What is the point of living? If you type this question into Google, you will get many of the following answers: leave a legacy, get rich, love and explore. The one answer that comes up a lot of times is to always be satisfied. We as humans think that we can be satisfied when we have a great career, family, kids, and lots of money. If we look in the bible at the book of Ecclesiastes we can see the story of a man that has everything he can possibly want. I like to call them the three W’s (Wisdom, wealth, women). Although he had all these things he still wasn’t satisfied. In the first verse in Ecclesiastes he starts off by saying “Meaningless! Meaningless!...Everything is meaningless.” Throughout this book we can see that the message is whatever materialistic things we want in life will never fulfill our lives, so we need to look at God and build a relationship with him because only then we will be fulfilled (plus we get to go to heaven). The author put it best “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for that it is the whole duty of everyone” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
The book Ecclesiastes is believed to be written by Solomon around 931 B.C. (Williams, 1995). There are people that believed that the book was written by someone else, and some believe the book was written even later than the original date. If the book was written by Solomon that would mean that he wrote it towards the near end of his life. This is very interesting because it directs our attention towards the audience. The book is written for everyone but I think that it was mostly written for young people. As we are born and grow up, we always hear these words: “Don’t make the same mistake that I made.” Usually this saying is advic...
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...proves evidence that we as people can’t afford to spend our time wasted on silly things that this life has to offer. We will live on this earth for a while and then we are gone and the only thing that will matter in the end is whether we gave our life to the Lord and he was number one in our lives. No riches, women, or fame will matter because we don’t take anything with us when we die. There are only two options (heaven and hell) and how we spend the time on this earth is how our lives our decided.
Ecclesiastes is a very interesting book. Many people disagree with the author and whether the epilogue was supposed to be included or not. That is not the main point that we should look at but instead it should be the message that Solomon is trying to tell us: We don’t have a lot of time on this earth, so we can’t waste the time that we are given by doing crazy things.
Song of Solomon tells the story of Dead's unwitting search for identity. Milkman appears to be destined for a life of self-alienation and isolation because of his commitment to the materialism and the linear conception of time that are part of the legacy he receives from his father, Macon Dead. However, during a trip to his ancestral home, “Milkman comes to understand his place in a cultural and familial community and to appreciate the value of conceiving of time as a cyclical process”(Smith 58).
We see from this passage that Solomon is a loving devoted husband and father. He understands the relationship between a father and his children. Solomon appears through this writings to have been a good father.
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.
Epictetus shows us many instrumental concepts in The Enchiridion. He believes that there is a law that guides all things and that virtue consists in the imminent order of things. Human imperfection and the idea of limit is a realization that many have yet to come to. In addition, caution is valuable when setting out to achieve a goal. It is important to look at all factors before jumping into something that could end up causing one pain and frustration in the end. One must convey a sense of self-control at all times. Epictetus gives us insight on how to live a frugal life. Finally, men are disturbed not by occurrences, but by the views which they take of these happenings. The man of great intelligence accuses neither himself nor another when something goes poorly in his life. As we have seen, it is easy for one to relate Epictetus’ beliefs to his own life in today’s society. It is an amazing feat for Epictetus to have written The Enchiridion so long ago, and for it to apply to our current world.
The most important lesson to learn from Book IV of Virgil’s The Aeneid, it is that one’s emotions are not to be tampered with. Emotions are far more than just simple feelings. For example, an emotional high may send one skipping throughout the halls of a school thinking about that special someone, while a depressing low could result in the contemplation of ending one’s life. To put it simply, emotions are able to dictate the choices we make - for better and for worse. Book IV of The Aeneid illustrates this idea of emotions overpowering morals in numerous ways. The book tells the tale of a crazed queen who lets her feelings for a man lead her spiraling down a dark path - a story that does not stray far from the reality of many. More often than
sometimes in each persons life there is a turning point, a point in time when a revelation is reaveled to you. If you cannot see this revelation sometimes your vision may be clouded over by a voice that may or may not be your own. In the novel, many people are telling san jose to stop listening tom his own voice and folow them. But he knows that is wrong. At Polemarchus' house, Socrates discusses old age with Cephalus, Polemarchus' aging father. Cephalus says that old age is really not as bad as people say it is; if you're a moderate and contented person, your virtue makes old age pleasant. Socrates notes that some would say that it is Cephalus' wealth that makes old age bearable for him. Cephalus says that this is not true, wealth can help someone be virtuous, but it isn't the deciding factor. Cephalus defines just behavior as paying one's debts and speaking truthfully, and notes that wealth does help in these things.
