Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Wisdom of Frugality: Why Less Is More - More or Less

The Wisdom of Frugality: Why Less Is More - More or Less

Westacott, Emrys

Hardcover

PhilosophySelf-Help

ISBN10: 0691155089
ISBN13: 9780691155081
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: Oct 4 2016
Pages: 328
Weight: 1.10
Height: 1.10 Width: 5.70 Depth: 8.60
Language: English

Why philosophers have advocated simple living for 2,500 years--and why we ignore them at our peril

From Socrates to Thoreau, most philosophers, moralists, and religious leaders have seen frugality as a virtue and have associated simple living with wisdom, integrity, and happiness. But why? And are they right? Is a taste for luxury fundamentally misguided? If one has the means to be a spendthrift, is it foolish or reprehensible to be extravagant?

In this book, Emrys Westacott examines why, for more than two millennia, so many philosophers and people with a reputation for wisdom have been advocating frugality and simple living as the key to the good life. He also looks at why most people have ignored them, but argues that, in a world facing environmental crisis, it may finally be time to listen to the advocates of a simpler way of life.

The Wisdom of Frugality explores what simplicity means, why it's supposed to make us better and happier, and why, despite its benefits, it has always been such a hard sell. The book looks not only at the arguments in favor of living frugally and simply, but also at the case that can be made for luxury and extravagance, including the idea that modern economies require lots of getting and spending.

A philosophically informed reflection rather than a polemic, The Wisdom of Frugality ultimately argues that we will be better off--as individuals and as a society--if we move away from the materialistic individualism that currently rules.

1 different editions

Also available

Also in

Philosophy

View All