Freud, like Newton and Darwin, did not consider himself to be a philosopher but had an enormous influence over philosophy, he believed that to consider the question: “what is the meaning of life?” is a waste of time. The question, he thought, is rather meaningless and has no ultimate answer, asking it is being somewhat like asking what the color of time is (Mason). There are serious arguments that can be advanced in support of this point of view, especially if we agree that meaning is not something inherent to events, things, and other processes and so on, but something we ascribe to them (Mason). To think otherwise would involve ascribing them something that is a product of our intellect and consciousness. The meaning of X, whether X is an event, a thing, or a process, is actually the connection or a set of those connections X has with other events, things, and processes and so on, which we choose to consider to be of particularly importance to us (Mason). This is why the same events have different meaning for different people. For a Chinese, be he a Communist or an anti-Communist, the meaning of the war in Korea is that it marks the end of a century of national humiliation and a permanent threat of devastation through a long series of military defeats by foreign powers; for an American, the meaning of that very same war is that it put an end to the attempts to expand by direct milita... ... middle of paper ... ...ast majority do not worry too much about what great minds have in mind, but just live their lives as they best can according to their own, petty, senseless wishes and notions (Metz): work their gardens, even if they never heard of Voltaire, and whether they know that Freud existed or not, do not waste their humble intellectual potential trying to answer a question that has no answer (Metz). The rest is a senseless waste of time, “Primum vivere, deindre filosofare”, and if you spend too much time and effort philophizing, you will have no time nor energy to live, which involves earning money to pay the bills. As to the great eternal and fundamental questions, let’s leave them to professional philosophers whom society pays to do this specific job, as it pays plumbers to do the plumbing, scientists to explore nature, nurses to help the sick, the clowns to entertain us.
The big question. No not that, the other one. The "what happens to us after life" question. It is something that has intrigued people everywhere. It has prompted the beliefs and semantics of different cultures all around the world. It started wars, divided people, and now dictates how we are all to act. "We should do this, we should do that. If we don't, we will be punished." I, for one, am tired of it. By all means, think what you will. But this is my writing, and you will have to open your mind to my thinking if you wish to continue. If you do wish to continue, I will be brutaly honest in what I think. There will be no sugar-coating in this oppinionated essay of mine.
In 1900 , an Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud produced a work entitled The Interpretation of Dreams, reviewing the idea that dreams allow psychic examination, that the dreams that are happening contain some sort of psychological meaning which can be brought on by interpretation. Freud says that every dream will release itself as a emotional structure, full of importance, and one which may be assigned to a designated place in the psychic activities. According to Freud's original thoughts dreams have two contents, a manifest content which is the dream that one actually experiences and a hidden content which is the meaning of the dream as discovered by interpretation.
In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl utilizes his nightmarish experiences as a prisoner in a concentration camp to develop his philosophical and psychological theory, logotherapy. A significantly existential theory, logotherapy deals primarily with the importance meaning in life. Frankl notes meaning’s ability to “differ from man to man, and from moment to moment” (77). In other words, he posits the individuality of meaning and presents it as unique to each person. Additionally, Frankl establishes the significant importance of meaning to a person’s survival.
Born in 1856 in a small European town, Sigmund Freud would grow to be one of the most important thinkers in recorded history. From a young age, he attempted to understand the human mind and explain its tendencies. In doing so, he successfully managed to make countless enemies and critics. His ideas in response to the puzzles of human existence often conflicted with those of his audience, and I am in this number. In his novel Civilization and Its Discontents, Freud presents theories on happiness, none of with which I agree.
For generations mankind has tried to answer the question about their purpose here on earth and tried to explain human behavior. In their written works, Freud and Nietzsche develop independent hypotheses about the evolution of civilization from its beginning, and similarly assess the unintentional effects caused by society on an individual’s life.
