Western philosophy began with two monumental aspirations: to unravel the mysteries of the universe and to construct the best recipe for living the good life. Today, sports play a major role in the lives of many people. A striking correlation exists between the noblest virtues of baseball and discussions of living the good life by the greatest thinkers in the history of philosophy. The book explains the nine virtues of playing and eleven commandments of coaching baseball. These virtues and commandments are then connected to the best ways to live the good life according to the wisdom of...

This book reconstructs the cornerstones of Jesus's moral teachings about how to lead a good, even exemplary, human life. It does so in a way that is compatible with the most prominent, competing versions of the historical Jesus. The work also contrast Jesus' understanding of the best way to lead our lives with that of Friedrich Nietzsche. Both Jesus and Nietzsche were self-consciously moral revolutionaries. Jesus refashioned the imperatives of Jewish law to conform to what he was firmly convinced was the divine will. Nietzsche aspired to transvalue the dominant values of his time -which...