Money and the Meaning of Life

Needleman, Jacob

ISBN 10: 0385262418 / ISBN 13: 9780385262415

Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1994

Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects. Seller Inventory # 4075773-6

Synopsis:

If we understood the true role of money in our lives, writes philosopher Jacob Needleman, we would not think simply in terms of spending it or saving it. Money exerts a deep emotional influence on who we are and what we tell ourselves we can never have. Our long unwillingness to understand the emotional and spiritual effects of money on us is at the heart of why we have come to know the price of everything, and the value of nothing. Money has everything to do with the pursuit of an idealistic life, while at the same time, it is at the root of our daily frustrations. On a social level, money has a profound impact on the price of progress. Needleman shows how money slowly began to haunt us, from the invention of coins in Biblical times (when money was created to rescue the community good, not for self gain), through its hypnotic appeal in our money-obsessed era. This is a remarkable book that combines myth and psychology, the poetry of the Sufis and the wisdom of King Solomon, along with Jacob Needleman's searching of his own soul and his culture to explain how money can become a unique means of self-knowledge. As part of the Currency paperback line, it includes a "User's Guide" an introduction and discussion guide created for the paperback by the author -- to help readers make practical use of the book's ideas.

Reviews: In previous work, dealing with apparently evermore earthly concerns, Needleman (Philosophy/San Francisco State) has dug for the spiritual roots of Christianity (Lost Christianity, 1980), philosophy (The Heart of Philosophy, 1982), and medicine (The Way of the Physician, 1985). Now, he tackles mammon itself--in a genuinely innovative study of the relationship between money and the spiritual life. As before, Needleman uses anecdote and idea-driven drama to illustrate his argument--a welcome technique here, since his thinking is complex, sometimes difficult. The frame in this case is a one-day seminar he gave on money and meaning--allowing him to employ two characters, Bill and Alyssa (``fictionalized distillations of numerous rich exchanges with my students''), who act, more or less, as Phaedo or Meno to his Socrates. Bill, though a multimillionaire, understands neither money nor life; Alyssa, an artist-turned-accountant, has a partial grasp of both. The two listen and question as Needleman--with reference to the Bible (e.g., a drawn-out retelling of the legend of Solomon) and the ideas of Weber, the Sufis, Gurdjieff, and others--traces what he sees as the devolution of money from its ancient balanced purpose of organizing mundane affairs to its present lock on our lives. We are obsessed with money, Needleman says, yet ``we don't take money seriously enough''--that is, we fail to give it its proper place. This is the heart of his brief: that humanity was created to dwell in ``two worlds''--that of the spirit and that of the mundane--and that only by fully mastering the mundane, in its primary manifestation of money, can we discern that which properly belongs to the spirit. The idea manifests itself in action as Needleman experiences a spiritual breakthrough in turning down Bill's whimsical gift to him of a half-million in gold. Dynamic philosophy that opens up a whole new way of looking at the financial demands of life. Needleman's best and most important book. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Philosopher Needleman ( The New Religions ) believes that our obsession with money and compulsion for material wealth undercut personal authenticity: "The money question is formed in us at the very roots of our personality," instilling a narrow attitude of personal gain. If only we would step back and look at the emotional and spiritual effects money has on us, the green stuff could "serve the aim of self-knowledge" and become "a tool for breaking out" of our mental prison, insists Needleman. Then we would appreciate existence as a gift. How to accomplish this self-transformation is not spelled out in this portentous sermon, which draws on ancient Greek and Hebrew views of hell, Christian teachings, the legend of King Solomon, Eastern wisdom, Meister Eckhart, Rilke, Emerson and an analysis of Max Weber and the roots of modern capitalism.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Needleman, a philosophy professor, argues that while we have countless books on making and managing money, there is little published on the relationship between the quest for money and the quest for the meaning of life. While that is often seen as humanity's main weakness, it is Needleman's thesis that in our time the principle of personal gain is embodied in the quest for money. In what seems to be an updated version of the gospel of wealth (complete with solemn quotes from a "businessman," probably Laurance Rockefeller), Needleman concludes that money can be accumulated not only for personal needs and wants, but for higher, philanthropic purposes that can give life real meaning. Recommended for academic and large public library collections.
- Jeffrey R. Herold, Bucyrus P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Money and the Meaning of Life
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication Date: 1994
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Edition: 1st ed.