The universe, and what it means to be alive is almost impossible to define; yet that does not stop humanity from trying. “Lonergan’s philosophy of the human person reveals that being human means having an unlimited number and variety of questions about life and the universe.” (Morgan, 1996). There is no limit on the number and variety of questions the human person will ask, "the most subversive people are those who ask questions” (Gaarder), as a result there are many varied and opinionated answers. This essay will explore three different theories on how one might find answers to life's ultimate questions. At one point or another, every human being has asked the question why: Why am I here? What is my purpose? What is the point? It is in our nature as human beings to reason, to think, to ask, it is what separates us from the rest of creation, and with this ability to reason, we are left with one question: Why? Throughout history many have tried to answer this question, some have come to the conclusion that meaning is found through God, and one’s faith. Others feel that life begins meaningless, and it is up to the individual to give life meaning; then there are those who believe that life has no meaning, and we are all essentially, just waiting to die, "The meaning of life is that it ends." (Kafka).
Everything in this world has an identity and a meaning. A meaning for why it was created, a meaning for what it is and a meaning for why it is physically where it is. Just take a second to stop and think. Think about all of the objects that are around us every single day. If each one of us is put in the same room and asked to explain what we see, just about all of us will be able to give an explanation. We all will be able to explain what we see, but not every explanation is going to be the same. Not every person is going to see everything someone else sees and not every person is going to explain something in the same way everyone else does. There aren’t interpretations carved in stone for every object telling us what is right. Every person
Most of philosophy deals with the ÒselfÓ. People are always trying to find out who they are; why theyÕre here; or how things relate to them. All of our lives are spent on a road of self discovery, seeing what the world has to offer us, and where our place really is. If we were to actually look closely, we would see that
''The best way of approaching philosophy is to ask a few philosophical questions: How was the world created? Is there any will or meaning behind what happens? Is there a life after death? How can we answer these questions? And most important, how ought we to live?'' (Gaarder, Jostein 15)
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy” (Shakespeare II.i.166-67). So Hamlet tells Horatio when he marvels at the spectre of the ghost. Hamlet is telling his friend that science and natural philosophy can only account for so much. A point comes when humans cannot rationalize or prove certain events. In Paradise Lost , Raphael tells Adam similar sentiments when Adam questions him on the nature of the universe in Book VIII. However, Raphael goes on to warn Adam not to ponder deeply things that he can never know fully. This type of curiosity and desire for learning only leads to sin.
It is evident that the meaning of life has to far to complex for any one to fully understand or agree on the same answer. All these ideas of these different philosophers are not necessarily inaccurate, just incomplete. All pieces to a puzzle that one has no way of fully figuring out. No one has seemed to accomplish this yet in life. There are so many obstacles that we face as we try to achieve a higher good. Many of these are based in the fact that we are human beings, and because of that are flawed by the ways of our culture. Things such as self-doubt, worry, ignorance, and the values put into our heads since the day we were born all are roadblocks on our way to a higher level. Also being human beings makes vulnerable to the ways of the world around us, so it is not easy to block these things out of our lives. This life is a stage in which we are to develop our minds, bodies, and souls to their highest potential in preparation for the afterlife. Only God could ever really show anyone true meaning.
The meaning of life is not an easy thing to talk about. It depends on the person that you are. Life is a clear slate and we are free to put any meaning we want to the word. Life does not have a certain meaning. Whatever we want life to mean is what it will mean to us. We are focused too much on putting a definition on every little thing that we can’t accept the fact that something does not have a meaning to it. It is not necessarily bad that life does not have a meaning. Life not having a meaning means that it is too difficult to define. Life is like an unsolvable math problem. In the end it is still considered a math problem, but it’s just unsolvable. Life is the same way. Life is life, but not one individual can define life perfectly. It’s too difficult to define.
According to Freud, conflict is produced in each individual by the demands of his construct as he tries to meet the requirements that civilization imposes. The conflict, ultimately, is solved, but at the expense of each individual's happiness. For Freud, happiness is the purpose of life. He also sees that the purpose of life is the program of the pleasure principle. The pleasure principle is that humans seek to attain happiness because it is the absence of pain and displeasure, and happiness evokes strong feelings of pleasure. He writes,
Everyone looks at the work of a philosopher and is confused at first, but if you really look at that piece of work you would understand it.
The term “philosophy” means the love of wisdom, and those that study philosophy attempt to gain knowledge through rationality and reason. 1 Socrates, the father of ancient philosophy, once stated “the unexamined life is not worth living”. This is the most important part of life and it is need to find purpose and value in life. If a person chooses to live their life without examination, their life would lack value and they would be unhappy. They would also be ignorant to the effects of their choices on themselves and the people around them.