Meaning of Life - Part 2

When pondering over the meaning of something we are clearly searching for evidences that lead us to conclude that that something is meaningful or holds meaning. If so, then we are actually asking if life is meaningful. Which means that for life to be meaningful there has to be a certain criteria but once again like all things that are of a philosophical nature, there are no set rules, no set criteria. What determines the meaningfulness of life? Go to school, study well, get a job, be successful, have lots of money. Does that mean your life is meaningful? or would you rather be free, own a farm out in the countryside and live off the land? Being human beings we tend to think of only ourselves. We have to realize that life is in every single living being. It isn't just us who live is it?

The animals that live their lives, they hunt, they mate, reproduce, fight for their territory. What would make their life meaningful? Of course there is the fact that they do not comprehend philosophy and would not think as much as we humans do. But truth of the matter is that they also have lives and when talking about the meaning of life, then we should also be considering the meaning of life as a whole; not just meaning of life pertaining to human beings. They live because they are alive, not for any other reason. Only humans try to lead a life that means anything or try to find meaning in living. In many ways that becomes our hubris.
Many a times, we tend to confuse the meaning of life with the purpose of life. Meaning is the value that we associate with life while purpose is what we do unto others or ourselves that in turn makes our life hold a value. So then, let us take that approach; let's try and find the meaning of life through the purpose of life.

 If you have read some of my previous posts, there is one named "Happiness". The purpose of every man in life is to attain a state of happiness, there could be different ways of obtaining it but the crux of all that we do boils down to happiness. We help others because that makes us happy, we buy an item of luxury that makes us happy and so on. So if the purpose of life for all of us is to be happy; then can that mean that the value of somebody's life be measured in the amount of happiness that they possess. But that again raises some problems does it not? Firstly, there is no measurement of happiness as such. We can't really gauge how happy a person is. Secondly, there is the problem of when exactly are we measuring the happiness of an individual. There are so many stages in life and if the only thing that is common to us in life is being born and dying, then that means that the only time that we could ever measure the meaningfulness of life of an individual is when he is dead because obviously a new born does not yet understand life or for that matter anything that is happening around him.

That which unites us all becomes the factor that determines the meaning of life. When we are all staring at the face of death, we are united and we look back to think whether we have fulfilled the purpose of life; whether we are truly happy. And when in my mind, if I think I am happy and have fulfilled the purpose of life; then I alone for that moment am the man with the most meaningful life in the world and would gladly accept death.

Meaning of Life - Part 1

What is the meaning of life? When asking a question of such complexity, problems start to arise right at the first instance. The framing of the question in itself is hard to explain. Meaning is a matter of language; we usually search for the meaning of a word or maybe something pertaining to art - the meaning behind the metaphor etc. Life when considered by its noun form alone can be defined by biological terms such as the difference between a living and dead organism manifested in functions such as metabolism, growth, response to stimuli, reproduction etc. But life isn't just that is it? it is much more complex. Life is also the physical, mental and spiritual experiences that constitute existence. So in that sense, the question of "What is the meaning of life" is in fact meaningless.

Secondly, the questions seems to assume the fact that life is objective. Is life objective or subjective? The answer to that question is both and neither. It is objective when it is seen as the interval of time between birth and death. Everybody goes through childhood, puberty, adulthood, old age etc. We all grow, metabolize, respond to changes in our environment, reproduce and all that we do showing that we are indeed alive and living. But the similarity ends there. Diversity can be seen everywhere; men and women, young and old, rich and poor. In all aspects of society diversification is existent. This combined with the fact that our minds and the way we think are unique to us. An intricate web emerges for each single individual that inhabits this Earth. 

Nature and nurture construct the psychology of our minds. Considering all this, each experience - physical, mental, spiritual - is unique to an individual. Therefore, we can conclude that life is also subjective. Thus, life is both subjective and objective but neither. So is life meaningful? We will explore this in part 2