The Meaning of Life

An award-winning writer and journalist, Antonia Case is the co-founder of New Philosopher and Womankind magazines, and is the Editor-In-Chief of New Philosopher, which is distributed in 32 countries. In 2014, she was awarded the Australasian Association of Philosophy Media Professionals' Award. Antonia holds an Honours degree in Economics from Sydney University and is a regular speaker on radio and at writers' festivals.

James Kirby is the co-director of the Compassionate Mind Research Group at the University of Queensland. He studies the effectiveness of Compassion Focused Therapy interventions in helping with the self-criticism and shame that underpin many depression and anxiety disorders. James also works as a clinical psychologist in private practice. This is his first book.

If a fortune-teller told 19-year-old Debbie that she’d one day become a professor of purpose and impact, she’d have asked for a refund. A tragedy led her family to the Kabballah Centre – years before Madonna and other celebs joined it – where she grew up in a cult-like atmosphere until she managed to escape under threat of an arranged marriage. Higher education and volunteering transformed Debbie’s life, and she has since devoted her entire career to studying the pro-social behaviour of individuals and companies. Today, she is an awarded and well-published professor of business management and the MBA Director at Macquarie University, Australia. With over sixty academic articles, four books and a TED talk, she dedicates her teaching, research, and knowledge to creating impact and enabling others to find meaningfulness and purpose.

Warren Ward is a Brisbane-based psychiatrist who writes about philosophy, culture, and the history of ideas. His essays have been shortlisted for the New Philosopher Writers Award 12 times, winning the award in 2016 and 2019. His first book, Lovers of Philosophy (2022), explores the love lives of seven philosophers — Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, Foucault, and Derrida — and how these thinkers' intimate lives shaped their ideas.