The universal question since the onset of civilization has always been what the meaning of life is. The answers put forward by people in today's society greatly differ from the answers of the Roman and Greek civilizations of the past. As much as everyone will always question themselves at one point in life about life’s purpose, the contributions of great philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and the Roman Stoics cannot be left out in the beliefs and theories that give life value. Each of the theories gives a different perspective on the meaning of life. Life without meaning is arguably equivalent to death; in other words, if life has no meaning why live when you will eventually die and just vanish. Over the years philosophers have been occupied in finding the ultimate meaning of life. This paper analyses three major philosophical views; Theism Nihilism and Subjectivism, and personal opinions on the meaning of life. Life without meaning is arguably equivalent to death; in other words, if life has no meaning why live when you will eventually die and just vanish.
Theism is the belief in one or more gods as the creators or rulers of the entire universe. This is without the rejection of revelations. Some of the prominent examples of theism include religions such as Christianity, Judaism Hinduism, and Islam. Theism argues that God is an omnipotent and omniscient entity who gives meaning to man and the rest of creation. Theism provides that God the creator has control
We all sit and wonder what’s the meaning of life. People can research and write novels about the topic, but we will never understand the real meaning until people experience life for themselves-until people feel like they’re experiencing the beauty of life. Every person has their own ideas of their needs, wants, and desires. But people don’t know what their needs, wants, or desires unless they go and discover what they love. Everyone has their own ways to share their views on the meaning of life-everyone is unique. If people walk around a shopping mall and ask each person what they believe the meaning of life is, this topic would receive different answers and views from each person. The answer from many people would be “just to live a happy life,” but is that all people have to say about the meaning of life?
Life, it might be argued, is the distinguishing feature of all organisms and may most usefully be thought of as involving various kinds of complex systems of organization providing individual organisms with the ability to make use of those energy sources available to them for both self maintenance and reproduction. Underlying this deceptively persuasive definition, however, lie those persistent traditional problems inherent in the search for an essential, distinctive substance characteristic of all forms of life. Additionally, as evolution theory makes clear, there is the problem of borderline instances, organisms of which it is not easy to say whether or not they may be defined as being alive. One such case
Susan R. Wolf (born 1952) is a moral philosopher who works extensively on the meaning of human life and is the Edna J. Koury Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Wolf addresses the questions of the meaning of life in hope to distinguish the characteristics and reasoning that gives meaning to life. According to Susan Wolf view about the meaning in life, “I would say that meaningful life are lives of active engagement in projects of worth… two key phrases, ‘active engagement’ and ‘projects of worth’” (Wolf, 205). However, I believe that her proposal leaves out our basic motives and reasoning that’s
“The whole point of knowledge is to produce both meaning and purpose in our personal lives. To what extent do you agree with this statement?” To effectively answer that question, we must first differentiate between meaning and purpose in life and define knowledge. Firstly, knowledge is justified true belief (Organization). The meaning of life can be defined as the reason for the creation of one’s life, whereas the purpose of life can be defined as an individual’s mission during their life. One’s purpose and meaning in life may be mainly based on personal knowledge, the gained knowledge through experience and personal involvement (Organization). By examining the human sciences and religious knowledge systems, knowledge might produce our
This document explores the meaning of human life, its purpose, what it serves for and also
Society tends to live day to day without much question of their own existence. Humans are born into the world and without second thought begin to live their lives, but there comes a time when individuals begin to question the reason for their being. In Richard Taylor’s, “The Meaning of Life”, Taylor explores the thought that our existence, when viewed externally without our prejudices, is fundamentally pointless. A thorough analysis of Taylor’s ideas will be given to understand the reasoning behind his thoughts, his argument will then be defended from counter arguments that state that the meaning behind any entity’s life could have any alternative meaning.
What is the meaning of life? What gives life meaning? Philosophers have asked these questions for decades, and there still is not a solid answer to the question. This paper will analyze one modern philosopher’s take on the question: What gives life meaning? Susan Wolf is a modern moral philosopher and philosopher of action and mind. She attended two Ivy League institutions for her undergraduate and graduate careers. Wolf received a Bachelor’s of Arts in Philosophy and Math from Yale University, and she received a PhD in Philosophy from Princeton University. Wolf taught at various prestigious institutions such as Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, and University of Maryland. She is currently a professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill where she teaches philosophy. Susan Wolf has written many works such as “Meaning in Life and Why It Matters,” “Freedom Within Reason.” This paper will focus on the article “Meaning in Life” from the journal “Happiness and Meaning: Two Aspects of the Good Life.”
