Free shipping on orders over $99
The Good Life

The Good Life 2

What Makes a Life Worth Living?

by Hugh Mackay
Paperback
Publication Date: 01/05/2013
2/5 Rating 2 Reviews

Share This Book:

 
$19.99
"No one can promise you that a life lived for others will bring you a deep sense of satisfaction, but it's certain that nothing else will."Hugh Mackay has spent his entire working life asking Australians about their values, motivations, ambitions, hopes and fears. Now, in The Good Life, he addresses the ultimate question: What makes a life worth living?His conclusion is provocative. The good life is not the sum of our security, wealth, status, postcode, career success and levels of happiness. The good life is one defined by our capacity for selflessness, the quality of our relationships and our willingness to connect with others in a useful way.Mackay examines what is known as the Golden Rule through the prisms of religion, philosophy, politics, business and family life. And he explores the numerous and often painful ways we distract ourselves from this central principle: our pursuit of pleasure, our attempts to perfect ourselves and our children, and our conviction that we can have our lives under control.Argued with all the passion and intelligence we have come to expect from one of Australia's most prolific and insightful authors, The Good Life is a book that will start conversations, ignite arguments and possibly even change the way we live our lives.
ISBN:
9781742612133
9781742612133
Category:
Cultural studies
Format:
Paperback
Publication Date:
01-05-2013
Publisher:
Pan Macmillan Australia
Country of origin:
Australia
Pages:
272
Dimensions (mm):
234x155x20mm
Weight:
0.38kg
Hugh Mackay

Hugh Mackay is a prolific and well-known social researcher, writer and commentator in Australia. Hugh was a newspaper columnist for over 25 years, and is now an honorary professor of social science at the University of Wollongong.

He is the author of nine books in the field of social psychology and philosophy, and five novels. Previous books include Why Don't People Listen?, Reinventing Australia and What Makes Us Tick?.

Click 'Notify Me' to get an email alert when this item becomes available

Reviews

2.0

Based on 2 reviews

5 Star
(0)
4 Star
(0)
3 Star
(1)
2 Star
(0)
1 Star
(1)

2 Reviews

Hugh has clearly lost touch.

Apparently we shouldn't wish for our children to be 'happy' we should wish for them to experience 'a range of emotions'. Has Hugh forgotten that growing up in a happy and secure environment will enable an individual to develop resilience to face future difficult times.

I found this book frustrating to read: his arguments did not seem to link to his conclusions, or rather, my conclusions from his examples were directly opposed. This book is more of a lecture, containing Hugh's answers to the universe, than a synthesis. He considers science to be just another 'faith' and no amount of travel or friendships will satisfy people who are searching, the only solution is voluntary community service and that alone.

I enjoyed many of his other books, but in this book he seems to have become cynical and confused.

Contains Spoilers No
Report Abuse

It's hard to take seriously the scholarship of someone who thinks that E=MCsquared is to do with the theory of relativity, mixes up the definitions of theory and hypothesis and that Thor is a Greek god.



Poor general knowledge, poorer research and very bad editing. If he gets so many "little things" wrong why would I trust his larger arguments?

Contains Spoilers No
Report Abuse