Overview

Philosopher John Lachs observes that humans today live lives of comfort but also sees that these comfortable lives come at a cost: our increasing unhappiness. In The Cost of Comfort, Lachs contemplates what humans need in order to live fulfilled lives in today's world. While comfort has not always reached everyone evenly, Lachs acknowledges that most of us who live in the US today reap the benefits of modern life. We live longer, we eat better food, we have access to good medical care, and we can stay in touch with loved ones who are far away. Lachs argues that this dizzyingly complex world often inspires isolation, but he believes that deeper engagement with it is required in order to dispel our growing psychic distance. Lachs advocates for mediation and champions education, advertising, openness, and transparency to help individuals understand the role they play in society and to nullify claims to blamelessness. Lachs suggests new rules for responsibility and argues that examining and understanding the consequences of one's actions is imperative to overcoming the ills and problems of the modern world.

Full Product Details

Author:   John Lachs
Publisher:   Indiana University Press
Imprint:   Indiana University Press
ISBN:  

9780253043160

ISBN 10:   0253043166
Pages:   116
Publication Date:   11 July 2019
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Preface 1. Comfort 2. Discomfort 3. A Broken and an Integrated World 4. Complete and Dismembered Actions 5. Mediation 6. Philosophical Excursion: Hegel and Peirce on Mediation 7. Five Consequences of Mediation 8. (A) Passivity 9. (B) Impotence 10. (C) Ignorance 11. (D) Manipulation 12. (E) Psychic Distance 13. (F) Irresponsibility 14. Major Mediators: Tools 15. Major Mediators: Language 16. Major Mediators: Ideology 17. Major Mediators: Institutions 18. Major Mediators: Government 19. Mediated Immediacies 20. Eliminate Mediation? 21. Ineffective Ways of Dealing with Mediation 22. Pre-Existing Values 23. Advertising 24. Openness 25. Transparency 26. Education 27. The Power of Immediacy 28. Immediacy and Politics 29. New Rules of Responsibility Conclusion

Reviews

John Lachs provides, in a sustained manner, one of the deepest and most far-reaching investigations of mediation in modern life yet undertaken. It's an important effort that puts philosophy in the service of life and its problems.--Michael Sullivan, author of Legal Pragmatism This work is a very clear, engaging reflection on a genuine contemporary issue: deep feelings of disengagement and bewilderment about how to live responsibly in an almost overwhelmingly complex world.--John T. Lysaker, author of After Emerson

Author Information

John Lachs is Centennial Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University. He is the author of many books, including Meddling: On the Virtue of Leaving Others Alone and Stoic Pragmatism.

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