Human Predicaments: And What to Do About Them

Chicago: University of Chicago Press (2016)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The philosopher and author of How Should We Live? presents “a clear and provocative discussion of issues such as boredom, hypocrisy, evil, and innocence”. In this book, John Kekes draws on anthropology, history, and literature to offer practical insights into the common predicaments we all face in our daily lives. Each chapter offers new ways of thinking about a common, fundamental problem, such as facing difficult choices, uncontrollable contingencies, complex evaluations, the failures of justice, the miasma of boredom, and the inescapable hypocrisies of social life. In each case, Kekes discusses how others in different times and cultures have approached similar issues. Kekes examines what is good, bad, instructive, and dangerous in the Hindu caste system, Balinese role-morality, the sexually charged politics of the Shilluk, the religious passion of Cortes and Simone Weil, the fate of Colonel Hiromichi Yahara during and after the battle for Okinawa, the ritual human sacrifices of the Aztecs, and the tragedies to which innocence may lead. In doing so, he enlarges our understanding of the possibilities available to us as we struggle with the common obstacles of modern life.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive

    This entry is not archived by us. If you are the author and have permission from the publisher, we recommend that you archive it. Many publishers automatically grant permission to authors to archive pre-prints. By uploading a copy of your work, you will enable us to better index it, making it easier to find.

    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 102,440

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

The human condition.John Kekes - 2010 - New York: Oxford University Press. Edited by John Kekes.
Moral Wisdom and Good Lives.John Kekes - 2018 - Cornell University Press.
The Art of Life.John Kekes - 2002 - Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.
A Case for Conservatism.John Kekes - 2018 - Cornell University Press.
Facing Evil.John Kekes - 1990 - Princeton University Press.

Analytics

Added to PP
2020-01-31

Downloads
14 (#1,302,470)

6 months
8 (#546,421)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

John Kekes
Union College

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references