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]
 Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Robert Nozick |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Philosophy |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
Publication date | 1989 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Pages | 308 |
| ISBN | 0-671-72501-7 |
Summary
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The book is an attempt to "tackle human nature, the personal, 'the holiness of everyday life' and its meaning."[4] Nozick expresses his concerns with libertarianism and proposes some form of inheritance taxation.[5][6] 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.[7]
Reception
editDenis 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.[4]
In The Oxford Companion to Philosophy (2005), the philosopher Anthony Quinton described The Examined Life as "unkindly treated".[8]
Jim Holt, a columnist for The Literary Review leaves a few remarks about the "semantic slum", essentially deeming it "trickled down philosophy", saying that it is not worth following/reading.
Notes
edit- ^ Capaldi, Nicholas (1998). The Enlightenment Project in the Analytic Conversation. Springer. p. 371. ISBN 9780792350149.
- ^ a b Donoghue, Denis (Spring 1990). "The Examined Life: Philosophical Meditations by Robert Nozick (review)". The Wilson Quarterly. 14 (2): 92–94. JSTOR 40258049.
- ^ "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, retrieved 2021-09-21
- ^ a b O' Grady, Jane (January 26, 2002). "Robert Nozick: Leftwing political philosopher whose rightward shift set the tone for the Reagan-Thatcher era". The Guardian.
- ^ Wolff, Jonathan (1991). Robert Nozick: Property, Justice and the Minimal State. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. p. 156. ISBN 0-8047-1856-3.
- ^ Guido Erreygers, Toon Vandevelde (1997). Is Inheritance Legitimate?: Ethical and Economic Aspects of Wealth Transfers. Springer. p. 8. ISBN 9783540627258.
- ^ Kelly, Thomas (2002-07-16). "Review of Robert Nozick". Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. ISSN 1538-1617. Archived from the original on 2023-01-30.
- ^ Quinton, Anthony (2005). Honderich, Ted (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 740. ISBN 0-19-926479-1.
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