The Meaning of Life Since the beginning of human history, we have used logic and reasoning in order to explain why things happen and to advance ourselves. This desire to understand and comprehend is always present. We are constantly striving to search for purpose and meaning in everything we do in our lives. We need reason and purpose in order to do anything just like we need a reason to continue living. Otherwise, our lives may become meaningless. I believe the meaning of life is to find what is true to you using your own personal experiences and philosophies. Without reason, there is no meaning. Living a meaningless life would be depressing, difficult and dangerous. Nihilists believe life has no meaning because life does not have cosmic significance. They choose not to search for personal meaning; therefore, all purposive behavior is eliminated. "Nihilism is a swirling black hole of nothingness, strangely attractive but also terribly frightening to those who struggle to find the meaning of life" (Shrader 19). I tend to agree with the existential point of view that life can have meaning even though it may not have any significance in the grander scheme of things. With reason and purpose to go on in life, it is much harder to be swallowed by the black hole of nihilism. Life is a quest for meaning. "Life can be meaningful in a subjectively satisfying sense even if our lives (and values) quickly fade into an indifferent nothingness, unnoticed by the cosmos" (Shrader 19). We must search inward in order to find the meaning of life. Beauty is within oneself and within this beauty is the answer. The meaning of life has nothing to do with material possessions or social status. Money does not equal happiness. Of course, there is no one correct answer to the meaning of life. Everyone's perception is unique and this provides for numerous views on life's meaning. It is different for everyone and constantly changing. Even in death, the meaning of your life can change. Due to this, we can never know the real meaning of life; all we can do is look within to find our own personal purposes. We advance ourselves through logic and reasoning, which in turn helps us to find direction and meaning in life.
Finding a meaning to life and to nature is something all people try to do, but is there really a correct answer? Maybe the purpose to life is actually finding the purpose to life, or it might just be to enjoy living and all the experiences that come with it. Douglas Adams, the author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, brings this up in his novel. Throughout the book, the theme nature and its meaning is shown through the knowledge that the main character accumulates.
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."
Again, I believe Taylor is missing some important feature to his theory. It seems he is correct in stating one should have their own sense of meaning to their life not just others’ perception that one’s life is meaningful. However, there is still the problem of giving equal meaning to everyone life that is doing what they love to do. As a result, to answer this problem one could suggest in order for one to have a meaningful life a person must be subjectively fulfilled by pursuing objectively valuable ends. This way it ensures the person must find meaning in their own lives as well as creating something that benefits many that will give others the perception the person has a meaningful life.
"People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. I think that what we're seeking is an experience of being alive...." Joseph Campbell made this comment on the search for meaning common to every man's life. His statement implies that what we seem bent on finding is that higher spark for which we would all be willing to live or die; we look for some key equation through which we might tie all of the experiences of our life and feel the satisfaction of action toward a goal, rather than the emptiness which sometimes consumes the activities of our existence. He states, however, that we will never find some great pure meaning behind everything, because there is none. What there is to be found, however, is the life itself. We seek to find meaning so that emptiness will not pervade our every thought, our every deed, with the coldness of reality as the unemotional eye chooses to see it. Without color, without joy, without future, reality untouched by hope is an icy thing to view; we have no desire to see it that way. We forget, however, that the higher meaning might be found in existence itself. The joy of life and the experience of living are what make up true meaning, as the swirl of atoms guided by chaotic chance in which we find our existence has no meaning outside itself.
Many people wonder: what is the meaning of life? What is the human purpose on this earth? At least one time in our lifetime, we all look at ourselves and wonder if we are living our lives the way we were meant to live them. Sadly, there is not a definite answer to the principles of human life. Every human comes from different backgrounds and different experiences throughout their existence.
