Losing Ourselves: Learning to Live Without a Self
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- Create Date：2022-05-31 00:19:37
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Jay L. Garfield
- ISBN：069122028X
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Summary
Why you don't have a self--and why that's a good thing
In Losing Ourselves， Jay Garfield， a leading expert on Buddhist philosophy， offers a brief and radically clear account of an idea that at first might seem frightening but that promises to liberate us and improve our lives， our relationships， and the world。 Drawing on Indian and East Asian Buddhism， Daoism， Western philosophy， and cognitive neuroscience， Garfield shows why it is perfectly natural to think you have a self--and why it actually makes no sense at all and is even dangerous。 Most importantly， he explains why shedding the illusion that you have a self can make you a better person。
Examining a wide range of arguments for and against the existence of the self， Losing Ourselves makes the case that there are not only good philosophical and scientific reasons to deny the reality of the self， but that we can lead healthier social and moral lives if we understand that we are selfless persons。 The book describes why the Buddhist idea of no-self is so powerful and why it has immense practical benefits， helping us to abandon egoism， act more morally and ethically， be more spontaneous， perform more expertly， and navigate ordinary life more skillfully。 Getting over the self-illusion also means escaping the isolation of self-identity and becoming a person who participates with others in the shared enterprise of life。
The result is a transformative book about why we have nothing to lose--and everything to gain--by losing our selves。
In Losing Ourselves， Jay Garfield， a leading expert on Buddhist philosophy， offers a brief and radically clear account of an idea that at first might seem frightening but that promises to liberate us and improve our lives， our relationships， and the world。 Drawing on Indian and East Asian Buddhism， Daoism， Western philosophy， and cognitive neuroscience， Garfield shows why it is perfectly natural to think you have a self--and why it actually makes no sense at all and is even dangerous。 Most importantly， he explains why shedding the illusion that you have a self can make you a better person。
Examining a wide range of arguments for and against the existence of the self， Losing Ourselves makes the case that there are not only good philosophical and scientific reasons to deny the reality of the self， but that we can lead healthier social and moral lives if we understand that we are selfless persons。 The book describes why the Buddhist idea of no-self is so powerful and why it has immense practical benefits， helping us to abandon egoism， act more morally and ethically， be more spontaneous， perform more expertly， and navigate ordinary life more skillfully。 Getting over the self-illusion also means escaping the isolation of self-identity and becoming a person who participates with others in the shared enterprise of life。
The result is a transformative book about why we have nothing to lose--and everything to gain--by losing our selves。
Reviews
Greg Talbot
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Reapproachment continues to be a struggle。 The promised roaring 20s of dancefloor action and free love appears more like a furrowed huddle of alienated survivors playing dungeons and dragons。 Dogged conflict around masks， mandates， distancing， distance learning， policing， teaching materials are a painful reminder that unity from our crises is not a given。 Our identity and politics seem shaped by our intensity to the conflicts。 Rancor and divide are deep-seeded to the point where speech itself is Reapproachment continues to be a struggle。 The promised roaring 20s of dancefloor action and free love appears more like a furrowed huddle of alienated survivors playing dungeons and dragons。 Dogged conflict around masks， mandates， distancing， distance learning， policing， teaching materials are a painful reminder that unity from our crises is not a given。 Our identity and politics seem shaped by our intensity to the conflicts。 Rancor and divide are deep-seeded to the point where speech itself is under threat of silencing from cancellations， slaps， violence and illiberal thought。In "Losing Ourselves: Learning to Live Without a Self" the primal conviction （p。9） of self-hood is critiqued， our illusion of self is replaced with our personhood。 Jay L。 Garfield， visiting Buddhist studies professor at the Harvard Divinity school， argues “I believe that the illusion that we are selves undermines ethical cultivation and moral vision， and that coming to understand ourselves as persons facilitates a more salutory， mature moral engagement with those around us’。 Arguments from classical Indian philosopher Candrakirti for unity of self are stripped away as psychological processes。 Santideva， another classical Indian philosopher， writes of the underlying egocentricity from the dualism of self。 Placing ourselves in the center of the moral universe disenables true friendship， care and imparitality （p。24）。 Scottish renaissance philosopher David Hume， perhaps the ultimate skeptic， found the unity of self to be an nothing more than the sensations and reactions of phenomena。 Garfield， a masterful writer and expert on philosophy， shares thought experiments that question the unity of self， the dualistic nature of self and object and free will that separates us from animals。One of the joy and challenges of this book is the language provided to understand the terrain of identity。 In the introduction， Garfield concedes some readers will see the “self” and “person” argument as distinction without a difference。 But the concepts alone are worth considering: synchronic vs diachronic self unity; pre-reflective self awareness; and supervenience。 Given that so many readers， myself included， have a reflective sense of true unified self （an atman or soul）， this book works with metaphor， stories， reasoning and thought experiments to challenge the fundamental “for-me-ness”。There are two areas I wish Garfield would explore more。 First， Garfield is an avowed student of the Buddhist dharmic practices， and clearly these ethical teachings are reflected in the last third of the book。 The space to explore the “no self” with regard to religious faith seemed reasonable。 Another book by his Harvard colleague， Richard Wright’s “Why Buddhism is True”， reveals the overlays of scientific truth with buddhist dharma teachings。 I would suspect that there is a transcending self/soul/atman in some of these faiths that Garfield would reject。 But given that “reason” does not hold the prized status in post-modern thought， I thought there might be more to say about the parallels of a spiritual/religious practice and the “no-self” experienced in flow states like prayer， meditation， hallucinogens and elevated experienceThe second area that would be interesting to explore is the lack of selfhood in Artificial Intelligence and social media。 Sentience may not exist yet for weak AI， but comparison between the artificial neuronal brain and the biological neuronal brain could be an interesting exploration of self and personhood。 Also， with our internet profiles that disembody and remove contextual speech cues， the promise of identifying with a personhood in these realms seems to not have the same promise of the “no-self” aware person。 We engage this virtual space and with it a mode of ourselves get here。。maybe just another narrative self though。Borrowing a line from the late existentialist professor Robert C。 Solomon， from the University of Texas， there is just something that is missing when we take away our agency from our identity。Talking about a human being as a confluence of forces or an actor in their narrative prevents us from seeing the choice and responsibility that makes life meaningful。 I concede the points Garfield makes， that our ego-self is limited， reactive and often unethical。 But I would also argue that life is about transcending our self。 The passions， which can leave us inspired or foolish， can only be experienced by this consciousness。 This language of self-ownership provide some sense of purpose in this chaotic world。 Illusion or not， this fixed consciosuness is our steady rock in a sea of change。 。。。more
Blaine Snow
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