What is the meaning of life?
It is clear that there are multiple valid answers to this question. The use of the definite article "the" in the question might suggest that there is one specific answer for each individual. Therefore, it becomes even more important to respect diverse worldviews and beliefs.
Professor Joshua Seachris, in his article "The Meaning of Life: Contemporary Analytic Perspectives," breaks down this traditional question into three parts: sense-making, purpose, and significance.
Sense-Making
This aspect of the question often involves placing something within a larger context or framework. Meaning is about intelligibility within a broader scope, about "inserting small parts into a larger, integrated context".
Consequently, the answers often take the form of creation stories and worldviews that people adopt. For religious individuals, God created the universe. For those with a scientific inclination, the Big Bang explains its origin. Some people may hold both religious and scientific beliefs, accepting a deity as the force behind the creation while acknowledging the scientific explanation of its unfolding.
By adopting a creation story and worldview, individuals can position themselves within the world and make sense of their existence.
Regardless of whether these worldviews are supernatural or not, there will always be unanswered questions. It is futile to continually ponder questions that have no answers.
For example, with the scientific explanation of creation, one might ask:
- What caused the Big Bang?
- Why was the universe created?
Ultimately, there is no definitive answer to these questions.
Similarly, with supernatural explanations of creation, one might ask:
- Why did God create the universe?
- Why did God create so many living species?
- Who created God?
- Why does God exist?
Again, there is ultimately no definitive answer.
Purpose
The purpose of one's life could simply be to fulfill the roles one plays within one's community. Consider a colony of ants. Some are drones, some are worker ants, and one or more are queen ants. Each has a distinct role. Fulfilling these roles effectively could be considered their life's purpose.
For humans, the situation is more complex. Individuals often take on multiple roles. A person might be a mother and wife at home, a teacher at work, and a volunteer at church. Her purposes in life could include raising her children, being a good teacher, and contributing to her church community.
However, some individuals may feel dissatisfied with the roles they have assumed, leading to a sense of lacking purpose in life.
Significance
This aspect of the question addresses what makes one's life meaningful. Susan Wolf's fitting-fulfillment theory suggests that a meaningful life is one that satisfies both subjective and objective values.
The "fitting fulfillment view" of the meaning of life, as proposed by Susan Wolf, posits that a life is meaningful when it is both subjectively meaningful to the individual and when the objects or activities they find meaningful are also objectively valuable. Essentially, it requires a "good fit" between subjective experience and objective worth.
Here's a more detailed breakdown:
Subjective Meaningfulness: Individuals must care deeply about something, be engaged in it, and experience it as meaningful. This involves feeling a sense of purpose, passion, or love for the activities or objects in their lives.
Objective Worth: The things that individuals find meaningful must also be valuable in themselves, not just to the individual. This could include contributing to society, advancing knowledge, or creating beauty.
The "Good Fit": A life is meaningful when there is a match between an individual's subjective experience of meaning and the objective worth of the things that evoke that feeling.
In other words, it is not enough to simply enjoy something; it must also possess objective value for life to be considered truly meaningful.
For example, someone might find joy in collecting stamps. However, if the stamps are merely worthless trinkets, Wolf's theory would argue that this activity, while enjoyable, does not significantly contribute to the meaning of their life. Conversely, a life dedicated to scientific research, even if it is not always enjoyable, could be considered meaningful because it has objective value for society.
An Aboriginal perspective
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Reference:
"The Meaning of Life: Contemporary Analytic Perspectives" in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy by Professor Joshua Seachris.