Man, by nature, is always searching for meaning. From the Atheistic approach, he must search for it without divinity. With divinity, only humanity and commonplace is present. Equipped only with everything – broad, yes, but accurate – man must content himself with what is available to him. This does not complicate things, nor make them trivial, it rather makes them quite simple. If your life has meaning, it is worth living. It is still meaning as it is still driving you forward and still causing you to better yourself, it just so happens that it is also commonplace. Existentialism thrives on the commonplace as it creates a system in which freedom of choice and abundancy of self-reliance is available. This is the true definition of subjectivism, though critics of Sartre will
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).
but without happiness it will be meaningless. Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole
For majority of life I’ve gone through the motions and have done as I have been told to do. Naïve and ignorant to how amazing life really is and refusing to question how things work or what my true purpose is other then surviving. For centuries there have been numerous philosophers to question what our purpose is and have developed different theories to help us get as close as we possibly can to finding the meaning of life. One thing I’ve learned since opening my eyes to the reality of the world is that in our lifetime the closest thing we will have is theories and ideas but we will never know the true meaning of life.
What is the meaning of life? How does it affect the way I think? A reader might ask themselves this question at least once, if not multiple times, over the course of their life. This question is the beginning of exploration into philosophy. A reader might believe there is a God or that aliens exist and this too is a form of a philosophy. First a person must understand philosophy, then looking specifically into two forms such as Realism and Idealism, and finally different forms of educational philosophy.
(Crowell). Ironically the authors, directors and poets would deny that they are existentialists, because they are existentialists. (Corbett) The authors continued showing features that furthered the belief of their movement. In their eyes, people are free and must take it upon themselves to make rational decisions in a chaotic universe. Existentialists believe that there is nothing more to life since life has no purpose. (Corbett) Life is just where we are right now but we have no real impact to others or this earth. It is all the same if we were dead as if we were alive. This often comes as a realization to existentialist people and often present in existentialist literature about the “reality” of life.The question comes down to, do all human beings believe that they matter in life? This question challenges existentialist belief since life has no purpose. (Corbett) How can we matter in this life if one of the main themes in existentialism is that we have no purpose, it is quite
Before I start discussing the three selected philosophers, it is necessary to make clear what we are talking about. Especially because the ‘meaning of life’ has come in so many versions throughout history, it is good to start with some attempt at definition. Generally, when people speak about the meaning of life, they point at the purpose of the human life, ...
I have always been to asking myself what is meaning of life? or what I supposed to do ? or what I have to achieve? . Meaning of life what 's you have been given? what you have given by different kind of human? Or what I believe or what I do not believe in life .Everybody have Meaning of life it depends between person to person, I found myself when I was young because my parents always talk about experience in their life.Throughout my entire life ,I have wondered about the significance meaning of life that has beneficial for the people, because the life is beginning odds and ending odds .Even though struggle of life, I believe meaning of life are ,regional ,ambition, participate ,achievement ,and happiness .Due to this, I
Almost every human being is faced with the philosophy of their meaning of life; why they were placed in the setting they are in and what they feel the need to accomplish in their lifetime. Because this question is such a broad, vastly fully unanswerable one, it can be argued that characters in fiction often try and find meaning based on the setting, or environment they find themselves in. Characters might often find themselves on journeys to sudden epiphany, typically in their immediate or close setting in hopes to answer that big question about themselves. Having said that, the meaning of life is always perceived on the basis of opinion, on what the character finds true to themselves, or what we as readers find true to them. Some come to create and realize their own personal meaning, others are ultimately given a meaning with no real personal insight, while others choose to forget the meaning of a real life and find meaning in a secret life. Although it may not be a question needing an answer to many, it is still one that exists. Though there will never be one encompassing answer that relates to all of lifes situations, it is an answer completely reflecting the life journey we took to reach it.
Happiness can come in different forms for each person. Some people dream of achieving great wealth to buy everything they ever wanted. Others may find simple tasks such as, reading a book, to make them happy. There are people who find happiness by making others happy, whether it’d be, feeding the homeless, or giving random compliments to strangers. I think that most people would agree that the purpose of life is happiness. There are several things that bring happiness to my world, which include, family, health, and laughter, among other things. Accomplishments can also bring happiness to people, which is what many people strive for during their lives. It can be a promotion, diploma, house, etc. It is usually something that is challenging,