On Desire: Why We Want What We WantA married person falls deeply in love with someone else. A man of average income feels he cannot be truly happy unless he owns an expensive luxury car. A dieter has an irresistible craving for ice cream. Desires often come to us unbidden and unwanted, and they can have a dramatic impact, sometimes changing the course of our lives. In On Desire, William B. Irvine takes us on a wide-ranging tour of our impulses, wants, and needs, showing us where these feelings come from and how we can try to rein them in. Spicing his account with engaging observations by writers like Seneca, Tolstoy, and Freud, Irvine considers the teachings of Buddhists, Hindus, the Amish, Shakers, and Catholic saints, as well as those of ancient Greek and Roman and modern European philosophers. Irvine also looks at what modern science can tell us about desire--such as what happens in the brain when we desire something and how animals evolved particular desires--and he advances a new theory about how desire itself evolved. Irvine also suggests that at the same time that we gained the ability to desire, we were "programmed" to find some things more desirable than others. Irvine concludes that the best way to attain lasting happiness is not to change the world around us or our place in it, but to change ourselves. If we can convince ourselves to want what we already have, we can dramatically enhance our happiness. Brimming with wisdom and practical advice, On Desire offers a thoughtful approach to controlling unwanted passions and attaining a more meaningful life. |
Comentarios de la gente - Escribir un comentario
Las opiniones no están verificadas, pero Google revisa que no haya contenido falso y lo quita si lo identifica
LibraryThing Review
Crítica de los usuarios - KidSisyphus - LibraryThingA bit pedestrian if you come to the topic with any background. Fun diagrams like "The Chain of Desire" and "The Taxonomy of Desire" are a lame attempt at street cred. Presents a naive understanding of ... Leer comentario completo
On desire: why we want what we want
Crítica de los usuarios - Not Available - Book VerdictIrvine (philosophy, Wright State Univ.) believes that while some desires develop from our rational concerns, others simply appear unbidden - and those are by no means restricted to our natural ... Leer comentario completo
Otras ediciones - Ver todas
Términos y frases comunes
ability to desire advice alien hand syndrome Amish anxiety argue Bodhi Bodhidharma brain Buddhist cause celibate chains of desire choices choose Christian click my tongue crisis of desire decision decision theory desire to click desires formed Dio Chrysostom Diogenes Diogenes Laertius Dodge Viper eccentric emotions enlightenment envy Epictetus Epicurus evolutionary example experience fame feel bad fulfill goal happy heaven hedonic human hunger pangs Hutterites incentive system incentivized instrumental desires intellect lifestyle Likewise live master desire Merton mind motivated neighbors Noble Eightfold Path nonhedonic terminal desire one’s ourselves person philosopher pleasure punishments Pyrrho rational realize reason response rewards rumspringa satisfied schedule of incentives Schopenhauer seek Seneca sense Sextus Sextus Empiricus sexual Shakers sires social someone spend Stoic Stoicism student Suppose survive and reproduce things Thoreau thought tion tranquility Trappist trying Walden wiring words
Referencias a este libro
Zero Limits: The Secret Hawaiian System for Wealth, Health, Peace, and More Joe Vitale,Ihaleakala Hew Len, Ph.D Vista previa limitada - 2007 |