Review: “He who has a "why" to live for can bear almost any how.”
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 15, 2014
Paul Huhn’s ‘The Book of Meaning’ provides an insightful thought provoking examination of the greatest question in history; “Meaning of Life”.This book covers a wide spectrum of complex philosophical issues that it is difficult to encompass with a simple review. Huhn approaches this examination by laying a solid foundation via diving into some important aspects of Meaning such Cosmic versus Terrestrial Meaning, the Logos, Aristotelian Metaphysics, Camus’ the Absurd and the Myth of Sisyphus. Huhn progresses his examination on different approaches to life that can give meaning; the Hedonistic Life, the Mythical Life, the Altruistic Life, and the Creative Life.  Fans of Sartre’s Being and Nothingness will see some parallels with what Sartre calls Bad Faith with how some men defines themselves through social categorization (whether employment, social status, or man of action, man of passion, etc.), and some of Huhn’s categorizations outlined. Huhn explains why some categorizations work while others will fail in a prosaic tone that can be appreciated by any reader.The failing of many philosophers is their overly hubristic-prolix approach to philosophy that centers on the academics and not practicality. Huhn’s book is concise and should be thought of more as a manual for the everyday man that you can immediately put into use. After reading this book, I guarantee it will have some impact on your view of the world. This book is indepth and multifaceted with its analysis that I feel each individual reader will walk away with their own personal interpretation depending on the life’s circumstances.