Pisthetaerus: The Meaning Of Life

In parallel to the argument between the Just and Unjust speeches, ‘new’ triumphs over ‘old’ once again in the fight between Strepsiades and Pheidippides. Pheidippides declares to his father, “I will make it clearly apparent, by Zeus, that I was beating you with justice (Clouds, 1332). Throughout their argument, Pheidippides was applying the same techniques to his speech that the Unjust speech utilized. Their apparently cynical disrespect for social mores emphasizes the fact that what is ‘old’ is losing its strength within society. What is right is in palpable contrast to what is currently occurring in the social order. Strepsiades broached the suggestion that as a father he has nurtured Pheidippides from infancy to his adulthood. Because of this, Strepsiades insists that he has earned his son’s respect. However, Pheidippides is convinced

life: seeing the world in relationship to oneself alone, versus viewing the world as an aggregate.

In life, there are many ways you can live, however, the manner in which you live is your choice. In most peoples’ lives, they want to leave this world and say that they were happy and enjoyed every single moment of it. People feel like if they lived a happy life, then that is all that matters. But what if life has more to do than just being happy, what if it was meant for you to change the world or the lives of others? If you changed the life of another person and made them happy, you made a difference. A happy life is a good one, but a meaningful life is fruitful.

There is no pre-programmed destiny, no inherent meaning in our lives. Instead, meaning arises from the individual's impetus to will freely, to do what we choose in any given moment, and to then reflect upon those choices and the ways in which they alter reality and the lives of others. Being and Nothingness defines every individual as just that: a lone individual. The nature of our being is truly isolated from the nature of other beings and the world around us – while our actions and essence contain an implicit interconnectedness with the world, while meaning can only come from the existence of external phenomena, our true self is like an island surrounded by impenetrable nothingness – pregnant with the potential for possibility, but always empty in-itself.

Imagine not having any purpose, or at least so far as you can see. This would be quite depressing, since everyone wants a purpose and a reason to go through trials. This theory is illustrated in the book, “The Alloy of Law”, by Brandon Sanderson. Sanderson uses third person point of view and diction to reveal how self-discovery brings happiness.

As stated before, Taylor believes that our lives are somewhat meaningless when looking at it superficially. To adequately portray this idea, Taylor first defines the word meaningless by analyzing various scenarios that produce nothing in sense of accomplishments. The first example Taylor examines is the ancient myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphus betrayed the gods by sharing holy information with the mortals, for this he was sentenced to push a rock up a hill just to let it roll down for him to push it up again; a cycle that was to be done for all eternity empty of any achievement. This pointless cycle that amounts to nothing is what Taylor defines as meaningless. “Now in this we have the picture of meaningless, pointless toil, of a meaningless existence that is absolutely never redeemed.” (Taylor 475) Taylor compares this

These ostentatious demonstrations recall Solon’s poetic censure of the “unjust” accumulation of wealth, and of arrogant rulers. Croesus’s arrogance is further reflected in his sole question to Solon, “who is the happiest man you have ever seen?” (14), which he expects Solon to answer with a simple “you”. Much to his surprise, Solon gives a complex reply that concludes “man is entirely a creature of chance”, and that neither wealth, power, nor immediate pleasure define happiness, rejecting Croesus’s idea that his influence and military success make him happy. In keeping with his arrogance, Croesus’s wholly dismisses the advice, Solon is a “fool” (16), however, “after Solon’s departure, nemesis fell upon Croesus. (16)” The juxtaposition of Solon leaving and the arrival of nemesis is intentional, it underscores the connection between Croesus ignoring Solon and the arrival of negative outcomes, but the speed of Croesus’s transition from success to failure supports Solon’s earlier point, the importance of “chance” in human

In Richard Taylor’s chapter “Meaning of Life”, he concluded that objectively, life is meaningless. He stressed his opinion by arguing that life tends to be a cycle of goals that cumulate to nothing. These goals require sequences of exhausting work and attempt that will continue throughout the rest of life but will have no meaning. As one goal is reached, the next is sought out for, forgetting the one that was just achieved. I do not support Taylor on his objective meaningless of life. Life has a meaning, even if it is just being alive, we were created by God and he has a plan for us. Goals help us become better people and they are important to us. Taylor explained that we can find meaning in our lives when a will is put behind our actions. This means that meaningfulness can be found within the veins of anyone. I agree with Taylor, that our actions should be of interest to us, yet his account fails to show that they will make our lives have a meaning. There is no validation, that a change of the state of mind will cause our lives to achieve meaning.

Following Footsteps: Leadership in The Last American Man Parents set the perfect example of leadership while raising their own children, making their kids the priorities of their lives by being able to protect and love them through any given situation. In addition, many parents strive to make their children like themselves because nothing would be better than a parent seeing another human being walking in their own footsteps. However, some parents push their children to become exactly like them, making their own dreams come true through their child. This makes it hard for the child to grow up and become an independent person because they are too busy living the lives that their parents are making them live. In The Last American Man, Eustace

So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re busy doing things they things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating

Our existence can be illustrated by envisioning a painter who is fabricating a painting. As the painter begins to use the soft brush, its thistles with each movement construct systems and subsystems that are elaborately woven together to display biased perception of ourselves. Consequently, a misguided stroke may alter an exceptional piece of art turning it into a catastrophe. Regrettably, this metaphor unveils the misfortune that can occur in the lives of numerous individuals. Comparatively, like the painter who can be consumed by adversity, a victim of domestic violence with one misstep can eradicate his/her own life.

Open your eyes, and imagine the countless possibilities that can happen within your lifespan with one simplistic dream. Reconfigure and visualize the perfect life you cease to desire. There must be a moment within our existence to where we always want to change, no matter how small or substantial the significance it might be to our well-being. Sometimes we urge to want the unreachable, even it’s non-existent, we want ‘it’. Curiously enough, what may ‘it’ be? It could be a simple materialistic object, money, an automobile, the latest tech devices that are on the market. Going more in depth, a person, per say, a non-existent person. A being that we may think that we have seen and know for as long as we can remember only to realize that the being

A quote from Theo best explains his thoughts on his random life, “no one will ever, ever be able to persuade me that life is some awesome,rewarding treat. Because,here’s the truth:life is a catastrophe.

Your social calendar is as blank as the stare of a bank teller in a country where you don't speak the language, and your outlook on life is about as positive as 20 years hard labor in a Siberian gulag. You think it'll never be sunny again, even when it is, actually, quite sunny outside. Life is meaningless.

The prospect of utopia, that is, an unchanging static society, has little appeal compared to the prospect of trying to reach such an exalted existence. And it's this idea of progress that we often associate with the idea of utopia. Appealing as it may seem, an utopia is a double edged sword. It is both the end result of our desires and an end to those desires. Because ending our desire goes against our human nature, the notion of utopia can no longer exist to the human mind. Therefore, neither the Garden of Eden nor the island of the Houyhnhnms is an utopia because both societies are unchanging. In them, both progress and desire is forbidden.