Joseph Agassi is professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University and York University.

Part 1: Background

Chapter 1: Universalism: The Siblinghood of Humanity

Chapter 2: Universalism versus Particularism

Chapter 3: Background to Radicalism

Chapter 4: Gradualism and Pluralism

Chapter 5: Magic and Science

Part 2: The Revolt against Reason

Chapter 6: The Problem of Rationality

Chapter 7: Theories of Rationality

Chapter 8: The Flotsam and Jetsam of Philosophy

Chapter 9: The Romantic Idea of Reason

Part 3: The New Enlightenment

Chapter 10: Minimal Standards in Ethics

Chapter 11: Minimal Standards in Politics

Chapter 12: Minimal Standards in Science

Chapter 13: Optimism as an Imperative

Chapter 14: Democracy as Optimism

Conclusion: Autonomous People in Free Society

This book addresses the problems of everyday life faced by twenty-first-century individuals and explores practical questions central to philosophy of life: What is a good life? What makes a life good or satisfactory? What is the proper aim of life?