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The Meaning of Life

The Meaning of Life. Epicurus 341-270 BCE. Happiness : pursue pleasures that do not involve pain (friendships, learning, art appreciation), satisfy natural desires (food, sleep), avoid vain desires (fame, fashion). The nothingness of death is not to be feared

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The Meaning of Life

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  1. The Meaning of Life Epicurus341-270 BCE • Happiness: pursue pleasures that do not involve pain (friendships, learning, art appreciation), satisfy natural desires (food, sleep), avoid vain desires (fame, fashion). The nothingness of death is not to be feared • Stoicism: limit interests to things we control; help others to do likewise • Objection: from the standpoint of the universe, our lives are meaningless Epictetus (55-135 CE)

  2. The Meaning of Life Tolstoy Aquinas • Theistic Response: our lives have purpose and value because they are part of a divine plan • Objections: If there is no God, life is pointless. And if there is a God, then our lives are merely means to fulfill his purposes, not ours • Human Progress: our lives are meaning- ful to the extent that they contribute to the advance of freedom or a classless society Hegel Marx

  3. The Meaning of Life: Other Views • Nihilism: life is a constant struggle; satisfaction of needs produces only boredom and more struggle • Subjective meaning/personal choice: Kierkegaard: an “authentic” life is not based on doing what feels right (the aesthetic) or what is rational/universal (the moral) but on a leap of faith, a commitment to personally chosen goals J.-P. Sartre: life has meaning only in terms of our choices; to believe otherwise is “bad faith” A. Schopenhauer (1788-1860) (1813-55) (1905-80)

  4. “The Meaning of Life”Richard Taylor Three ways to answer the question “What gives life meaning?”: • Life has meaning because it has a purpose, direction, or results in something that lasts Response: the repetitive nature of life reveals how life does not have a point or result in anything that truly lasts (1919-2003)

  5. The Meaninglessness of Life • Life has no meaning because, as in the case of Sisyphus, all our efforts ultimately fail to produce anything permanent Response: Sisyphus’s irrational desire for what cannot be achieved allows him to make sense of his endless striving to act

  6. The Meaning of Life:The Nobility of the Struggle Albert Camus (1913-1960) • It is our desire to keep on doing what we do (i.e., simply striving to live) that makes life meaningful. We have no reason to despair, for it is the permanent expectation of there not being a final state that keeps us going Response: this ignores our longing for something that transcends this life

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