Is life truly what we make it out to be? This chapter brings everything home and yet takes you on a total overview of several different great thinkers/authors. It also forces you to ask the question, is this all life ads up to be? Does the meaning of life mean rather the essential significance of life? Several philosophers have different takes on this meaning of life. Life is part of the whole living experience and yet living is a part of existing. Statement given about human life are vacuous, is itself vacuous. Do we need to stand outside human existence in order to make meaningful comments with regards to life? Unity amongst humans always seems to come through in tragedies or fate of extinction. In death events we all come together. Wittgenstein once remarked, the best image of the soul is the body. If you want to observe someone’s spirit, look at what they do. Pleasure is a passing sensation, while happiness at its best is an enduring condition of being. This is only unclear if one is thinking of happiness along the lines of pleasure. Don’t we want to live truthfully, without deception, aware of ourselves as the authors of our own lives? The meaning of life is less a proposition than a practice. Life can only truly be known in the living.
After reading this chapter you tend to ask yourself several questions; is the meaning of life a question at all with a true answer? Must you give up self to obtain a greater part of success? Is it our nature to always be a part of a whole? Is relationship the meaning of life?
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3 Comments
Is there an answer to the meaning of life? I would preface this with another question. If there isn’t, it’s still fun to seek one out. Intimidated, perplexed, thinking if some ancient philosopher couldn’t do it, why could I? I firmly believe we are all part of a giant family. I believe we are to be part of a whole. Most people seek out others, they have this intrinsic need to be a part of something. As for giving up self, I believe at times we may be called to help others along the way, this putting others first, benefits society as a whole, but also instills in us, that we are part of the common good. It can be argued that we have a proclivity towards acting as part of the whole. I believe at times, this may be heightened, something traumatic in our lives compels us to help others, to get involved, to make a difference. Relationships if they are deemed healthy, can be one aspect of meaning in one’s life. Perhaps not the entire solution, but one piece of the life puzzle.
I do not think that there is a true answer to the meaning of life question for I think that life’s meaning is different for everyone. For me, this question has always had a personal connotation which focuses on the individual and I do not believe that giving up the self is a pre-requisite to success or happiness. Actually, I believe that the more successful the individual is, the more opportunities he has to help others. For many individuals, helping others brings happiness. This serves as a proof of sorts that we are social beings and that individual existences contribute to the successes of the whole and that relationships bring meaning to life.
To answer your question… OF COURSE there is a true answer to the meaning of life. Think about if you were asked that question, right on the spot. After a minute (or maybe 10 minutes if you are like me) .. you can honestly come up with an answer – not just any answer either. Let’s face it, I can answer that question by saying ‘Big Macs and Wal-mart are the meaning of life’… but hell, if I really believe that is the meaning of life, then isn’t it true, to me?! Granted, I hate McDonalds and Wal-Mart, but MY meaning of life is something I hold to be true… The question of giving up self to obtain success is difficult to answer. What is success? I don’t think giving up self is part of obtaining ‘success’ at any level. That isn’t to say that is simply a concrete theory, yet I find it more to be a state of mind than anything else. Is Relationship the meaning of life? Sure. If that’s what you think it is, then it is a TRUE meaning.
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