
The Cost of Comfort
John Lachs(Author)
Indiana University Press
Published on 11. July 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
116 pages
978-0-253-04317-7 (ISBN)
Description
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.
Reviews / Votes
"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
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Bloomington, IN
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 6 mm
Weight
152 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-253-04317-7 (9780253043177)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Person
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.
Content
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
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