“The whole point of knowledge is to produce both meaning and purpose in our personal lives. To what extend do you agree with this statement?” To effectively answer that question, we must first differentiate between meaning and purpose in life and define knowledge. Firstly, knowledge is justified true belief (Organization, 2013). The meaning of life can be defined as the reason for the creation of one’s life, whereas the purpose of life can be defined as an individual’s mission during their life. One’s purpose and meaning in life may be mainly based on personal knowledge, the gained knowledge through experience and personal involvement (Organization, 2013). By examining the human sciences and religious knowledge systems, knowledge might …show more content…
The knowledge and belief that there is no immortality frees us from the fear of death, frees us from the fear of eternal punishment in places such as Hell or the Underworld and lets us live for the physical and emotional pleasures in life. For example, Epicureanism denies the existence of eternal life and states that the soul lives only as long as the physical body (Russell, 1946). Therefore, since there is no life after death, there is no need to fear death. Epicureans have a “carpe diem” approach to life since they do not believe in the afterlife and must live in the moment. Although they only believe there is no afterlife and do not know if it exists or not, they are still able to create meaning and purpose in their lives despite their lack of certainty of the existence of the afterlife, which is one way meaning and purpose in life can be determined but is not limited to it. Their purpose and meaning in life is to seize the day because they will not have the chance after death. This example shows that when we believe that something does not exist, but do not know whether or not it does or does not actually exist we can still have meaning and purpose in our personal lives. In the case of Epicureanism, it is more the lack of knowledge of the existence of the afterlife that motivates them to live in the moment, giving them purpose and meaning in their
Our knowledge is a key to our success and happiness in our life to give us personal satisfaction. Knowledge is power but not always. Sometimes our self-awareness and growth as an individual gives us negative thoughts that make us want to go back to undo it. Everyone wants to unlearn a part in our life that brought us pain and problems. Good or bad experiences brought by true wisdom can be used for our self-acceptance, self-fulfillment and these experiences would make us stronger as we walk to the road of our so called “life”, but Douglas’s and my experience about knowledge confirmed his belief that “Knowledge is a curse”. Both of us felt frustrated and sad from learning knowledge.
Knowledge is a fundamental component of being human. The ability to comprehend information, apply it to the future as well as understand the past, is remarkable. Without knowledge, there could be no critical thinking, empathy, or technological progress. This is an incredible ingredient of our makeup that touches every aspect of human life, and arguably the ingredient that makes us human. The great scholars and philosophers have understood this for thousands of years and have documented as such in their works. From the Biblical Genesis, which is said to represent the first humans, to popular fables, Homer’s Odyssey, and Dante’s Inferno, this message is made clear. Knowledge is the key construct that defines man
Knowledge is defined as information and skills one acquires through experience or education. There is; however, a certain knowledge than cannot be certain and is unjustifiable from the scientific perspective. Karen Armstrong, Robert Thurman, and Azar Nafisi wrote about this type of knowledge in their essays: “Homo Religiosus,” “Wisdom,” and “Reading Lolita in Tehran,” respectively. Each of these authors has a different view of what knowledge is exactly, how it can be achieved, and what it means to have achieved it, but each author takes on the view that the concept of knowledge should be viewed from a social stance. Armstrong refers to this uncertain knowledge as “myth,” Thurman refers to it as “wisdom,” and Nafisi refers to it as “upsilamba";
Terror management theory (TMT) asserts that human beings have natural tendency for self-preservation if there is threat to one’s well–being (Greenberg, Solomon, & Pyszczynski, 1997). It notes that we are the cultural animals that pose self-awareness on the concept of past and future, as well as the understanding that one day we will die. We concern about our life and death but aware that it is unexpected by everything. The worse matter is that we become aware of our vulnerability and helplessness when facing death-related thoughts and ultimate demise (Pyszczynski & Greenberg, 1992). The inevitable death awareness or mortality salience provides a ground for experiencing the existential terror, which is the overwhelming concern of people’s mortality and existence. In order to avoid the continued existence of threats, people need faith in a relatively affirmative and plausive cultural worldview and meaning of life (Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1995). Cultural worldview is a perceptual construction in the society which explaining the origins of life and the existence of afterlife. We have to invest a set of cultural worldviews by ourselves that are able to provide meaning, stability and order to our lives and to offer the promise of death transcendence (Solomon, Greenberg, & Pyszczynski, 2004). On the other hand, we hold a belief that one is living up to the standards of value prescribed by that worldview and social norm shared by a group of people. This belief is derived by self-esteem of individual. We maintain the perception and confident that we are fulfilling the cultural prescriptions for value in the society and are thus eligible for some form of personal immortality (Landau & Greenberg, 2006). We Together with the assump...
