Does Life Have Meaning?

Does life have meaning? It’s been a question that humans have pondered since time immemorial. As far as we know, humans are the only creatures who contemplate this question. Animals seem to be content if they have adequate food and mating encounters. But humans seem to need something deeper. The daily cycles of working, eating and playing can seem tedious. There really does seem to be a desire that it is all meaningful and significant, that all of these activities are more than the sum of their parts, that it is leading somewhere.

Rephrases of the question like “Why am I here?” “What’s it all about?” seem to imply a sense that the purpose lies outside of ourselves, and a need to find it. Classical philosophy emphasized a concept called “eudaemonia”. While it is commonly translated “happiness”, the concept goes beyond mere happy feelings. It encompasses flourishing and excellence. This may include things such as a life of virtue, or obtaining knowledge of what justice is, and living that out. Plato located its source in the Forms. Along these lines, Classical Theism, which encompasses the Abrahamic religions, locates our meaning and path to flourishing within the will of God.

More modern philosophers began to deny that life has meaning. Life was just an accident with no purpose. Yet, these thinkers still had to grapple with the question of why the need for meaning persists, and what to do with it. Some have described the disconnect between the desire for meaning and the lack of one as “absurd.” Existential philosophers have addressed the problem by proposing that even though life doesn’t have meaning when we come into the world, it is up to us to create one for ourselves.

What are your thoughts? Join us for another lively discussion!

Brent Hardaway is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

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Time: Apr 17, 2021 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

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