What is the
Meaning of Life?
Feraco
Search for Human Potential
13 December 2010
A Constant Work in Progress
• “I often wonder if I'll ever finish all I've
started, and the answer I have found is no!
No, I will never finish all that I have started
because life is about doing – the process – not
the result…My life’s a constant work in
progress, and I wouldn't have it any other
way.”
Set Your Goals, “Work in Progress”
• Something left unstated during our death
lecture – albeit something that most are
already aware of – is the fact that time
marches on without you once you pass away
• Your children will age, your spouse will die,
and new generations you’ll never meet will
rise and fall
A New Interactionism
• The dualists – the interactionists,
anyway – insist that there’s an
interactive relationship between our
bodies and our souls
• I propose that a similarly dualistic
relationship exists between our
attitudes towards death and life
• People who are truly terrified about
life after death – say, those who are
convinced they’re going to do
something during life that they’ll pay
for in death – probably aren’t going to
live as boldly (or recklessly, to be fair)
as those who aren’t
Good Things, Odd Reasons
• I have also mentioned that we
often do good things for odd
reasons – in order to avoid a
negative consequence, for
example, rather than out of a
genuine sense of goodness
• Don’t behave cruelly, or the guilt
will haunt you
• Some of you only do your
homework because you recognize
the consequences of giving away
points
Beyond Self-Perpetuation
• Is that the purpose of life?
• Eighty years of avoiding negative
consequences long enough to make it
to the next day?
• Eighty years of “resume-building”?
• I may be young and fairly
inexperienced, with a whole lot left to
learn, but I’m reluctant to believe that
the ultimate meaning of my life is so
narrow
• So that’s my starting point: We’ll build
on survival
• What is the meaning of life beyond
self-perpetuation?
Not Naturally Evil…But What?
• I tend to take a lighter view of humanity
than many of you; I don’t believe that we’re
naturally evil
• If I believed humans were naturally evil,
what would “human potential” even mean?
• I think that we do good things for a lot of
weird reasons – but that we do good things
for the right reasons as well
• I don’t think creatures of evil could even
conceive of some of our treasured concepts –
love, preservation, loyalty, curiosity
• What I wonder, then, is whether these
admirable qualities give us a clue about what
the ultimate meaning of life actually is –
assuming one exists, of course
Is There Meaning?
• What are we considering when we set
out to study the “meaning” of life?
• For one thing, we have to take an
honest look at the possibility that life
is meaningless – that not only were the
monists right about human existence
(with regards to the afterlife, not with
regards to the “everything-is-madeout-of-the-same-stuff” business), but
that there’s not even any meaning to
the existence you’re currently
enjoying
In All of the Universe
• By doing so, however, we confront a variation
on an old theme: How do you prove
something that’s this abstract doesn’t exist?
• It’s like saying “There’s never been – and will
never be – a creature who can survive in the
vacuum of outer space.”
• Really? Never? In all of the universe?
• How can I possibly prove that with any
degree of verifiability?
• We also need to examine whether something
else confers purpose onto us – or whether the
meaning of our own lives is within the realm
of our control
Nihilism and Teleology
• It’s worth noting that this is a teleological
question (remember them?)
• After all, teleological operating philosophy
doesn’t just assign one purpose to life – it
assigns multiple ones in the form of goals
• Teleologists can believe in an external force
that confers meaning on people, and they
can believe that we create our own meanings
• You can also talk about nihilists – those who
believe life is fundamentally, unchangeably
meaningless, and that nothing we do, say, or
think matters (or ever has mattered)
• They’re the flip side of teleology – no goal is
meaningful at all
The Calling
• The idea of a person “finding his calling” can
work both ways
• It can mean he needs time to figure out what
he’s supposed to do (external)
• It can mean he needs time to figure out what
he’s good at, or what we want to do – and
whether those things can be meaningful
enough to sustain him (internal)
• Think of how often college kids change their
majors!
• Think of how often professionals switch lines
of work!
• Again, this can seem arbitrary – but it can
also seem like a logical process
• It all depends on whether you believe
“purpose” is static
Back to Nihilists
• Nihilists want you to accept that
life is fundamentally meaningless
• They argue that there’s no great
scheme, no grand purpose, to you
or anything else
• Nihilists say everything is
arbitrary
• We are random and alone, have
always been and always will be
• There are no universal moral
values that humans should hold
Without Purpose
• While faith isn’t necessary for
morality, purpose seems to be –
for morality, in many cases,
seems to be about upholding
one’s ability to fulfill his/her
purpose, or to avoid harming
others in their quest to do the
same
• Without purpose, without
meaning – what’s the point of a
moral system? What are we even
trying to protect?
Done With Nihilists
• There’s really nothing more to say about
nihilism – either you buy into the idea that
there’s no meaning to life (think monism
stripped of purpose) or you don’t
• We can’t really spend too much time on it,
other than to wonder about the hypothetical
consequences if nihilism is correct
• After all, we talked about how morality
would be impacted by either an affirmative
or dissuasive knowledge of what awaits us
beyond death
• It could make morality easier – or people
would still be tempted to push the limits and
see what they can get away with
• What would happen if we knew that nothing
really mattered?
Conceivable Meanings
• If purpose and meaning are conferred
upon us, what are some conceivable
meanings?
• Perhaps to generously provide for others
• Perhaps to search for answers and
questions
• Perhaps to teach and guide those around
us
• Perhaps to improve and evolve, physically
and emotionally
• Perhaps to carry on in our predecessors’
footsteps, or to protect our heritage
• Perhaps to find peace and serenity
• Any others?
Chaos!!!
• We’ve joked/observed throughout the
unit that humans seem to gravitate
towards chaos – that we complicate
things unnecessarily, that we love
questioning
• However, that same tendency towards
chaos might be what keeps us from
stagnating – might even be what
makes life worth living after all
• The very chaos that nihilists cite as
reason to believe that none of this
matters could very well be the reason
everything does
The Star and Philosophy
• We began this semester by talking about the
five points of a single star: enlightenment,
independence, identity, security, and love
• None of our existential questions is about one
of these points…and yet, at the same, all of
them are
• Isn’t the question about choice really about
independence and identity?
• Isn’t the question about morality really about
identity and (mutual) security?
• Isn’t the question about happiness really about
independence and identity?
• Isn’t the question about the soul really about
love and identity?
• Isn’t the question about death really about
love, identity, and security?
• And isn’t this question – about the meaning of
life – really about the whole thing?
The Star and the Cube
• Life seems to be a wonderful, endlessly
fascinating puzzle, like Wall-E’s Rubik’s Cube –
full of trade-offs and mysteries to be solved,
happiness to be won, and new frontiers to
cross
• Our stories this semester dare to ask the
questions we need to ask ourselves along the
way
• If our dreams came true…would we be worthy?
Would we be ready?
• If humanity is meant to improve, how can we
get better without losing who we are?
• I appreciate progress, treasure it, learn from
it…but never settle for it
• If we’re going to build a better world, we can’t
cheat when challenged by the cube
• So solve a puzzle, and start another…because
life means more than 42