Most people want to live a meaningful life. They feel that is important to live a life that is sufficient and worthwhile. The meaning of life has been debated among many people and philosophers throughout history. There have been several theories used to try to explain the true purpose of life in some subjective or objective perspective. Louis Pojman argued that religion gives every individual life meaning to it and those who choose not to believe have no morality or purpose in life. On the other hand, suppose someone would object Pojman theory and believed that life with or without God is not required for finding meaning in life. In the following paper, I will explain Pojman theories about religion giving meaning to life and what that life may consist of. Second, I wish to explain how an atheist would reject his premise and provide a response to how a person of faith would respond to and atheists argument.
In “The Meaning of Lives,” Wolf asserts that the question “What is the Meaning of Life?” is inherently unintelligible because it is uncertain what the question is asking. In other words it is too general because it has no specified context. Wolf then acknowledges, however, that there is value in examining the meaningfulness of a life. This is because she observes people wanting meaning as an unchangeable fact. While there is no grand reason for meaning, she suggests that we can create value through what we do in our life. In her work, Wolf constructs a framework on how to obtain meaning in one’s life. I will examine her view, then critically discuss the positive attributes and the shortcomings. Wolf does a sufficient job to outline a possible way to achieve meaning. However, I will argue that a definition for the meaningful life that does not include morality and happiness is not sufficient. Lastly, I will express the subjective and objective tension that weakens her stance.
What is the meaning of life? Well known Greek philosphers such as Socrates and Plato believed that our purpose in this life was to gain knowledge in preparation for the next life. Other Philosophers such as Epicurus believed that pleasure is the main goal in life. After giving these ideas lots of thought, I have come to my own conclusion that the true meaning of life is far more complex than either of these; far too complex for any human to fully comprehend. In fact these two different philosophies are only part of the grand picture. If it were that easy for men to figure out our lives wouldn't be so messed up now. The meaning of life revolves around many different things. I
The purpose of life is to be happy; to seek a microcosm of something, and there find the slot where your piece fits. Once a person has become a part of something, happiness is achieved - and life is fulfilled; the priest finds the parish, the athlete finds the field, and the baker finds the bakery. Happily do they continue on with their lives, and to them, life is fulfilled. A haze of joy and mirth shields the everyday man from the reality of their insignificance; some admit it and manage on, but others crash and crumble under the weight of the truth: for what it is worth, the deeds of a man matter as much as the grime on a snail’s shell. This truth is not entirely grim; however, it does allure. Many have been drawn to find, for themselves, the truth of human worth. Existentialists focus on the question that is a concrete human existence, and the conditions of such existence; they do not dwell on a hypothesis for human essence, instead they stress that this essence is determined by an individual’s own life choices. Although humans live in the world, a distance is created in order to add meaning to the disinterested world; however, this meaning is fragile and can be disturbed by tragedy or insight. When this disturbance occurs, and humans’ precarious lives crumble, the true nature of the world is revealed; a nature that shows little importance for humans; this way of
Theism is the belief that all limited or finite things depend on one supreme being or deity who is the creator of the universe. Followers of the religions Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, for example, are dependent upon their personal God. The deity who is followed by its religion’s followers is the central idea for theists on how to think or act. Theism’s negative effects is a complex issue today because of conflicts among different religions and their followers. When people practice their religion peacefully, it is not an issue. However, when they start to force their religion upon others or deny others their right to practice, it becomes an issue.
Life has no meaning if you don't have the urge to wake up the next morning to see the next day. Many people live their lives unhappy since they have no purpose or meaning to fulfill or satisfy their needs. Purpose to me is something to live for and something to look forward to in life. Without purpose and meaning in life there is no point of living at all. Recently in the existentialism unit we’ve been reading, I learned that without a passion to live, one’s life means nothing and is a waste of a soul. Based on the previous books I’ve read, I learned I am happy because I have things to look forward to in life and to wake up the next morning to enjoy the new day. Three elements that give me purpose and meaning in my life are my family, my
My few years on this planet have been a bit confusing. I have learned of many aspects of life from which one can draw meaning, if indeed such meaning can be drawn. I have also learned that there can be no singular meaning of life to stand for us all, or even any one of us. What I have learned above all is that trying to put words to the meaning of life is a task of absolute absurdity. This is not to be confused with the idea that life has no meaning, for life certainly has meaning. However, there is no single meaning of life to be defined - life is different for us all. Therefore, rather than define life for an entire planet, I shall try to explain what life means as I perceive it, and why it means so.
Life as we know it could vanish within seconds. The next day is not promised to anyone that walks on this earth. As we live our everyday lives peacefully, we tend not to think what our mission or purpose in life is. Instead, we think what we must do for that to be a “successful” person. Despite this way of thinking, just think for a second. What makes life meaningful? What is life anyway? These questions dive right into the heart of the philosophical, psychological, and the biological aspects of life and what the true meaning of life is. This is a very arguable topic due to every person’s different perspective on life and what it means to them. In summary, I personally think that life is simply what you make of it and each person’s accomplishments has its own merit