The Still Center

We can enjoy a fulfilling life under all sorts of circumstances, finding or creating a purpose, goal or meaning for our own unique existence, and developing an appreciation for the beauty and variety of experiences and impressions life presents.
Prof. Burton Porter examines our present attitudes and values, and offers signposts for a successful life. Some are consistent with our current direction; others are at variance with contemporary trends. But with full, 21st-century awareness, the author points to dimensions of human beings that can be realized to create a fulfilling existence. 
In so doing, he introduces readers to a wealth of poetic and literary perspectives and delivers a clear explication of a wide range of traditions in moral theory and ethics. 
Writing in a clear, concise way, the author invites everyone to consider how to set today’s values and sensibilities into a broader framework of thought, and to ponder how to construct a satisfying, worthy self in the midst of chaotic social changes. Along the way he quickly introduces many of the major trends of Western philosophy, great thinkers from the Ancient Greeks to today. The book shows readers how to see the relevance today of pragmatism, formalism, relativism, postmodernism, logic and sophistry, and realism vs. idealism, and modern classics such as Mills and Hume.