SUSAN WOLF,“MEANING AND LIFE

AND WHY IT MATTERS”Week 13 (A)

Life and Meaning1

1

PREAMBLE

DISTINGUISHING TWO QUESTIONS

1) What is the meaning of life?

- ANSWER — dunno … 42?

2) What gives life meaning/making a life meaningful?

- ANSWER — possible through philosophical analysis

2

2

A CONCEPTION OF A MEANINGFULNESS LIFE

Meaningful life a vague concept…but typically associated with some “depth”

Meaningless life = shallow / empty

MEANINGFULNESS DEFINED

A meaningful life arises from loving objects worthy of love and engaging in them in a positive way

Subjective [LOVE] with Objective [WORTHINESS] inextricably linked together

3

3

A CONCEPTION OF A MEANINGFULNESS LIFE

CONDITIONS FOR A MEANINGFUL LIFE

1) Person must have something to care about deeply

2) Object must be worthy of love (objectively)

3) Active relationship between subject + object

4

4

A CONCEPTION OF A MEANINGFULNESS LIFE

BLENDS TWO POPULAR VIEWS

1) FULFILLMENT VIEW - Based on a subjective assessment of how well a

person’s life is going and “follow your passions”

2) LEGACY VIEW [LARGER-THAN-ONESELF] - Based on participating in projects that leave a

legacy, or that leave a lasting impact

NOTE: Wolf’s (hybrid) view set to remedies inadequacies in either of the “popular” views alone

5

5

THE FULFILLMENT VIEW

Urges each person to “follow his/her passions”

Rests on empirical claim — individuals gain greater satisfaction by engaging in projects that bring joy

FULFILLMENT — positive feelings one has when engaging in doing what one loves or is passionate about

Contrats with boredom and/or alienation

Contrast with “empty pleasure”

Fulfilling life ≠ Happy life

6

6

THE FULFILLMENT VIEW

FULFILLMENT — positive feelings one has when engaging in doing what one loves or is passionate about

Form of hedonism (i.e., pleasure seeking) — search for best life in QUALITATIVE terms

ALLEGED INADEQUACY

Indifferent to various sources of fulfillment and objective status of source of fulfillment

THOUGHT EXPERIMENT: Sisyphus Fulfilled (or Deluded?)

7

7

THE FULFILLMENT VIEW

THOUGHT EXPERIMENT: Sisyphus Fulfilled (or Deluded?)

Suppose that Sisyphus suddenly (and inexplicably) become fulfilled with his daily rock-pushing routine.

REASONS FOR FULFILLED SISYPHUS

Delusional

Mental Impairment

Neither reason for fulfilment a reason to think that Sisyphus is leaving a MEANINGFUL life.

8

8

LARGER-THAN-ONESELF VIEW

Meaningfulness linked to being involved with something OTHER than oneself — something that has independent value OUTSIDE of oneself

ALLEGED INADEQUACY

Indifferent to subjective assessment of the meaningfulness / value of a person’s life

Implausible to think person is living a MEANINGFUL life if person has no interest in activity / life

9

9

WOLF’S HYBRID VIEW

FITTING FULFILLMENT VIEW

A meaningful life arises from loving objects worthy of love and engaging in them in a positive way

Subjective [LOVE] with Objective [WORTHINESS] inextricably linked together

Overcomes deficiencies of previous views by combining both views into unified whole

Involvement in projects that have value outside oneself must have positive value for that person’s life

10

10

WOLF’S HYBRID VIEW

FITTING FULFILLMENT VIEW: DEFENDED

Criteria work in tandem — meaning arises when SUBJECTIVE attraction meets OBJECTIVE attractiveness

Value arises from active engagement in projects that produce positive feelings (SUBJECTIVE) when engaged in worthwhile projects (OBJECTIVE)

Valuable from an objective/eternal point of view (i.e., value not contingent upon bias, error, etc.)

Contributes to need for SELF-ESTEEM and SOCIABILITY

Comforting feeling in the face our own MORALITY 11

11

NEXT LECTURE

Thomas Nagel,

“The Absurd”

(pp. 997-1005)

12

12