The Long Life

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, European, Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
Cover of the book The Long Life by Helen Small, OUP Oxford
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Helen Small ISBN: 9780191615573
Publisher: OUP Oxford Publication: September 16, 2010
Imprint: OUP Oxford Language: English
Author: Helen Small
ISBN: 9780191615573
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Publication: September 16, 2010
Imprint: OUP Oxford
Language: English

The Long Life invites the reader to range widely from the writings of Plato through to recent philosophical work by Derek Parfit, Bernard Williams, and others, and from Shakespeare's King Lear through works by Thomas Mann, Balzac, Dickens, Beckett, Stevie Smith, Philip Larkin, to more recent writing by Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, and J. M. Coetzee. Helen Small argues that if we want to understand old age, we have to think more fundamentally about what it means to be a person, to have a life, to have (or lead) a good life, to be part of a just society. What did Plato mean when he suggested that old age was the best place from which to practice philosophy - or Thomas Mann when he defined old age as the best time to be a writer - and were they right? If we think, as Aristotle did, that a good life requires the active pursuit of virtue, how will our view of later life be affected? If we think that lives and persons are unified, much as stories are said to be unified, how will our thinking about old age differ from that of someone who thinks that lives and/or persons can be strongly discontinuous? In a just society, what constitutes a fair distribution of limited resources between the young and the old? How, if at all, should recent developments in the theory of evolutionary senescence alter our thinking about what it means to grow old? This is a groundbreaking book, deep as well as broad, and likely to alter the way in which we talk about one of the great social concerns of our time - the growing numbers of those living to be old, and the growing proportion of the old to the young.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The Long Life invites the reader to range widely from the writings of Plato through to recent philosophical work by Derek Parfit, Bernard Williams, and others, and from Shakespeare's King Lear through works by Thomas Mann, Balzac, Dickens, Beckett, Stevie Smith, Philip Larkin, to more recent writing by Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, and J. M. Coetzee. Helen Small argues that if we want to understand old age, we have to think more fundamentally about what it means to be a person, to have a life, to have (or lead) a good life, to be part of a just society. What did Plato mean when he suggested that old age was the best place from which to practice philosophy - or Thomas Mann when he defined old age as the best time to be a writer - and were they right? If we think, as Aristotle did, that a good life requires the active pursuit of virtue, how will our view of later life be affected? If we think that lives and persons are unified, much as stories are said to be unified, how will our thinking about old age differ from that of someone who thinks that lives and/or persons can be strongly discontinuous? In a just society, what constitutes a fair distribution of limited resources between the young and the old? How, if at all, should recent developments in the theory of evolutionary senescence alter our thinking about what it means to grow old? This is a groundbreaking book, deep as well as broad, and likely to alter the way in which we talk about one of the great social concerns of our time - the growing numbers of those living to be old, and the growing proportion of the old to the young.

More books from OUP Oxford

Cover of the book Skillful Performance by Helen Small
Cover of the book A Practical Approach to Landlord and Tenant by Helen Small
Cover of the book The End of Epilepsy? by Helen Small
Cover of the book The Philosophy of Elizabeth Anscombe by Helen Small
Cover of the book The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index by Helen Small
Cover of the book Hegel on the Proofs and the Personhood of God by Helen Small
Cover of the book The Global Covenant by Helen Small
Cover of the book The Concept of Law by Helen Small
Cover of the book Conversations on Art and Aesthetics by Helen Small
Cover of the book The Politics of Education in Developing Countries by Helen Small
Cover of the book Chains of Finance by Helen Small
Cover of the book The Biology of Disturbed Habitats by Helen Small
Cover of the book The Great Riddle by Helen Small
Cover of the book The European Fundamental Freedoms by Helen Small
Cover of the book Biography: A Very Short Introduction by Helen Small
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy