This book embodies a search for the ultimate reality in life; that unbearable truth from which we all shelter in the lowlands. Only those who delight in braving the alpine heights will want to read this book, which is about our true selves; about the real nature of good and evil, oppression and liberty, truth and lies; about the relentless reality of the life-system--the "strategic logos"--that enables us to survive and prosper; about the self-serving falseness of our ethical systems; and about the difficult but rewarding path to individual freedom. It is a book that tackles Goethe's sceptical question, "What is man?"; Shakespeare's query of disdain, "What is this quintessence of dust?"; Montaigne's rhetorical demand, "Is it possible to imagine anything as ridiculous as this miserable and wretched creature?"; Nietzsche's statement of veiled contempt, "What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not a goal"; and Thomas Mann's expression of disillusionment, "Is this all there is?".This book constitutes an entirely new approach to the philosophy of life, based as it is on the author's unique general dynamic theory of human society.Graeme Donald Snooks is Executive Director of the institute of Global Dynamic Systems (IGDS) in Canberra. Formerly (1989-2010) he was the Coghlan Professor in the Institute of Advanced Studies at the Australian National University. Dr Snooks has been at the cutting edge of research on social and biological dynamics, and the new realist methodology, for 50 years. He has published 26 books and many articles.