A Significant Life: Human Meaning in a Silent Universe Hardcover – April 2, 2015

I was totally blown away by this book. And believe me, I've got lots of experience with other meaning of life books that left me with a mild pop or fizzle -- nothing close to the Yes, Yes, Yes I felt upon reading May's final chapters, which are marked by some of the clearest, most thoughtful, and inspiring writing about finding meaning in a "silent universe" (no God or other cosmic entity speaking to us) I've ever come across.The greatest compliment I can give to May's book are the tears that flowed from me after I finished it this morning and closed the cover. They came unbidden and unexpectedly, stimulated, I suspect, by his wise advice in those final chapters.It is not the "what" that gives life meaning, but the "how." Failure or success are not the measure of a meaningful life. He writes, "The key here is that meaningfulness lies not in what is achieved or recognized, but in how a life is lived." Further, it isn't necessary that someone recognizes how their life is meaningful, or even to pursue meaningfulness.The tears came from visualizing my mother's lifelong search for What Life is All About. Like me, she devoured writings of all sorts in the course of this quest. Philosophy, science, spirituality, religion, politics, environmentalism, etc. etc. And also like me (almost certainly, though I'm still alive), she died without realizing the certainty of understanding that she fought so hard to achieve.In this book's final pages, May's honest, clear, and cogent writing brought me to a deeper grasp of what may sound like an obvious, platitudinous, New Age'y bit of wisdom: it is the seeking, not the finding, that is important; there is no foundational truth outside the web of human searching; a life well lived is marked by the quality of one's living, not the quantity of outward accomplishment.Some sort of psychological dam broke in me. I suddenly felt, in a way new to me, that neither my mother's life, nor mine, was marked by failure because we were unable to find the answers to the Big Questions we so desperately desired. The intensity of our searching, the adventurousness of the quest -- these sorts of "narrative values" are what May persuasively argues are the core of meaningfulness.So thank you, Todd May, for writing a book that is both so intellectually provocative and emotionally satisfying. In my 66 years of living I've bounced back and forth between embracing existential meaninglessness and various forms of religiosity, mostly of the Eastern mystical/meditational variety. I've come to settle on a secular rationalism with some Taoist/Buddhist flavoring that, though appealing, lacked the coherent philosophical qualities that your book possesses.You've given me a great gift. I'm confident many other readers will feel the same sense of gratitude.Here's some excerpts from a blog post I wrote about this book last night:http://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2015/04/what-do-we-want-happiness-experiences-or-meaning.html-------------------------May isn't into academic, word-splitting, intellectual philosophizing. He writes clearly, informally, and passionately about issues that everybody is deeply concerned about, such as the relationships between happiness, experiences, and meaning.What I like most about May's style is how he honestly considers arguments that are contrary to his own. Before stating his conclusion about something, he works through alternative ways of looking at that thing.May does this so skillfully, several times I found myself saying "Yes, that's so true!" to one of his counter-arguments, before changing my mind and saying "Yes, that's even more true!" to the thesis he ends up preferring.If all philosophers could write and think this way, modern philosophy would have a much better reputation than it does.May makes it into a very practical way of assessing what makes for "a good life" -- one of those terms that gets thrown around all the time, yet rarely pondered as anything other than a shallow platitude.

I really like this book. To be honest, it may mainly appeal to people who are familiar with some of the discourse of modern philosophers. I am somewhat familiar with some of the work Todd May cites in his book. Another group of people who may like this book are people who feel empty in some way a lot of the time. To be honest, I often do. So, I relate to the author. He's a sort of kindred spirit. However, I think there are a good portion of people who genuinely do not think about most of the topics in this book and they are not necessarily missing much. Not every human seems to care about finding "meaning" in the sense that philosophers talk about. To anyone interested in this book, here is the basic message in nonphilosophical terms: "In the 'game' of life, it's not about whether you win or lose. It's how you play the game." Please comment if you read the book and appreciate my synopsis. LOL

It is hard to begin to list the errors in this book. The arguments are mostly in the form of rhetorical questions, and the basic assumptions about the naturalness of capitalism and naive acceptance of silly Romantic ideology as a source of meaning are obvious enough. A very disappointing book. I feel sorry for any philosophy student subjected to May as a professor—I had two like him in college, and abandoned philosophy in despair.

May led me to think about life in ways I'd never considered. The meaning of life is not a question for many. May does not think Camus got it right. I do, but not in a negative sense. Camus and I are existentialists because there is nothing else in a godless world. Choose to enjoy life as best as you can. May could have better expressed his views by being less wordy and more precise.

Brilliant ideas. The author said sometimes he reads philosophy and wonders why he didn't think the thought himself. While his ideas open up a path for new thinking, he is right on, Il do have a sense of what he proposes. He is clear in his writing, making his work something I can mull for a very long time.

Todd May tackles an important topic, but his run-on question-answer technique of exploring issues is confusing and frustrating. Well before I read the last chapter, I realized that the author really had very little to say to me. And then the last chapter reinforced my realization. May loved chewing on the ideas of meaning and happiness and goodness, but his conclusions were hardly satisfying.

It was great! Thank you!

I found this thought-provoking and well written. As a non-professional philosopher it was understandable with relevant examples to support the arguments presented. Although clearly written from a humanist standpoint it did not reject the value of belief and the analysis of what makes a meaningful life fitted well with the Catholic notion of personhood. Wee worth a read.

The author of this book is a deep thinker who is not satisfied with merely trying to support his wishful thinking. Open eyed and courageous!