CAN WE FIND MEANING AND PURPOSE IN OUR LIVES? - PART 1

Note that this is the first of two Meetups on the meaning of life. In the second we can delve into the beliefs of specific philosophers. In this first part we can discuss the meaning we find ourselves. However, feel free to still reference philosophers in this first part if you wish. ( I use the words purpose and meaning somewhat interchangeably; when I use the word purpose I don’t mean anything particularly religious or significant beyond our own lives.)

We are born into the world without definition or purpose to our lives other than to survive. This “will to survive” makes us prioritise our wellbeing. We are given almost no choice - evolution depends on a priority of survival. So in a biological sense the purpose of our lives is to reproduce and propagate our genes on to a future generation. In one limited sense this gives a meaning to life. But that purpose does not seem to be sufficient to make us feel fulfilled as human beings; it could be that nature deceives us into believing that we have a greater purpose as part of its survival mechanism. What could this purpose or meaning be? It might simply be anything that motivates us to get up in the morning and feel that we have done something worthwhile. For some it is to achieve a set of goals or conform to a social structure.

Q: What motivates you and provides a meaning to your life?

Clearly we have a force in us that wants to find meaning in our lives, and for many people a void may have been filled by religion. The search for meaning in life other than that defined by a God has gathered apace since Darwin.

Q: Do you agree that religion at one point provided some meaning to life, and is there a void in its place?

It strikes me that much philosophy is an attempt to find meaning in life and fill a void.

We often choose what we do each day by a set of familiar activities that also provide a structure to our lives. These activities help to distract us in the short term but can be counter productive to long term goals. Work is the obvious example. Woody Allen refers to making films as "his version of basket weaving," a way to focus on solvable, "delightful puzzles" like casting or fixing a script, rather than suffering from "morbid introspection, ruing my mortality, being anxious".

Q: To what extent does any purpose help to distract us from negative thoughts, and even from our own mortality?
Q: Are short term activities getting in the way of more serious objectives?

Many people define their purpose according to a set of rewards: they feel that the next goal might be the purchase of another possession or perhaps a promotion. Thus the meaning of their lives is defined by a series of goals to prove their worth. Promotion at work is a good example. Society seems to favour this sort of purpose to our lives. We are constantly being told that success is defined by our material wealth.

Q: Has our modern materialistic world given us a false sense of purpose?
Q: To what extent do you think we find purpose in goals which may not even be our own, but which society expects from us?

What about other less materialistic purposes? Please watch this video (watch out for the pitchfork!)
https://youtu.be/Ebt0X5ybm9Y?si=0g0JfKJZeoxCdl38

Q: Do you agree that meaning is brought by:

• Communication? (Connection and friendship provide meaning)
• Understanding? (We find meaning by solving problems)
• Service? (To serve others to benefit them)

This type of life meaning is also suggested by Benjamin Franklin:
"The purpose of life is not to be happy. The purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate."

Q: Would these activities provide meaning to your life?

A lot of what motivates us from day to day is a fear of failure or danger. These worries define and limit our lives. Whether we like it or not, we are bombarded with reasons to be successful to avoid feeling unfulfilled. But what happens if these messages are untrue? What happens when we remove the structure of society’s expectations and fears? Are they replaced by a void, or a realisation that we can in fact define our own lives (cue existentialists), often perhaps by what we enjoy or which we personally believe in or think is good. Perhaps these would provide a better purpose to our lives. Bill Hicks has something to say about this:
https://youtu.be/KgzQuE1pR1w?si=tOHgWHgqdFyUqw7L

Q: So, does life really have much meaning? Is it just a “ride”? Are we frightened by the idea that life may not have a real purpose, or are we even frightened by the thought that we must create a purpose ourselves?

In PART 2 we can look at how some of the philosophers might help to bring meaning to our lives.