This companion and its contributions by the best scholars in the field assure that both the perennial and the contemporary aspects of the human condition are brought together in a way that is amenable to all. Focusing on universal aspects rather than cultural differences, it attempts to capture what it means to live as a human being and to define the shared, complex experience of living as a conscious, social, moral, and mortal being, following the renewed interest in the topic in the 21st century. The companion humanizes the human condition by bringing it home and empowering us to improve on it. It may perform a profound transformation of our attitudes, and of our own selves, which makes of the earth and human life on it something worth fighting for.