How should I live? How should I love? How should I die? These three questions stream into human consciousness from the womb of a more urgent question: What makes my life worth living, or justifiable? What if one stands at the last frontier of their life and casts a look at the way they lived it? Can they leave the world with a feeling of inner peace and pride in the way they lived it? The author of this book argues that a life worth living should originate from the depth of the human essence, from the power that makes us human. How? This question demands an urgent answer because, first, human life is a thrust into the future which we cannot predict, and second, it is short. Should we not care about the way we live, since it is the most valuable possession we have in this world? How many people regret the way they lived when they reach the end of their lives? Should we not wonder why we exist and how we should live our lives? An inquiry into his question is an inquiry into the foundation of a life worth living. What are the building blocks of this foundation? The author further argues that living this kind of life is an art. He draws a parallel between artistic creation and self-creation. An authentic or fulfilled life is an art of human living. In what sense is the human being a self-created being? Under what conditions can one learn this art?

Michael H. Mitias is a retired professor of philosophy at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. His primary interest is the theory of human values. In addition to several philosophical novels and numerous philosophical articles, he edited several books and published many books in the area of aesthetics, ethics, and political philosophy. His latest books are Human Dialogue, Creativity and Aesthetic Theory, and What Makes an Artwork Great?