Philosophy:The Examined Life

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Short description: 1989 book by Robert Nozick
The Examined Life
Cover of the first edition
AuthorRobert Nozick
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SubjectPhilosophy
PublisherSimon & Schuster
Publication date
1989
Media typePrint (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages308
ISBN0-671-72501-7

The Examined Life is a 1989 collection of philosophical meditations by the philosopher Robert Nozick.[1] The book drew a number of critical reactions. The work is drawn partially as a response to Socrates' assertion in Plato's "The Apology of Socrates" that the unexamined life is one not worth living.[2][3]

Overview and structure

The book consists of twenty-seven philosophical meditations, beginning with the chapter "Dying" and concluding with "A Portrait of the Philosopher as a Young Man."[4] Nozick addresses fundamental questions about living and what is important in life, covering topics including death, creativity, sexuality, happiness, parents and children, romantic love, emotions, the nature of God, religious faith, the Holocaust, enlightenment, and wisdom.[5]

Philosophical approach

Rather than employing the argumentative mode of his earlier work Anarchy, State, and Utopia or the purely explanatory mode of Philosophical Explanations, Nozick adopts a meditative approach in The Examined Life.[6] He poses questions that often remain intentionally unanswered to encourage readers to examine their own lives. The book aims to bring philosophy back to questions of everyday human existence, addressing topics that had become increasingly removed from life in academic philosophy.[7]

Content and themes

The nature of reality

The Experience Machine

The book includes a refined version of Nozick's famous experience machine thought experiment, originally introduced in Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974).[8] In this version, Nozick asks readers to imagine a machine that could provide any experience they desire for the rest of their lives. The thought experiment explores whether people would choose a life of simulated pleasure over authentic reality, challenging hedonistic and theory of mind

Political philosophy

Nozick expresses his concerns with libertarianism and proposes some form of inheritance taxation.[9][10] According to reviewers such as Thomas Kelly, Nozick used The Examined Life as well as another work to "explicitly [disown]" the earlier radical libertarian concepts he presented in Anarchy, State, and Utopia.[11] Nozick's political views in this work are notably less radical than in his earlier libertarian writings, with some reviewers noting he no longer espouses anarcho-capitalism.[12]

Other key topics

The book addresses numerous other philosophical and existential questions:

  • Death and dying: The opening chapter explores mortality and our relationship with death
  • Creativity: Examines the nature of creative work and its role in reshaping the self
  • Love and sexuality: Explores romantic bonds, emotions, and the metaphysical dimensions of sexuality
  • Religious faith: Contemplates the nature of God and religious experience
  • The Holocaust: Addresses questions of evil and suffering
  • Eastern philosophy: Engages with Zen concepts of enlightenment and Asian contemplative traditions[7]
  • Wisdom: Questions what constitutes wisdom and why philosophers seek it

Chapter list

The complete list of chapters is as follows:[13]

  1. Dying
  2. Parents and Children
  3. Creating
  4. Nature of God, the Nature of Faith
  5. Holiness of Everyday Life
  6. Sexuality
  7. Love's Bond
  8. Emotions
  9. Happiness
  10. Focus
  11. Being More Real
  12. Selflessness
  13. Stances
  14. Value and Meaning
  15. Importance and Weight
  16. Matrix of Reality
  17. Darkness and Light
  18. Theological Explanations
  19. Holocaust
  20. Enlightenment
  21. Giving Everything Its Due
  22. What is Wisdom and Why Do Philosophers Love It So?
  23. Ideal and the Actual
  24. Zigzag of Politics
  25. Philosophy's Life
  26. Portrait of the Philosopher as a Young Man

Style and methodology

Nozick employs a calm, clear, and gentle yet penetrating style, working his way into deeper analyses while examining underlying assumptions.[7] The book engages with both Western philosophy and Asian philosophical and contemplative traditions. The work is characterized by Nozick's willingness to pose provocative questions while leaving many deliberately unanswered, functioning as what he describes as "an invitation to the examined life."[4]

Reception

Denis Donoghue praised The Examined Life in The Wilson Quarterly, but stated that it had some passages that were less strong than others.[2] The journalist Jane O'Grady called the work "disappointingly schmaltzy" in The Guardian.[14]

In The Oxford Companion to Philosophy (2005), the philosopher Anthony Quinton described The Examined Life as "unkindly treated".[15]

Jim Holt, a columnist for The Literary Review, left critical remarks about what he termed the "semantic slum", deeming it "trickled down philosophy" and suggesting it was not worth reading.[16]

Notes

  1. ↑ Capaldi, Nicholas (1998). The Enlightenment Project in the Analytic Conversation. Springer. p. 371. ISBN 9780792350149. https://books.google.com/books?id=eQ2Tph4eY04C&pg=PA371. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Donoghue, Denis (Spring 1990). "The Examined Life: Philosophical Meditations by Robert Nozick (review)". The Wilson Quarterly 14 (2): 92–94. 
  3. ↑ "Apology", Plato: Euthyphro; Apology of Socrates; and Crito (Oxford University Press), 1924-01-01, doi:10.1093/oseo/instance.00254376, ISBN 978-0-19-814015-3, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oseo/instance.00254376, retrieved 2021-09-21 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lerner, Craig (September 1990). "The Examined Life, by Robert Nozick". Commentary Magazine. https://www.commentary.org/articles/craig-lerner/the-examined-life-by-robert-nozick/. 
  5. ↑ "Examined Life". Simon & Schuster. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Examined-Life/Robert-Nozick/9780671725013. 
  6. ↑ Nozick, Robert (1989). The Examined Life: Philosophical Meditations. Simon & Schuster. https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Examined_Life.html?id=0fvWAAAAMAAJ. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "The Examined Life: Philosophical Meditations, by Robert Nozick". Inquiring Mind. February 26, 2022. https://inquiringmind.com/article/0701_13_review_examined-life/. 
  8. ↑ "The Experience Machine". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://iep.utm.edu/experience-machine/. 
  9. ↑ Wolff, Jonathan (1991). Robert Nozick: Property, Justice and the Minimal State. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. pp. 156. ISBN 0-8047-1856-3. 
  10. ↑ Guido Erreygers, Toon Vandevelde (1997). Is Inheritance Legitimate?: Ethical and Economic Aspects of Wealth Transfers. Springer. p. 8. ISBN 9783540627258. https://books.google.com/books?id=5zmVNu6LIPgC&pg=PA8. 
  11. ↑ Kelly, Thomas (2002-07-16). "Review of Robert Nozick" (in en). Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. ISSN 1538-1617. https://ndpr.nd.edu/reviews/robert-nozick/. 
  12. ↑ "The Examined Life: Philosophical Meditations". Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/296062.The_Examined_Life. 
  13. ↑ "The examined life : philosophical meditations". Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/examinedlife00robe. 
  14. ↑ O' Grady, Jane (January 26, 2002). "Robert Nozick: Leftwing political philosopher whose rightward shift set the tone for the Reagan-Thatcher era". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/jan/26/guardianobituaries.socialsciences. 
  15. ↑ Quinton, Anthony (2005). Honderich, Ted. ed. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 740. ISBN 0-19-926479-1. 
  16. ↑ Holt, Jim (1990). Nozick, Robert. ed. "Is "The Examined Life" Worth Reading?". The American Scholar 59 (3): 458–462. ISSN 0003-0937. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41211821?searchText=jim+holt+nozick&searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=jim+holt+nozick&so=rel&ab_segments=0/basic_search_gsv2/control&refreqid=fastly-default:3f817bc5925c251610248e61feb428bb&seq=1. 



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