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	• Meanings of Life Roy F. Baumeister The Guilford Press, 1992 - 426 pages average customer review:based on 3 reviews view larger image
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The book is clearly interdisciplinary, and is suitable for college-level coursework in the fields of philosophy, pyschology, and sociology. The author begins by forming four existential criteria for evaluating the meanings of life (note the plurality): (1) Purpose, (2) Value, (3) Efficacy (or Control), and (4) Self Worth. Based on these logical and practical foundations, Baumeister analyzes a plethora of life events and enculturation: Work, Family, Religion, Sex, Love, Happiness, Death, and many varients on these central themes. The book's singular achievement is the revelation or apotheosis of the "self" as a modern predicament vis-a-vis its historical antecedents.

It succeeds in formulating a high-level of discussion without ambiguity or confusion; it is remarkable for its clarity. The average page contains about seven references to other authorities that provide simultaneously the careful research that has been undertaken to provide this comprehensive overview, while offering the student/reader the resources to pursue additional tangents on their own. The bibliography is better than average, omitting some significant contributors I would have liked to have seen interwoven into the over-arching examination. My largest reservation to recommendation of this book is the total absence of evolutionary consideration from any of the various venues. The absence of instinct and environment mar the book seriously.

This book should appeal to almost anyone who has an above-average intelligence, the ability to think critically, and an interest in rational discourse concerning the meanings we import and export in our lives. This book is not only designed for academia and the above-average cognocenti, but for businesses and other organizations to understand the dynamics and praxeology in today's culture vis-a-vis our inheritance. As one who read it for pleasure, I found myself taking copious notes and underlining numerous passages. The text engenders a close reading as necessary.

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Revealing and Thought Provoking

Read this book for a tutorial class called "Construction and Maintenance of the Self". Baumeister conveys his theoritical perspective on the meaning of the self (and its implications on the meanings of life)in a highly accessible and convincing manner. He argues from the perspective that the self is a social construct and that in the West, the meanings that have been put into the construction and maintenance of this self have created a burden on the individual. The stress associated with maintaining this concept of self can be used to explain why people engage in behaviors such as alcholism and sado-masochism. I highly recommend this book, especially if you are interested in concepts of the self and its relation to (what Baumeister would not consider) self-disruptive behaviors.

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a psychological overview

This book is not an attempt to tell us what the "meanings of life" are, just what we think they are: it's psychology, not philosophy. An interesting aspect of the book is the explorations of ways that we sometimes find our "meanings" inadequate.

Baumeister begins with a definition of meaning which I consider simply confused, but then my background is in philosophy. Fortunately, his definition is irrelevant to the rest of the book.

He suggests that the need for meaning can be (more or less arbitrarily, as he admits) considered under four aspects: purpose, value, efficacy, and self-worth.

Purpose is roughly equal to goals, although especially goals that (appear to) transcend arbitrary individual choice. We usually prefer to be working towards some goals that we imagine will be very fulfilling. As Baumeister explores, we usually find achieving these goals fulfilling for a brief time only, before we conceive some new goal, some new future state that we imagine will be satisfying. Or occasionally we get disappointed with our general life-project, endure a period of depression or uncertainty, and find a new direction.

This analysis is spot-on, and leads me to suggest that we consider more satisfying alternatives to ambition; for instance, gratitude. Czikszentmihalyi's work on "flow" would also be interesting to explore.

Instead, Baumeister gives an interesting analysis of religious ideals of fulfillment in the afterlife, pointing out that since we never get any news from the afterlife, these never prove disappointing, unlike ideals of fulfillment in this life. Therefore, people may find religious goals meaningful to the very end, while secular goals may prove disappointing.

(I'm not sure how a devoutly religious person would react to this book. It doesn't flatter them at all, but if you read carefully, I think you can detect that Baumeister is trying to avoid condescension.)

The second meaning is value, as in moral value: a sense that our lives contribute to the goodness of the world. Baumeister argues that the decline in religious belief (in certain cultures or segments of society) leaves a "value gap." We are not sure how to morally justify our lives. Several chapters of the book analyze ways that we try to fill the value gap, especially with the "self." Baumeister follows a few other cultural critics arguing that past cultures did not value the self or look to it as a source of value, and he convincingly argues that our modern culture has begun to do that in an attempt to fill the value gap. He looks at how this has transformed the way we think of our relationships, our work, suffering, and especially death.

A third need is efficacy, to feel that we really do accomplish something, that we have useful skills. He didn't explore this much, considering it fairly easy for most of us to meet this need in modern society. He does refer to some studies on the elderly, to whom this issue is often more poignant; also to some relevant studies of anorexia.

The fourth need is self-esteem, commonly interpreted as a need to feel better than other people (or groups of people) in some way. In this context, he refers to Raboteau's interesting analysis of how religion helped slaves find self-worth.

Relative to these needs, he looks at various aspects of our lives. One very interesting chapter looks at the way we think of our work: job vs. career vs. calling, the work ethic, and reasons that we often find our work unsatisfying. Another focuses on how we use the family, especially children, as a major value base. Another very interesting chapter on why women once disliked sex argues that it was because they considered being supreme moral examples, especially of chastity, to be one of the central meanings of their lives. The chapters on pain, death, and finding or losing meanings were quite good; especially the analysis of terminal illness, and leaving religious cults. The "self" proves central in most of these considerations, including an interesting analysis of how the "self" rose to prominence in the past few centuries of Western history.

The chapter on religion, for me at least, was underwhelming. The chapter on happiness was short and adequate, though if this is your primary interest I'd strongly recommend considering Martin Seligman's work instead.

It's an academic book, so the writing won't set anything on fire; but as academic books go, it's not that bad. There's a lot of repetition: introducing the topic, introducing it again later, exploring it, summarizing it; reviewing and summarizing it again later. Some of the abstractions are a bit uncomfortable to me, and I suspect for anyone unused to sociological concepts. For instance, Baumeister talks of society using the individual to its own advantage, where I can more easily imagine individuals using other individuals to their own advantages, in ways that cumulatively create cultural patterns.

Finally, I'd alert you that Baumeister has recently written a book entitled "The Cultural Animal," which looks like a broader, better book in many respects. Definitely check it out before you choose to buy this one!

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Who among us has not at some point asked, ``what is the meaning of life?' In this extraordinary book, an eminent social scientist looks at the big picture and explores what empirical studies from diverse fields tell us about the human condition. MEANINGS OF LIFE draws together evidence from psychology, history, anthropology, and sociology, integrating copious research findings into a clear and conclusive discussion of how people attempt to make sense of their lives. In a lively and accessible style, emphasizing facts over theories, Baumeister explores why people desire meaning in their lives, how these meanings function, what forms they take, and what happens when life loses meaning. It is the most comprehensive examination of the topic to date.

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