Luc Ferry is one of those rare philosophers–a
university professor–who writes in a non-academic style that immediately draws
you in.  And yet this book is much more than simple entertainment.  It’s a
banquet for a hungry mind, serving rich philosophy trimmed with sociology,
anthropology, theology, psychology, and history.  This food metaphor may sound
a bit silly, but, after many years of reading philosophy books, I’m finding
that most books I read these days contain only little crumbs that interest me. 
On the other hand, Ferry’s book was as satisfying as a hearty meal. 

He begins with the assumption that
for most people the definition of a good life doesn’t mean aiming one’s life
toward the goal of a reward in some magical after-life.  This leads to the
thought-provoking question of whether a good life in this secular world now
simply means financial or material success. Ferry argues that in our present
technological and consumerist age we have progress without purpose; a means to
no clear end.  We seem to have accepted the good life as being, paradoxically,
a goalless striving. 

In chapter 1 he discusses the
‘good’ of a good life as distinct, although not completely removed from the
moral good of respecting others, and the religious good of belief and faith. 
But he wonders whether the good life lies "beyond morality" and traditional
religious faith.

In the second chapter Ferry
presents a historical perspective on four main types of responses that have
been offered to the question of what makes a good life:  finding one’s rightful
place in the "natural order" of everything in the universe;  conforming
to the laws of some holy Other;  participating in "great secular
utopias"  (these first three responses each acknowledge some principle
external to, and transcendent of, the individual);  and today’s intense
striving for personal fulfillment and success.  In chapters 3 and 4 he
discusses Nietzsche’s critique of the evaluation of life by means of reference
to the cosmological, theological, and humanistic criterion–that is by judging
the value of a life in terms of how well it conforms to a universal order,
God’s plan, or human ideals.  Nietzsche’s take on the good life, his
exhortation to live life to the fullest rather than merely hoping to reach some
future transcendent ideal, is then examined in chapter 5.

Chapter 6 discusses the problems
encountered in trying to see a good life in ordinary life, which is, for the
most part, banal and repetitive.  Here Ferry also argues that Freud’s
psychoanalysis–an extension of Nietzsche’s agenda of individual
empowerment–is not at all a means to a good life since it is merely a
practice, a non-normative therapy that has no ideal of "individual
success" as its goal.  I was disappointed that Ferry made no mention in
this chapter of the Bible book of Ecclesiastes.  Its author also speaks of the
banal repetitiveness of life, and offers a definition of the good life that
would be surprising to most fundamentalist Christians.  Its theme alludes to
the humanism Ferry raises in the later chapters of his book.

Chapter 7 through 11 deals with how
classical and modern philosophers have responded to questions about death and
salvation, in relation to the good life, in a way that is similar to and yet
distinct from those given by religion.  Chapter 8 and 9 explain how a
relationship between ethics and ancient cosmology, and then Stoicism,
characterized the good life prior to Christianity as living both in harmony
with the ‘good’ order in the universe, and in the perpetual, fated present. 
Chapter 10 and 11 deal with how the doctrine of Christian faith forced out
reason as the foundation of a good life, how religion relegated philosophy to
be the servant of theology, and then how philosophy became separated from
religion and valued once again in modern humanism as the means to a good life. 

Chapter 12 introduces humanism as
an alternate form of ‘transcendence’ beyond mundane life, and a better means to
the good life, given the problems inherent in both the ancient deterministic
cosmology and Christian theology.  Finally, in chapter 13 Ferry offers what he
sees as the key to living a good life:  one must develop an "enlarged
mentality," consisting of self-scrutiny and an acceptance of others that
goes beyond mere toleration.  This, of course, places philosophy at the heart
of the quest for the good life.

What makes this book a terrific
read is not the "punch line" found in the last chapter, the ultimate
answer to the question of what makes the good life;  it’s Ferry’s illumination
of the human journey through history that has brought us to this answer.  What
I found most fascinating is Ferry’s detailed examination of the tension from
antiquity between the definitions of the good life from within an evolving
Christianity and the various ‘schools’ of philosophy.  I was also happy to find
a good index in the back.

© 2006 Peter B. Raabe

Peter B. Raabe teaches
philosophy and has a private practice in philosophical counseling in North
Vancouver, Canada. He is the author of the books Philosophical
Counseling: Theory and Practice (Praeger, 2001) and Issues
in Philosophical Counseling (Praeger, 2002).

Categories: Philosophical, Ethics