"This is, in my opinion, the best dialogue about the meaning of life in the literature. The interlocutors are two of the most important philosophers in the field and it is enlightening to hear these two titans engaging each other directly. Anyone interested in the meaning of life should read this brief and accessible work." - John G Messerly, author of The Meaning of Life.

★ An intelligent dialogue between philosophers exploring six enduring philosophical questions relevant to modern life.
★Top philosophers from South Africa, Australia, Lebanon and the United States gather together to present a fascinating collision of ideas for readers.
★Based on a profound philosophical knowledge, the Philosophers quote from a wide range of sources such as historical materials, film and television, , literary works and daily observation to to provide the readers a clear and unique perspective .

Six titles in this series:
Conversations about the Meaning of Life;
Conversations about God and the Problem of Evil;
Conversations about Harming Animals;
Conversations about the Philosophy of Love and Desire;
Conversations about Time Travel and Teleporters
Conversations about Lockdown

What do Mother Theresa, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the exploration of Mars teach us about the meaning of life?World-renowned experts, David Benatar and Thaddeus Metz, give you their answers to life’s biggest question.

Spoiler alert: it isn’t 42.We’ve all felt a unique sense of isolation over the past few years. Is there a way to find meaning in this brave new world?

Benatar argues that from the cosmic perspective, life on this pale blue dot has almost no significance. But Metz holds a more optimistic view. Discover his rules for how anyone can enrich their lives through truth, beauty, and goodness.

Conversations about the Meaning of Life is a discussion with two of the most important thinkers on the topic, and includes an exclusive debate between them.

If you strive to lead a more meaningful existence, and want an accessible, intelligent guide to the ultimate question, you’ll love this book.

David Benatar
　　(born 8 December 1966) is a South African philosopher, academic, and author. He is best known for his advocacy of antinatalism in his book Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence, in which he argues that coming into existence is serious harm, regardless of the feelings of the existing being once brought into existence, and that, as a consequence, it is always morally wrong to create more sentient beings.
　　Benatar is a professor of philosophy and director of the Bioethics Centre at the University of Cape Town in Cape Town, South Africa. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Controversial Ideas.

Professor Thaddeus Metz
　　hails from the United States, where he received his PhD from Cornell University in 1997. He first visited South Africa in 1999 and relocated there in 2004, initially lecturing at Wits and later UJ. He joined the University of Pretoria in 2020.
　　Prof Metz has published more than 300 scholarly books, chapters, and articles. Many of them take an analytic approach to the meaning of life, philosophy of religion, African morality, human rights, biomedical ethics, the proper function of a legal system, the role of a university, and a range of related topics in value theory and moral-political philosophy.
　　Some of Prof Metz's recent books are A Relational Moral Theory: African Ethics in and Beyond the Continent (Oxford University Press 2022) and God, Soul and the Meaning of Life (Cambridge University Press 2019). Recent journal publications include articles in Mind, The Monist, Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, International Journal of Philosophy and Theology, Ethik in der Medizin, and Public Health Ethics (all in 2021).
　　More than 50 of Prof Metz’s publications have been reprinted, sometimes with translations into other languages such as Chinese, German, Igbo, and Portuguese. Recognition for Prof Metz's research includes him having been designated one of ‘The World’s Top 50 Thinkers’ by Prospect Magazine (2020) and been awarded an ‘A1’ rating from the South African National Research Foundation (2019).
　　Prof Metz has supervised more than a dozen Doctoral students to completion and hosted eight Post-Doctoral fellows, part of approximately 90 research projects supervised. He has supervised Doctoral students from not just South Africa, but also other parts of the continent such as Botswana, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, while his students have acquired lecturing posts at 10 different South African universities.