The Meaning of Life: What Are We Really Asking? (And What Might the Answers Be?)

What is the meaning of life? It's perhaps the oldest question humanity has asked, yet how often do we ever stop to ask what we really mean by it? When we search for life's meaning, are we seeking our purpose—a direction, a calling, something we're meant to do? Or are we asking about significance—whether our existence matters, whether we leave a mark that endures? Or is it about sense-making—finding coherence in the chaos, weaving our experiences into a narrative we can understand? Is it all three or something else? Once we've figured out what we mean by ‘meaning’, then what? What answers might actually satisfy us? Join us in the new year as we explore what we're really asking—and what answers might be out there. Should be easy to crack over a couple of hours, right?

Short primer: The 3 Types of Meaning—and 10 Ways to Build Them
Key article: The three meanings of meaning in life
(Optional) book: The Meaning of Life – Letters from Extraordinary People and their Answer to Life’s Biggest Question (2025) by James Bailey

For this month, we have three main readings that work together nicely. The first two readings tackle the conceptual puzzle head-on: what do we actually mean when we ask about life's meaning? The short Psychology Today article by Ryan Niemiec offers an accessible introduction to the tripartite framework—the idea that "meaning" encompasses three distinct dimensions: coherence (making sense of our experiences), purpose (having direction and goals), and significance (feeling that our lives matter and are worth living). Although several frameworks exist for understanding meaning in life, this tripartite model is currently one of the most influential and the one we'll focus on for our discussion. The academic paper by Martela and Steger is the key article in this area and provides a more rigorous philosophical and psychological analysis of these three dimensions, exploring why they're often conflated, how they differ from each other, and how they work together to create our sense of meaningfulness. These two readings will give us a shared conceptual vocabulary—a lens through which to understand what different people might be asking when they pose that ancient question.

The book, The Meaning of Life by James Bailey, rather than analyzing the question, presents 100 actual answers from extraordinary people—Jane Goodall, Oliver Burkeman, Yusuf/Cat Stevens, Hilary Mantel, and many others. The contributors were asked “what you think the meaning of life is, and how you find meaning, purpose and fulfilment in your own life?” and, as can be seen from the answers, the contributors draw upon different understanding of what "meaning" means, which you should be able to identify after reading the first two articles. For those of you more interested in a population-level understanding of what gives people meaning in their lives, see the international surveys by Pew Research and Voluntas linked below.

As always, we strongly encourage you to read the articles and book before attending. Having read them will enrich both your experience and our collective discussion. We’ve also put links below on further resources on the topic, including resources covering other perspectives on the framing of the question.

So join us for a drink (and optional meal) at 6:30pm on Monday, 12th January, on the 2nd floor of the Keg & Brew Hotel in Surrey Hills (i.e. up two flights of stairs). The venue is conveniently located near Central Station and the Light Rail.

We look forward to seeing you there!

P.S. Please adjust your RSVP if you have indicated that you will come but are no longer able to do so. This is courteous to other people if there is a waitlist.

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These are just some optional extra resources to consider. Feel free to pass on other useful links in the discussion section.

Audio-Visual

• Some presentations on meaning in life, including Michael Steger and Frank Martela:

TEDx What Makes Life Meaningful - Michael Steger
TEDx The meaning of life - Frank Martela
Meaning in Life: The Deep End of Flourishing Michael Steger
TED How to live a meaningful life – Brian Lowery
TED There's more to life than being happy - Emily Esfahani Smith

• James Bailey on his book:

James Bailey – The meaning of life (10 mins)

Written

• Two international surveys on meaning in life:

Pew Research Center — What Makes Life Meaningful?
Voluntas - Global Meaningfulness Index 2024

• Two more accessible explanations of Martela & Steger's framework:

LifeHack - What Is the Meaning of Life
What Is the Meaning of Life According to Positive Psychology

• For a broader and historical discussion of the meaning of life, including supernatural and other philosophical perspectives, have a look at these three encyclopaedia entries:

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Meaning of Life
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - The Meaning of Life
Wikipedia – Meaning of Life