Meaning of Life
March 2, 2011 7:43 PM Subscribe
Does life have meaning, in and of itself? I'm having trouble explaining what I'm instinctively feeling. Can you help me word it better?
Recently came up in a philosophical discussion with a friend - he asked if life has meaning, beyond some sort of grand elaborate design/ultimate supernatural goal. (In the vein of, "if one day we are all just going to die anyways, why bother with it all?") Got me thinking. My first instinct is yes, life has meaning in and of itself and we get up everyday simply because life is a gift and it is infinitely better that we not "waste" this gift, but if you asked me why it's better we don't waste this gift, especially in light of life not having intrinsic meaning, then I am at a loss of what to say. (If it matters, I'm philosophically a theist but live as if I'm an atheist.) Of course, I also thought about life's meaning being meaningful only from within a life, but to me this lacks the sort of overriding permanency that my gut tells me is there. Or maybe my gut is wrong.
Recently came up in a philosophical discussion with a friend - he asked if life has meaning, beyond some sort of grand elaborate design/ultimate supernatural goal. (In the vein of, "if one day we are all just going to die anyways, why bother with it all?") Got me thinking. My first instinct is yes, life has meaning in and of itself and we get up everyday simply because life is a gift and it is infinitely better that we not "waste" this gift, but if you asked me why it's better we don't waste this gift, especially in light of life not having intrinsic meaning, then I am at a loss of what to say. (If it matters, I'm philosophically a theist but live as if I'm an atheist.) Of course, I also thought about life's meaning being meaningful only from within a life, but to me this lacks the sort of overriding permanency that my gut tells me is there. Or maybe my gut is wrong.
This post was deleted for the following reason: This is basically one of the great imponderables, unless you can narrow this way down to something practically answerable it's basically chatfilter. -- cortex
I would suggest that the answer to this is subjective and dependent on a myriad of factors.
or... it has meaning if you believe it has meaning.
posted by tomswift at 7:54 PM on March 2, 2011
or... it has meaning if you believe it has meaning.
posted by tomswift at 7:54 PM on March 2, 2011
Well, there's always the "butterfly effect" - a given person's actions, large and small, will have an impact on the lives of other people. It's a fairly human-centric view - your life has meaning because it will affect other people's lives - although I suppose you could extend it out to "living things" or "the Earth", although the impact will be smaller for the most part.
That's probably pretty close to what I believe, actually. No man is an island, and all that. I find it generally impossible to be an educated person without being aware of the ripples we all cause.
posted by restless_nomad at 7:58 PM on March 2, 2011
That's probably pretty close to what I believe, actually. No man is an island, and all that. I find it generally impossible to be an educated person without being aware of the ripples we all cause.
posted by restless_nomad at 7:58 PM on March 2, 2011
It's a conversation that you could carry on until the end of the universe, you know? I generally hold that there is no meaning to life other than what you ascribe to it. Why bother? Because I can. I'm here anyway, might as well make the most of it. In the end, you have to decide what life is worth. Everybody does whether they know it or not. You find someone, or something to try to make it worthwhile. I think that's kind of the funny thing. If there's no point, what's the point of life? If there's no point to life, then why not do whatever the hell you want and invent your own point(s)? An entire lifetime to rewrite the world. Why not spend every day fixing other people's lives while destroying your own in the process? Life may not matter to you, but maybe it matters to someone else. It's in considering that other people value their lives that you can find purpose. Moreover, perspective.
When it doesn't really matter, you see the big picture. Once you figure that out, you realize how free you really are.
posted by Krazor at 7:59 PM on March 2, 2011
When it doesn't really matter, you see the big picture. Once you figure that out, you realize how free you really are.
posted by Krazor at 7:59 PM on March 2, 2011
Life is lived well through meaningful moments. We discover our lives, not the meaning of life.
posted by Brian B. at 8:00 PM on March 2, 2011
posted by Brian B. at 8:00 PM on March 2, 2011
Also, there's no such thing as permanency, and that's the biggest joke of all! The walls around you- built by human hands will one day be reduced to dust one way or another. Take comfort in it! Nothing that can happen will last forever.
Tell whoso hath sorrow
Grief never shall last
E'en as joy hath no morrow
So woe shall go past.
posted by Krazor at 8:05 PM on March 2, 2011
Tell whoso hath sorrow
Grief never shall last
E'en as joy hath no morrow
So woe shall go past.
posted by Krazor at 8:05 PM on March 2, 2011
« Older Is Potomac Crossfit a good place to start crossfit... | Who does this Olympic Medal belong to? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by alex_skazat at 7:48 PM on March 2, 2011 [3 favorites]