The Harmony of Nature and Spirit: Meaning in Life

"Irving Singer has many wise and instructive things to say about happiness and how we can get beyond suffering in life. His discussion of the love of life as contrasted with the love of love... is a profoundly important one. It is a gold mine for those who wish to better understand the intellectual foundations of the good life."--Marvin Kohl, The New School of Social Research

Preceded by The Creation of Value and The Pursuit of Love, this final book in Singer's Meaning in Life trilogy studies the interaction between nature and spirit, and examines the ways in which we may resolve our sense of being divided and thereby overcome the suffering in life. The Harmony of Nature and Spirit suggests that the accord between nature and spirit, and between meaning, happiness, and love, arises from an art of life that employs the same principles of imagination and idealization as those that exist in all artistic creativity. Living the good life is an art that seeks the harmonization of meaning with consummatory happiness. It is through the meaning created by imagination and idealization, Singer says, that happiness and the love of life become available to us.

"Rarely does one get a chance to see such a polished, mature, and humane piece of writing, all the rarer in philosophy. Long ago, philosophers would write sophisticated books for a general, literate audience. James's Varieties of Religious Experience or Santayana's Life of Reason come to mind. Singer's work stands in near isolation because it continues this tradition."--Thomas Alexander, Southern Illinois University

"The book's freshness, perceptiveness, and clarity make it worthwhile for educated lay readers and professionals alike."--Robert Hoffman, Library Journal