The Purpose of Life: An Eastern Philosophical Vision

Suppose that this world is not an accident, but an expression of a divine super-mind. What might motivate a divine super-mind to express itself? This book boldly contends that divine motives are guided by values that exist objectively. We exist to realize and enhance such values. This text defends a cosmic vision that has been prominent in the Indian subcontinent for thousands of years-a vision often embraced within the New Age movement. However, its defense here is strictly philosophical. Filice argues that even as characters in an imaginative divine game we still carry independent value, that a world governed by such values should be a fair world, and that earthly moral goals cannot be our only ambition. The Purpose of Life maintains that any divine being(s) involved must be in perpetual process, that humans must not be the only embodied subjects that matter, and that each of us is destined to live many lives. Easy-to-read, the book's 73 mini-chapters are specifically tailored to fit the stop-and-go rhythm of daily life.

Carlo Filice is professor of philosophy at SUNY Geneseo. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Champaign. His areas of expertise include philosophy of religion, ethics, and comparative religious ideas.