The Examined Life

“A well-thought-out project, engaging, enlightening, and highly accessible for the audience it addresses. . . . After twenty years of philosophical reflection on the context for a virtue-based ethics, we now have a book which both offers us some content and reminds us along the way how important the virtues are for right living.” —International Philosophical Quarterly

“[Kekes’] discussion of ideals and commitments, wisdom, the good life, and happiness is deeply perceptive and among the best ever written. For readers who want to more fully understand the formal structure of how to live well, Kekes’ book is a must.” —Choice

“A welcome addition to the growing literature in an ethics that is unselfconsciously and unabashedly normative. It is concerned with what good lives are and how they can be achieved. At least in civilized contexts, good lives depend on self-direction, which itself depends on possessing the virtues of self-control, self-knowledge, moral sensitivity, and wisdom. These are discussed in detail and with insight.” —Review of Metaphysics

“One of the perennial tasks of ethics is to reconcile the claims of tradition, community, and convention with the desire for freedom, individuality, and self-direction. Among recent attempts to deal with this topic is a book [entitled] The Examined Life. . . . In a historical situation such as ours, when all cultures and traditions seem to be within each other’s reach, the virtue of moral sensitivity, singled out by Kekes as characterizing desirable self-direction, deserves special emphasis.” —Journal of Speculative Philosophy