The Richness of Life

The Joy of Philosophy is a return to some of the perennial questions of philosophy–questions about the meaning of life; about death and tragedy; about the respective roles of rationality and passion in the good life; about love, compassion, and revenge; about honesty, deception, and betrayal; and about who we are and how we think about who we are.

James Rebischung's intention is to report as objectively as possible on the current Japanese scene and to provide a more balanced view of Japan that is usually given in travel folders, official publications, magazine reports, and art books. To believe, as many people do, that Japan is either a tourist wonderland or a country where businessmen plot unfair competitive practices while bathing with geisha on company expense accounts, or that it is a rich land leaping forward to an economic paradise is to be both foolish and wrong. The Japanese people have a stirring history full of the richness of human life, and they have an interesting and exciting future. But they are in the transitional present as it is lived now, and that is what this book is all about.