Questioning the Meaning of Life Essay - 1972 Words

`Where did we come from?, `Why are we here?, `Where are we going?. These are questions which surface, centre stage, at some point in most peoples lives. For philosophers, and others, they constitute the core problem known traditionally as the Meaning of Life. It might be thought that the first task in considering the question of the `Meaning of Life is to define the key terms: `Life and `Meaning. However, the meanings of `Meaning are many; and `Life itself could be seen as not so much a separate entity, but rather, the totality of those meanings to which I have alluded. Anyway, I shall take `Life in this context to mean HUMAN life, and the meaning of this life as, specifically, the condition of our existence so far as we bring†¦show more content†¦Sometimes it is taken as equivalent to `the value of life, or that in virtue of which life is worth living. It may also be taken to refer to the nature of the human condition - how it is with us, how we FEEL about life. Nevertheless, to the extent that questions about the `Why of life may be seen as concerned with the value of life (`What makes life worth living?), they are therefore related to the ethical. Pessimism is a possible answer to the question of lifes meaning: life is devoid of meaning in the sense of worth. Pessimism or optimism may be thought merely an attitude people have towards life, something having no objective validity; the optimist sees the bottle as half full, the pessimist sees it half empty - and thats all there is about it. But, while some of our attitudes towards things are unreasoned others are not. A pessimist may have arguments for pessimism: one philosopher actually claimed to have proven that the moments of pleasure in anyones life are always greatly out-numbered by the moments of pain. Conversely, there can be reasoned arguments against pessimism. Accounts of the human condition may combine both pessimism and optimism. The Christian doctrine of the Fall of Man, for example, is essentially a pessimistic assessment of life here in thisShow MoreRelatedAnalysis of A Dream Within a Dream by Edgar Allen Poe Essay850 Words   |  4 PagesDream’ was written by Edgar Allan Poe on 1849, the year that he was found dead because of substance abuse. Considering that the author had gone through many hard times throughout his life with the loss of his beloved ones, this poem might refer to the emotional pain he suffered that let him to question the reality of life. The poem is written in despair as the tone is a mixture of mystery, loneliness and despair. The poem deals with the speaker’s troubling idea that reality is just a dream as the narratorRead MoreThe Importance Of Lifeful Life1102 Words   |  5 PagesIn modern society very few people are living a meaningful life, where they are happy to live their lives on a daily ba sis doing something that enriches their happiness. 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