Religion is an organized collection of beliefs and cultural systems that entail the worship of a supernatural and metaphysical being. “Religion just like other belief systems, when held onto so much, can stop one from making significant progress in life”. Together with religion come traditions that provide the people with ways to tackle life’s complexities. A subscription to the school of thought of great scholars
Lonegran states that being human means having an unlimited number of questions regarding life and the universe; in order to answer these questions many turn to religion. Religion has traditionally been a major force in humanity’s search for meaning. Religi...
‘Death, the most frightening of bad things, is nothing to us; since when we exist death is not yet present, and when death is present, then we do not exist’ (Epicurus)
"Knowledge, Truth, and Meaning." Cover: Human Knowledge: Foundations and Limits. Web. 17 Feb. 2011. .
It is a customary norm in modern times to strive for greater knowledge in hopes of improving oneself with beneficial insights on the world or to improve the world. To what degree is the cap for knowledge? Knowledge is infinite, but once the good of the world is known, the only thing left to know is the wrongful tragedies. The accumulation of knowledge ultimately leads to sorrow and misery as people distance themselves from the human aspects to achieve happiness. Throughout history, humans have always grouped themselves with like-minded people in which they share a common culture, tradition, and knowledge.
Human life is full of meaning. As humans, we assign value to many things. However, what happens when we assign a specific value to a human life? This is the issue being presented in the article, “What is a Life Worth,” by Amanda Ripley. The government is determining a monetary value to a human life, and it does not appeal to the masses. There are many problems with the cold calculation, and most people cannot see the other side of the numbers. The economic value of a human life is calculated based on the income the person was receiving, but when the check is given to a loved one of a small amount, the compensation is misinterpreted as an overall value of the human life. The true value of a human life should not be combined with the monetary value that is determined by the government, or the value of life would be worth very little.
Religious people have a belief in a type of knowledge which sometimes appears to transcend reason. Religious knowledge is often obtained through faith because it is difficult to experience it through human senses. In Christianity, the Bible is the main source to guide people’s morals but the Bible often contains empirical information that has been produced and constructed for many centuries. Through the knowledge of God’s teachings, most Christians learn about the virtues of life and define good and evil. It is difficult to prove or disprove religious knowledge through reason because it often depends on faith.
The quest for knowledge and learning has been occuring since the creation of mankind. Ever since the serpent in the Garden of Eden tempted Eve to eat the forbidden apple from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, promising she would wise as the gods, man has been battling with this endless pursuit. Some men want wisdom so that they may be able to live a good and righteous life. Other men want only the power that knowledge can bring them, to use it for their own sinful purposes.
Discoveries have been made by individuals using the successes and failures of other individuals to shape their own knowledge and improve treatment methods. The differences among individuals with different religious backgrounds can also shape personal knowledge. Conflicts which lean toward a certain faith can tarnish that faith if people are not willing to fully comprehend the situation as well as the actual belief system. In order for shared knowledge to have any impact on personal knowledge, there must first be shared knowledge. People must be willing to share the personal knowledge which they have gained only from their personal experience. Once that knowledge is shared, people must then be willing to accept it, so consequently it can then shape their personal knowledge, which then will help the world continue to progress and
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
Death is something that causes fear in many peoples lives. People will typically try to avoid the conversation of death at all cost. The word itself tends to freak people out. The thought of death is far beyond any living person’s grasp. When people that are living think about the concept of death, their minds go to many different places. Death is a thing that causes pain in peoples lives, but can also be a blessing.