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What is the meaning of life? Essay
What is the meaning of life
What is the meaning of life
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Why does it matter if you have a meaningful life or a meaningless life? Why can’t we just be happy, enjoy our life and accept who we are? Classifying ourselfs for having a meaningful life or a meaningless life does not solve any problem and causes confusion and frustration. You will never be happy if all you do is search for what your meaning in life contains and you will never live if all you do is search for the answer because the answer that you are looking for is not easily found. You cannot find the answer to what makes a life meaningful or meaningless because it is something that truly does not matter. Everyone wants to find their meaning in life but its not something that you can search for. Some think that making money to support a family or being successful will make your life meaningful. But why can’t you just enjoy your life and let the meaning …show more content…
The first principle is that they must be actively engaged. The second principle is that you must be engaged in or with a project that has value. Wolf says you need to be active and engaged in life for your life to have meaning. Which I personally think is false. You do not have to be active or engaged in projects with value. Anything can put meaning into your life and it doesn’t have to involve projects. As long as you are happy with who you are, then you have a meaning. Some people may be shy so they do not put themselves out there but it doesn’t make them meaningless. It simply makes them who they are. If being active makes people happy then that will be their meaning in life, not everyone has to be active to have a meaningful life. She thinks that a life is meaningless if it lacks active engagement when it comes to anything. A meaningful life is not something that you can define or show by being actively engaged in projects and it does not make you a less of a person. If you are happy with what you are doing, then that is your meaning in
In the excerpt from The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert this was shown to us by the Alma, Henry Whitaker's daughter. She observed something that was more thrilling than anything she has ever seen and because she asked to be apart of, she was allowed to be a part of something meaningful to her. An individuals has the power to create a meaningful life if they strive for what they value in life, because if they don’t try as hard as they could they will not be able to live a purposeful life.
Susan Wolf, born in 1952, is widely considered one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th and 21st century. One of Wolf’s most renowned works is The meanings of Lives, which drew a lot of attention in the philosophical world for a number of questions that arose from it. Arguably her most widely debated and questioned assertion in The meanings of Lives is “If you care about yourself you’re living as if you’re the center of the universe, which is false.” This however I don’t not believe to be true. Every human being, no matter how successful or unsuccessful, has the right to care for them sleeves and not believe they are the center of the universe while doing so.
In Christy Wampole’s “How to Live Without Irony” and Richard Taylor’s “The Meaning of Human Existence” both authors argue how humans ought to live a meaningful life. Wampole tackles the argument in a different way than Taylor but they both have similar positions on the meaning. I agree with both authors in some of the ways that we should dictate our lives to justify meaningfulness but I also believe that meaningfulness can differ from person to person. Life is very precious to us; since humans have had the ability to consciously think, we have always questioning our existence. No other animal on the planet has had the luxury of pondering whether or not their life is meaningful.
One of the most important points in this book is that no matter what you’re going through you have to find your meaning to life. If you don’t have a meaning to life or something to live for then there’s no chance of you surviving whatever you may be going through. You have to find whatever positive thing in your life to make it through any time of your life. In the book, he wrote this, “For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a
"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.
"Usually, the quest for the meaning finds expression in a commitment to action, and in one's personal relationships. The building up of a professional career, for example, demands that we identify an activity that suits us and in which we can flourish, and that we settle on a goal and objectives to be achieved. The same can be true of our personal relationships: if we decide to have a family and raise children, we organize our lives in accordance with this decision, and our family life gives meaning to our existence." (Lenoir 30)
Wolf believes that we, tiny specks, live a more meaningful life by helping the other tiny specks around us, and not focusing so much on ourselves. If not, then we are living a meaningless life. I agree with her statement but to an extent. I agree that if we live an egocentric life then we are indeed living a meaningless life. But, she also states, “Many of the things that give meaning to our lives (relationships to loved ones, aspirations to achieve) make us vulnerable to pain, disappointment and stress” (842). So, “neither is a meaningful life assured of being an especially happy one, however” (842). Which brings me to my point that everyone has a different mindset on life. Everyone has different meanings on what is considered a meaningful life. For example, it states, “From the inside, Blob’s hazy passivity may be preferable to the experience of the tortured artist or political crusader” (842). Near the end, Wolf strongly states, “The difference between a meaningful and a meaningless life is not a difference between a life that does a lot of good, and a life that does a little. (Nor is it a difference between a life that makes a big splash and one that, so to speak, sprays only a few drops.) It is rather a difference between a life that does good or is good or realizes value and a life that is essentially a waste” (847). Everyone simply has a different meaning to what is a meaningful
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.
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."
meaningless. So in other words in order to live a disciplined life or to be
The irony connected with the obstacle in achieving happiness is the pursuit of happiness. Those who pursue happiness with deliberate effort find themselves having to work harder and harder over time to achieve their ends. By trying to pursue happiness, we look for obvious, insubstantial objectives to achieve the happy life. Existentialism, however, may provide both the antidote to this vicious cycle, and give direction on how to find happiness-- by filling our lives with what T.S. Eliot calls real substance. Purpose is not easily found and comes with a costly price tag; we must look into ourselves, find the hollowness that exists in each of us, and dive into the abyss of our inner self. Most people are easily discouraged by the idea of shining a light into the shadowy realm of our mind and heart. We do not want to discover what may lie in the shadows, but if we have the courage to grope in the dark, we may discover our truest self. The darkness is a gift and not a curse.
In the book Outliers, and in the articles, “Meaningful Work”, “Do, Just, Do: A Journey to Meaningful, Satisfying work”, and “ You Wont Find Meaningful work Looking Outside Yourself”, The authors Malcolm Gladwell, Michael F. Steger, Lori Deschene, and Keven wood describe what the joy of meaningful is to them. Life is what you make of it and it’s and up to you to decide what you will get out of it. Some people may work eight hour shifts Monday through Friday miserable, exhausted, depressed, unhappy, and under a lot of pressure and stress from their jobs. Others may do the same, similar, or different jobs being comfortable, happy with life, and pleased with their job position.
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.
What makes a meaningful life? It varies for each person as we are all very unique and different from one another. Even the definition of what is meaningful will vary as it may be making an imprint/significance in their lifetime or a happy life is enough to be meaningful. Though there is so much variation among the definition, there are some essentials that could relate across the board. The recipe to having a meaningful life may contain the ingredients of: happiness, fulfillment, authenticity, living more fully in the present and having a sense of purpose.
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,