Book Review—The Search for Meaning: A Short History by Dennis Ford. 2007. U Cal Press, Berkeley, CA.
Author: David Dougherty, Calgary.
Dr. Dennis Ford got his PhD at Syracuse University after graduating from Macalester College and Iliff School of Theology. He studied with religious studies scholar H.C. Smith (author of The World’s Religions in 1990), and psychologist J. Hillman (pioneer of Archetypal Psychology). In this book, his spiritual side is evident, but it does not stand in the way of his explaining alternative world views.
The book explains how thinking about the meaning of life has evolved over centuries. In many circles, much of early thinking is still in vogue. In fewer circles, concepts that have developed only in the latter part of the 20th century help people deal with an increasingly important question: what is the meaning of life. No, the answer is not 42!
According to the most easily reached review—adapted from the publisher’s note on the inside cover of the book—on the internet (on various sources, such as Amazon®),
“Ford explores eight approaches human beings have pursued over time to invest life with meaning and to infuse order into a seemingly chaotic universe. These include myth, philosophy, science, postmodernism, pragmatism, archetypal psychology, metaphysics, and naturalism. In engaging, companionable prose, Ford boils down these systems to their bare essentials, showing the difference between viewing the world from a religious point of view and that of a naturalist, and comparing a scientific worldview to a philosophical one. Ford investigates the contributions of the Greeks, Kant, and William James, and brings the discussion up to date with contemporary thinkers. He proffers the refreshing idea that in today’s world, the answers provided by traditional religions to increasingly difficult questions have lost their currency for many and that the reductive or rationalist answers provided by science and postmodernism are themselves rife with unexamined assumptions.”
Indeed, Ford does review myth, philosophy, scientism, postmodernism, pragmatism, archetypal psychology, metaphysics, and naturalism. He gives clear definitions of each—or at least definitions that as clear as such difficult concepts are likely to be. He shows how the concepts developed and how they are used. For each, he provides: what we know, how we know it, what it emphasizes and neglects, and what the concept tells us about the meaning of life.
The book helped me to understand much of how I feel about life and the way people around me appear to approach life.
I found most of the material apparently accurate, though there are some statements with which one can (and should) argue. For example, Ford appears to go beyond simply stating that some people believe humans are superior to other lifeforms, by appearances endorsing that belief as true. He bases the belief on human capacity for consciousness and even self-awareness. However, research in biology has shown many other species to have consciousness, to suffer, to grieve, to communicate, to design and use tools, to recognize self and others (even individuals of other species), and so on. All those capacities strip Homo sapiens to its biological essence, with nothing particularly special in place.
The book would be a valuable part of every post-secondary reading list. However, the concepts in it are sufficiently difficult that most adolescents would likely find they couldn’t finish the tome (264 pages), let alone understand it fully. Indeed, I think I’m going to have to read it again. For people later in life, the book could very well provide understanding of how life is usually appreciated and alternatives for how it can be viewed.
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Bio: David Dougherty, Retired environmental scientist
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