
30 min
26: Mill's Call to Individuality and to Liberty
Readings from John Stuart Mill's On Liberty reveal the first purely individualistic doctrine of the meaning of life encountered in the course. Mill presents the strongest possible defense of the connection between a meaningful life and a liberal social order....
32 min
27: Tolstoy-Is Everyday Life the Real Thing?
A novella by Tolstoy presents a very different and critical view of modernity, suggesting that its values of secularization and mass society invariably lead us, in fact, to a life that is meaningless....
31 min
28: Nietzsche-Twilight of the Idols
Nietzsche initiates postmodernism in philosophy-its first sustained attack on modernity. Through readings from his Twilight of the Idols, you grasp Nietzsche's dismissal of modernity's core values, including philosophical progress, reason, systematicity, god, and transcendent value....
30 min
29: Nietzsche-Achieving Authenticity
Nietzsche's repudiation of modernity's concept of a meaningful life does not mean he lacks his own. This lecture presents his vision of life as a successful creative act on a grand scale, with oneself as the hero of a great autobiography....
30 min
30: Gandhi-Satyagraha and Holding Fast to Truth
Your introduction to the thought of Gandhi reveals him as even more radical than Nietzsche. Although a realization of Gandhi's views would admittedly sacrifice many of modernity's benefits, including much of technology, medicine, and law, it is a price he says we must be willing to pay....
31 min
31: Gandhi-The Call to a Supernormal Life
Gandhi's own life serves as an example of the supernormal life he advocates. See how his argument for what he believes to be the only meaningful life includes echoes from almost every text we've examined....
31 min
32: Lame Deer-Life Enfolded in Symbols
Readings from Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions offer a different vantage point for seeking meaning: a symbolic view of life. It is not that modernity lacks its own symbolism or is without meaning, says this Lakota Sioux holy man, but that it means the wrong things....
28 min
33: Lame Deer-Our Place in a Symbolic World
Go deeper into Lame Deer's critique of modernity, examining his ideas about the impact of money and our fetishism about it, the alienation from nature it brings about, and modernity's simultaneous denial and spreading of death....
33 min
34: HH Dalai Lama XIV-A Modern Buddhist View
You are introduced to the Dalai Lama's Buddhist-inflected but very modern, secular vision about the universal human goal of happiness. You learn its components and the relationship between their pursuit and the interconnectedness of human life....
32 min
35: HH Dalai Lama XIV-Discernment and Happiness
A vigorous discussion of how to achieve happiness reveals how the Dalai Lama's views of a meaningful life, modern as they are, also contain a deep traditionalist thread. We must still commit to the bodhisattva path, the altruistic aspiration to attain awakening for the benefit of all....
32 min
36: So, What Is the Meaning of Life?
Tempting as it may be to form a single answer agreed on by all, there is none to be found. What is clear is that there are recurrent themes, with the answer that works for you likely to be found among them....
34 min
