Chapter 13 Summary

13. What really matters?

This chapter is about value. What should we care about, and why?

13.1 We introduce our topic.

13.2 We consider hedonism, which is, roughly speaking, the view that pleasure is the only good and pain is the only bad.

13.3 We look at some of what the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre (1905 – 1980) had to say about value, meaning and authenticity.

13.4 We consider Susan Wolf’s (1952 – ) work on meaning.

13.5 We finish on a pessimistic note: we don’t know how to figure out how to lead a meaningful life.