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The importance of human life and society
The importance of human life and society
The importance of human life and society
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Meaning to Life
Is there a meaning to life? First, to clear up any misunderstandings in the next few paragraphs you are about to read, I shall explain a few things. I am not talking about the individual people in our lives, that mean so much to us, or individual lives. That is a whole other matter. What I mean by the "meaning of life", is the greater picture. There are people all over the world, doing their own thing, living their own lives, in their own areas. Is there a point to this? The people themselves, benefit from learning and having experiences while they're alive, but then they die, and all they have accomplished, ends. Then the process begins all over again with the next generation. So one purpose for life is established. We are here to reproduce. It has been genetically coded into us, and with little prompting, we continue to produce tiny versions of ourselves. But, is there a POINT to this? Well, I solemnly believe not. Some people say the point of life, is to have fun and make others happy. Righto then. Sure, that's a good thing to do, I don't disagree with that. But in terms of the big picture, what does it exactly accomplish? A person lives their life, has fun, and perhaps has the knack of making lots of other people happy in the process, then that person dies. And so eventually, do all the other people they brought happiness to. And through different generations come people who have the same philosophy....same thing, just happening later in time, with different people. Nothing has been accomplished...So, this obviously cannot be the point of life, unless it's inventor has the same intellect as that of pond scum. I would like to think otherwise, so I am interested in finding another answer. Other people belie...
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...ncept of a meaning to life (I'm not talking about them giving love to their owners...but the bigger picture). Would you prefer to know there was no big plan, and have your bubble burst, or would it be better for you not to know at all? I say, it's better to know. Then, you can get on with doing other things. You might say it makes no difference, but with intellect, you have the capacity to do different, and more challenging things with the understanding that you stand alone in this world, unique and irreplacable. I hope I have not upset anyone terribly with my thoughts on the matter. I am comfortable with my conclusions, am happy with my life, and do not need counselling. *indignant* There is a point to day to day life, but with the 'big-picture' major faults and queries just jump out at me. Perhaps a little disappointed at the lack of celestial preparation, but....
The book I decided to read is called Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl. He wrote this book because of what he went through while in the concentration camps. He told about how it psychologically messed with his mind and how he used his education in psychology to make it through what he was going through. The main idea of the book is to show people that you have to have a meaning to life. A person has to find the meaning in life, love, and suffering. This book taught me how to search for the meaning of my life, love, and sufferings.
Richard Taylor, an American philosopher and author of, “The Meaning of Life” believes you can live a meaningful life as long as you realize your will and are completely involved in it and enjoy it, then you are no longer needed and your life was a successful one. “This is surely the way to look at all of life- at one’s own life, and each day and moment it contains; of the life of a nation; of the species; of the life of the world; and of everything that breathes” (Taylor p 27). He proves this through the ancient myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphus was sentenced by the Gods to spend an eternity rolling a stone repeatedly to the top of a hill and once it reached the top, it would roll right back down once again. Taylor calls Sisyphus’ life as an “endless pointlessness.” Taylor relates human life to Sisyphus’ life. He believes that both of our lives can have meaning. Taylor asks us to look at Sisyphus’ story in a different way. For example, while the Gods sentenced him to rolling this stone up a hill for an eternity, what if they gave him a “strange and irrational impulse” to roll the stone repeatedly. Now, according to Richard Taylor, Sisyphus’ life would now have meaning and if we were to be as invested as Sisyphus in rolling the stone, then our lives have meaning as well.
"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.
In “Meaning of Life”, Richard Taylor begins with questioning the meaning of life. He mentions this is rather hard to do and decides to define what meaninglessness is in order to understand the exact opposite: meaningfulness. Taylor asks the reader to recall the famous myth of Sisyphus to come about the definition of meaninglessness. He states that Sisyphus was condemned to roll a large boulder up a hill, only to have that boulder roll back down the hill, forcing him to repeat the task forever. Despite all his efforts, his existence amounts to nothing more than endlessly repeating the same task, which itself contributes to no greater goal or purpose. This, Taylor suggests, is the very image of meaninglessness. He defines meaninglessness as the following: “Meaninglessness is essentially endless pointlessness, and meaningfulness is therefore the opposite” (270).
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."
