Would It Matter Tomorrow?

If an individual asked many different people from around the world what they thought the meaning of life is, this individual is destined to receive numerous answers that would vary from living a happy life to bringing about happiness to others. However, the most recurrent response would likely be something to the extent of “living a happy, healthy life.” Very few ever accomplish what McCandless achieved, an actual state of happiness and contentedness within one’s life. “ many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind…”(Chris McCandless, Into the Wild) McCandless had the naive idea that if one wants to find serinity within oneself, the individual must have the courage to venture out of one’s habitual lifestyle and mold to unaccustomed experiences. McCandless also infers that finding meaning in your life is not only accomplished by experiencing unorthodox mannerisms but by taking life lessons from these experiences and applying it to better yourself in the future. When ordinary needs have been fulfilled, an individual tends to seek more. Some take up religion or even drugs but others, such as McCandless, strive for personal fulfillment or

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.

Nagel champions the belief that death, a state of permanent posthumous nonexistence defined as “unsupplemented by any form of conscious survival” (769), is an occurrence that harms us. Nagel’s first argument for why death is bad is that it deprives us of life, of which contains various goods that make life valuable. Nagel supports his argument by saying that “if he [the man] had not died, he would have continued to live it, and to possess whatever good there is in living” (772). He continues to list goods such as “perception, desire, activity and thought” (769) as he believes that these are the essential elements to a person meaningful life. Though Nagel concedes that the goods he listed entail both joy and misery, as they are also fundamental factors of life, he also believes that a life which has more misery than it does joy is still desirable and should not make death seem like a better option as it ends the misery. His reasoning for this belief is that while a life may have more negative experiences than positive experiences, it is still “emphatically positive,” (770) as the

    A country singer named Randy Travis once sang in “Three Wooden Crosses”,  “It’s not what you take when you leave this world behind you, it’s what you leave behind you when you go.” This verse gives meaning to my life and defines what I will do when I am gone. A man by the name of Viktor Frankl writes the book, Man’s Search for Meaning. In this novel, Frankl is at one of the dreadful concentration camps during the Holocaust, trying to search for his meaning of life. What gives one meaning to his or her life? One might think they have no purpose in this world however, that is not true. He or she must find the people or concepts that make them happy or give significance to their lives. The meaning of one’s life can be interpreted

What is the meaning of life? Many philosophers and religions have attempted to answer the question of what, if anything, gives an individual a purpose. Nevertheless, contrasting metaphysical interpretations have created a perpetual discussion on the ontology of an individual. Consider western monotheistic ideology, existentialism and nihilism. Western monotheistic ideology outlines the purpose of existence as living to the standard of perfection defined by the religion’s god and exemplified by the religion’s messiah1. Contrarily, Existentialism is based on the proposition of existence coming before purpose: an individual will give himself purpose through his own

There is a key difference between living a meaningless life and a leading a rewarding life with a purpose. In the first case, the goal in life is to work hard to be accepted by the standards of others. As a result, a life will most likely wasted on work that gives no meaning or reward to the person. In the second case, a person can live for their own standards and behave in a way that is enjoyable to themselves. “I too had receiv'd identity by my body, That I was I knew was of my body, and what I should be I knew I should be of my body. . . . About my body for me, and your body for you. . .”

I’ve had several instances through out my life where I think I’m living in a dream and can’t seem to wake up. It’s actually one of the scariest thoughts I’ve ever had. This thought gives my body chills and accelerates my heartbeat the feeling is just alarming. Every time this thought comes up I try and erase it from my memory. Now I’m coming across it again in Nagel’s book “What does it all mean?”. Thomas Nagel writes about many interesting ideas in this novel but some of the more controversial topics deal with the idea how do we know anything?, Freewill, and what is the meaning of life. Some of his ideas in this book I can completely relate to and other ideas are completely irrational and are very hard for me to believe.

So how Nagel thinks about it is that everything end with death we all go on about our life but one day it will all end no matter what. He continues to talk about the real meaning of life his wording gets a little confusing towards the end of the story and but he gives examples that helps me understand what is going on. His argument makes sense Nagel gives very good points and supporting statements for his reasoning he feels very strong about his ways. He wants us to believe that we are incapable of avoiding doubts about the importance or meaning of our lives that the absurdity of our lives should not be treated as a threatening

In the Twilight of the Idols, Friedrich Nietzsche wrote: “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” For millenniums, people sought the meaning of life; devising ideologies and doctrines one after the other, some diametrically opposite to each other, to find the ultimate and absolute purpose of human existence, trying to answer the question of all times: who in the world are human beings? Nonetheless, any possible response goes beyond human understanding; there is still no supreme destination that could be explained in any way but that of faith, hence a way neither provable nor refutable. Once assimilating the complexity of the matter, we’d better stop waiting for the unified solution and focus on setting personal goals and fill their lives with meaning, which would gradually take us to the answer.

We all have a purpose in life. Or we seem to think that we do, but what is our purpose? Who are we, and why are we here? These two questions interrupt our lives often while we question our existence and the deeper meaning of life. We have discovered that religion answers these disconcerting questions. From worldly tradition, we have learned that religion fills those empty gaps in places that we cannot answer our own questions. It creates hope and gives people a meaning and feeling of belonging. Carl Marx describes, “Religion is the opiate of the people.” It makes people forget about inequality and oppression. It is more than a practice or a belief. It is a way of life. Individuals dedicate their entire lives to that of what they focus and put their “faith” in. Religion can be defined, but I do not believe there is an accurate definition that lives up to what religion really means. It can be learned and described, but for one to know religion, they must practice it. Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam are similar and diverse in many aspects, and each of these religions answer the questions “Who am I? Why am I here?” in their own ways.

“Is there an afterlife? Is there a God? How am I supposed to be living my life?”. The answer you get to that question will depend on the person you ask. A Christian’s answer to the questions will be completely opposite of a Buddhist. A major tension point in our world today is religion. There is no single person who will agree with you on every stance you take. Everybody thinks they know how to solve the world’s problems, and everybody thinks they know how to do it best. While you want everyone to see things from your point of view, you will constantly find others disagreeing with you. Disagreeing with one another is a slippery slope into “teeth-and-claw” verbal fighting. We must be able to express our concerns with others in a respectful

What is life, without something to give it meaning? Life without the Atonement of Jesus Christ makes for a problem-filled life. Sometimes people have the wrong idea of what atonement is. Some people know what the Atonement is, but they do not understand the importance to a Christian. Others are unaware of the key connections between the Atonement and other doctrines of the Christian faith. To fully understand what life truly means, we must understand what the Atonement means, know what other people say about it, and what importance Atonement makes in other aspects of Christianity.

The world is one magnificent place and each and every person was put on it to do something and to be something. To find your place in this world is not easy, in fact it is immensely difficult. There are some people who figure out who they are and what they were born to do by the time they graduate highschool, and others who die before they are able to figure this out. There aren’t step-by-step directions that tell you how to live fully and how to make the most out of life. It is an open path that can be taken a number of different ways. Out of the seven billion people in this world, you were born to be someone, not born to try and live another person's life, but to live your own in the distinct ways that describe who you are. It is the way you choose to live that is important. It shows the direction you want to go in order to be the best you can be. I may only be seventeen years young, but I have quite the understanding of life that I would like to share with you.

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

Throughout human existence, people have often contemplated about the meaning of life. Why do we exist? What purpose do we serve as human beings? Who created us? Is there a mission that humans are supposed to complete while alive? Richard Taylor sought out to answer these questions through his paper The Meaning of Life. He particularly uses the myth on Sisyphus and his life throughout the paper to help prove his point.