We human beings had no say in existing--we just opened our eyes & found ourselves here We have a fundamental need to understand who we are & the world we live in Reason takes us a long way but mystery remains When our minds & senses are baffled faith can seem justified--but faith is not knowledge In Ultimate Questions acclaimed philosopher Bryan Magee provocatively argues that we have no way of fathoming our own natures or finding definitive answers to the big questions we all face With eloquence & grace Magee urges us to be the mapmakers of what is intelligible & to identify the boundaries of meaningfulness He traces this tradition of thought to his chief philosophical mentors--Locke Hume Kant & Schopenhauer--and shows why this approach to the enigma of existence can enrich our lives & transform our understanding of the human predicament As Magee puts it " There is a world of difference between being lost in the daylight & being lost in the dark" The crowning achievement to a distinguished philosophical career Ultimate Questions is a deeply personal meditation on the meaning of life & the ways we should live & face death