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson-
Personally, the book of Ecclesiastes resonated with me and was a turning point in my life. It introduced the idea to me that since the beginning of man nothing has changed. Our problems and struggles were the same that Abraham or Moses faced. These simple, yet profound, words of the book spoke directly to my ego and confirmed that my struggles in life were not unique. Ecclesiastes was the book that started my journey with Jesus. Similarly, the testimony of the sufferers that these two books provide is one that has a great impact on the modern day
“What is the meaning of life?” This question is something that likely everyone has at least pondered. There is an abundance of theories about what the meaning of life is. Non- philosophers tend to consider it to be life’s greatest question. Philosophers, however, tend to stray from the question, as they believe that it is either not a clear enough question to be answered, or that it simply does not have an answer at all (Seachris). The meaning of life is different for everyone. Everyone has both a specific and a general purpose in life, given to them at the beginning of time by God, and the meaning of life is to fulfill those purposes. The specific purpose is personalized to each individual, and each person is liable to have multiple specific
Each person has a purpose, whether that’s saving lives, discovering new technology, or enhancing the minds of the next generation. That is what makes our world so diverse. Every human being has a different calling in life and our purpose cannot be determined by anyone but ourselves. The one purpose or duty that I think all humans may share is happiness or Eudaimonia. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Eudaimonia is “usually translated as happiness or flourishing”. No matter what purpose or duty a person has, I think we all just want to be happy and content with our lives and what we do.
The purpose and meaning of my life is…to fulfill my life as a child of God. I have always been a religious person. My decisions and actions are guided by a moral compass and by the Ten Commandments. I believe in an ultimate and absolute truth that governs all humans. This is my meaningful philosophy of life that has been encouraged by my parents. After being confirmed, I took it upon myself to try to make this philosophy more guided by my own internal beliefs, and less to do with my parent’s expectations. I traveled on some youth retreats to find the center of my beliefs, and God guided me to answers. I now hold and can defend my beliefs and morals very close to my heart.
If one would recognize the greatest things we have in life, they would not be asking this question. These great things are faith, hope, and love. Faith is the one that can keep one from asking questions. If God wanted us to know something, then we would know it. In most religions, Christian ones in particular, the question of meaning in life is inextricably wrapped up in a relationship with God. Living in, for, with, and through him. Therefore, how one answers the meaning of life question bears directly the existence of God.
I believe that, in general, life purpose is not to be happy. It is to be useful, honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference, and to know you have lived and lived well. We were put on this earth to achieve our greatest self, which we cannot do without the assistance of God. A relationship with Him is the only thing that will quench our souls longing, find peace within ourselves, and be the best we can be in the short amount of time that we
Human life is absurd and there is no universal meaning, but humanity suffers from this inevitable fact so they try to find meaning through various created purposes to feel significant in their life. The absurdity of life is one of the biggest issues of philosophy because of the consequences it can cause in peoples lives. As human beings we desire purpose, meaning and order in life. Without the content of a meaningful life we feel lost and strive to find something that gives us meaning. We are all suffering from this unattainable goal to find a meaningful life. Albert Camus and Thomas Nagel agree with the fact that life is absurd but disagree on the right approach to life after realizing that life is without meaning.
The point is to keep living life how I want to live. Nobody should have to live their life in a forceful way, but it happens. The freedom to choose how I want to live my life should always be the point of being here. It is why God placed us here. Being here and living your life is filling the holes of daily activities that God hoped we do. I find this theoretically to be the purpose of living. Humans will fill the holes of being kind to each other and being mean to each other. Humans will find ways to harm each other and they will find ways to love each other. Humans will be greedy and they will be giving. Humans are always fulfilling the daily duties of the laws of life. “Deism is the recognition of a universal creative force greater than that demonstrated by mankind, supported by personal observation of laws and designs in nature and the universe”. From www.deism.com, the source defines Deism as god is leaving us and telling me there is a purpose of why I am here, but I have to figure it out. I share the ideas of Deism because we are living here with a purpose. My system is like this because I was born and raised to realize this was my destiny. I realized over time, the lectures I heard, the various quotes and my surroundings have determined my personality and destiny. ”There is no abstract nature that one is destined to fill. Instead, each of us simply is in the world; what we will be is then entirely up to us”. From www.philosophypages.com, this