James O’Toole said, “Given the fact that he lived almost 2,400 years ago, what could Aristotle possibly have to say that is directly relevant now?” People, especially those at mid-life, are struggling to find meaning and happiness. Some ask, as Peggy Lee once did, “Is that all there is?” The purpose of this book is show how Aristotle is an effective guide on that search and how he can help many people to find their own practical answer to a critically important question: “What’s next?” In an interview that appeared in the July/August (2005) issue of Chamber Executive magazine, O’Toole observes, “Aristotle was the most practical of all great philosophers. His audience was the business and political leadership of his day. He offered them wisdom they could apply in their own lives–practical advice on matters ranging from ethical business practices to effective philanthropy. Aristotle even describes ‘virtuous non-retirement’–the lifelong commitment to engage in leisure work that is characterized by pursuit of the ‘highest good’ of individual excellence and the ‘complete good’ of community service. He offers practical tests to help us determine how much wealth we need to support us while we engage in those activities.”
As O’Toole explains in this book, Aristotle struggled with many of the same difficult circumstances (more than two centuries ago) which most of us face in 2005: “...in his career as a teacher and a consultant to leaders of ancient Athens, Aristotle thought long and hard about what it means to live a good life and how much it takes to finance it. His thoughts on this matter are particularly applicable today, given the baby boom generation’s anxiety over insufficient retirement savings and shaky investments. Aristotle shows how we can find happiness at almost any level of income. Moreover, he argues that the ability to find true contentment correlates only tangentially with the amount of money one has cached away. Unlike so many of today’s ‘life advisors,’ Aristotle integrates financial planning with the broader task of life planning.” If the pursuit of philosophy is to serve as a practical guide to action, then the wisdom that Aristotle gained from his own experiences is indeed relevant almost 2,400 years later.
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