To define one's purpose is at the very least human nature and at the very most the meaning of life. Humans seek the significance of existence and try to define it in many ways. There are thousands of religions and countless seminars to help people discover the point of human existence. The idea that we may all be irrelevant in the grand scheme of life or to the universe is not a popular position. In his short story "The Open Boat" Stephen Crane shows a universe that is unconcerned with the struggles of four men within a small boat lost at sea. Through the characters' experiences Crane shows the human struggle to survive as viewed in a naturalistic perspective as opposed to other prevalent 19th Century concepts.
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.
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).
A belief in God is an important part of many people’s lives. How does God, as an important human construct make a difference when determining the meaning of life? The western religions believe their scriptures are the direct word of God. Hence they use them as the authoritative source for many facets of life. Eastern religions tend to treat their scriptures as interpretations by humans, yet still many of life’s mysteries are accepted at truth in their scriptures. So should these scriptures be a foundation for the meaning of life? Also, what if we assume there is some sort of God but there is no answer to which one is the right one. Does it matter to our purpose in life if there is a God which we cannot identify? These are important questions that this essay will postulate on. As God and religious scriptures are important to many people, they cannot be discounted but should be looked at with a objective eye.
The meaning of life is a very confusing question but to be able to answer it you must realize that it differs for everyone. There is never only one real answer. Everyday it can change for each individual. Everyone has their own way of living; they have their own thoughts and beliefs so therefore each persons answer to the meaning of life will be their own private version.
The abstract idea of life cannot be explained by such simple ideas as being animated, breathing, or speaking. Ordinary machines in this century can perform all of these basic functions. The quandary with defining death is not as abstract and elusive as that of life. The problem of defining life and death has plagued philosophers and the religious bodies for thousands of years for one reason; each philosophy or religion has tried to define the meaning of life and death from only their certain perspective. The seemingly appropriate approach to this problem would be to understand the ideas presented in various philosophies and religions and through this knowledge create a new definition for each idea of life and death. The movie Blade Runner has taken this exact approach in its attempt to finally define life and death in a logical and un-spiritual manner. By taking the position that death is a concrete idea that can be explained, Blade Runner accomplishes the task of interpreting the idea of life in terms death. Through this approach, the meaning of life is redefined to accommodate for the existence of the replicants. Also, as a result of this novel notion of life, it is apparent that humans and replicants never actually live, even though they are alive.
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
I truly believe that every single person in the world has a purpose in life. God created each and every one of us for a reason. Whether we know it or not our life is planned and we follow a path throughout our life. In this path, we have the option to make good decisions or bad decisions. In order to achieve salvation and enter a virtuous after life we had to do deeds that had a positive impact on other people. In order to do this though, one must have the self-discipline and devotion to God. There are many obstacles that can get in the way of achieving this goal and the main one is our desires. Desire is a strong feeling of something we want or wish to have. Our desire negatively impacts our life because it detaches our body both physically and emotionally from our mind which then influences us to make morally wrong decisions.
Life itself has no meaning, but human beings define it. When talking about goals, every person has unlimited goals. Some of them are short term such as receiving a high GPA this year, and some are long term such as working in a specific company in the next five years. However, what I mention about is those goals that people are willing to spend their lifetime, sometimes even their lives, to pursue. For example, Kung Fu masters are willing to keep training themselves until the end of their life, scientist is more likely to focus on their topic throughout their life, and those people whose countries are invaded will treat union as their life goal. After people setting their life goals, everything they do is for being closer to their goals. Achieving life goals is just for achieving, not for other thing such as happiness, although happiness always comes with accomplishment and happiness itself can be a life
Many people have a stage in their life when they stop for a moment and think “what am I here to do?”. For me that stage in life had arrived a long time ago. I was about fourteen years old, I felt alone, I felt scared, but most of all I felt useless I didn't know in what direction my life was going. I kept asking the Lord to show me, to lead me to what he wants me do to and to shape me into who he wants me to be. When I say purpose most people think about the career I want to have, while having a career is important to me. I feel like that still doesn't complete my purpose. I want to do more for us, for humanity, for our future. I believe my ultimate purpose in life is to help people in need of attention and affection. I think that the Lord has put me through difficult obstacles in life so that I could help the people that went through or are going through the same things that I have left in my past. My motivation for doing this is first of all is knowing that this is what God wants me to do, and knowing that he is blessing me. And then of course is helping the people, seeing their smiles and telling them that they are not alone and that I understand them. And will help them with whatever I can. What I do to achieve my purpose is that I go to many centers, and meet people, mostly children that have been through any kind of abuse.