The Meaning of Human Life

The meaning of life is to find the meaning of life. Is it not? We all go through each day trying to figure out which road out the infinite amount of paths will lead us in a better direction where happiness is prominent and society is flawless. However, not every single human being is going to fit on that narrow, one-lane highway to success. Bad choices, accidents, fate, family matters, society, temptation, anger, rage, addiction, and loss of hope can all be deciding factors in opting to choose that wrong path to self-destruction. The adverse thing is, once you've traveled so far down the road, you get so discouraged that you feel like you can never turn back or make up for the "lost time."

What is the meaning of life? According to Chris McCandless living free and not conforming to the natural way of life is the meaning to life, as shown in the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. Similar to Chris McCandless, Ralph Emerson believes that following your dreams and making your own trail is the meaning of life according to his short story “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Emerson. The purpose of man's existence is to avoid conformity and following one's own instincts and ideas.

Susan Wolf addresses these questions an aim to bring out the distinctive characteristics of the reasons and motives that give our lives meaning. Wolf claims that "meaningful lives are laws of active engagement and projects of worth" (Wolf, 206). Suggesting that when a person is actively engaged in anything they feel alive and life is more worth living. Nevertheless, Wolf explains that neither religion or science is sufficient for leading a meaningful life, claiming that a life of passion could corrupt the pursuit of happiness if you decide to dedicate your life to how you feel. Suggesting that working toward some goal that is substantial than yourself, can be hard work if you don 't have any passion or connection to it. According to Wolf, the subjective element is necessary for a meaningful life and arises from active engagement in some activity that one loves. In addition, the passive attachment to objectively valuable things are not sufficient for meaning. The feeling of fulfillment originates when “one is doing what one loves, or when one is engaging in activities by which one is gripped or excited” (Wolf, 207).

Most people have a divergent out look on what they consider the meaning of life is, while others conceivably follow a religion that believe in a certain way of living, such as Buddhism and Catholicism. It is evident that Buddhism and Catholicism both believe that the meaning of life is to do good deeds, be delivered from evil and to bring peace and happiness. Buddhism however differs from Catholicism in a way that they believe that you shouldn’t get to attached to anything life as everything comes to an end and will only result in suffering, Buddha believes that you should live your life being as happy and peaceful as you can be, end suffering for yourself and other around you and trying to reach Nirvana in life.

Susan Wolf’s article “Meaning in Life” addresses the debate question, Does life has meaning? Wolf’s position on the debate is the affirmative. She believes life has meaning as long as they meet certain criteria. That leads to the second debate question: What gives life meaning? Wolf’s position on this is that “meaningful lives are lives of active engagement in projects of worth” (Wolf 232). This position is also the basis of her main 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.

Many philosophers, throughout centuries of human existence, have deciphered, or at least attempted tried to cast some light on to, our purpose. Consulting their findings could give several answers on whether we should live to maximize our pleasure, minimize our pain, avoid frustration or achieve greatness. In my own considerations, though, sorting through the tumultuous noise and clutter of the world around me for the some obscured or hidden meaning was not necessary. To me, the noise and clutter is the meaning. I do not live for what is hidden; I live for what is all around me. My experiences are not tools that assist me in find some truth. Rather, they are the truth. In other words the Good in my life is, in fact, life in its entirety.

Some may say that it is possible to just "live life", and to never worry of the stumble or strife involved with finding your true meaning. But that in itself is finding meaning for living; to live life at it's fullest. Also, it is even quite possible to search for the deeper meaning while just living for today, because today is the best place to find that very meaning.

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

All of human life comes down to one thing, the making and breaking of relationships. These relationships are formed in order to feel emotions; love, happiness, sadness, anger, resentment. It is because of these feelings that people are able to form their own consciousness and find a purpose for themselves. Religions such as Christianity find the meaning of life to be forming a relationship with God and when you die, you are judged by your mortal sins and are forever sentenced to heaven or hell. Buddhism tries to find the meaning of life through enlightenment and the preservation of oneself throughout all existence. The meaning of life is at the same time the most discussed,yet taboo thing to talk about. The nature of having a volatile topic that is interpreted differently between people can be difficult, but it is needed in the preservation of the human race.

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

Humans are an interesting species because of the strong need humans have to fully understand what it truly means to be human. Many fields such as history, psychology, and sociology all offer a perspective in the study of humanity, but there are distinguishable from anthropology. Anthropology differs from other humanities fields due to its holistic nature, comparative research methods, and the strong emphasis on fieldwork and participant interaction. Anthropology is the study of people throughout the world, their evolutionary history, how they behave, adapt to different environments, communicate and socialize with one another. In order for anthropologists to examine the full scope of human life, they employ the four field approach that embodies the holistic nature of the field.

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 is actually mesmerizing adventure and actually have no general meaning. Each and every person has their own meaning of life and it is oneself who renders the meaning of one’s life. Life is an opinion. It’s an idea. It begins with the birth of an individual. One day that body will die, but that opinion or idea brought by that individual is immortal. It persists in this world for many years.

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