0415247993.Routledge.On.the.Meaning.of.Life.Dec.2002.pdf

the Meaning of Life

‘Written with wonderful lucidity . . . Cottingham gets to the “cosmic or

religious” questions with such tact and subtlety that (I imagine) an agnostic

or atheist reader would still be following him . . . an excellent book.’

Fergus Kerr, Blackfriars, Oxford

Praise for the series

‘deserves high praise’

The Independent

‘This is clearly an important series. I look forward to reading

future volumes.’

Frank Kermode

‘both rigorous and accessible’

Humanist News

‘Routledge’s new series, Thinking in Action, brings philosophers

to our aid . . .’

The Evening Standard

‘. . . a welcome new series by Routledge’

Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society

‘allows a space for distinguished thinkers to write about their

passions’

The Philosophers’ Magazine

JOHN COTTINGHAM

the Meaning of Life

First published 2003

by Routledge

11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge

29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.

“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s

collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”

reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,

or other means, now known or hereafter invented,

including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or

retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

A catalog record for this book has been requested

ISBN 0-203-16424-5 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-25838-X (Adobe eReader Format)

ISBN 0–415–24799–3 (hbk)

ISBN 0–415–24800–0 (pbk)