Intro to the Meaning of Life

PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 5

Nagel (1937) on the Absurd• Human

existence is absurd

• But let’s face it with irony

• (not angsty heroism or despair)

‘Absurd’ in the Ordinary Sense• A noticeable difference between what

someone intends or claims and reality

Absurd to Philosophers• The dramatic difference between:

– Our (internal) perception of the significance of our lives

– The objective (external) perception of the significance of our lives

• It’s absurd because, from the external view, our lives have only a tiny fraction of the significance that we feel and act as though it has

Our Significance from Inside• Events are only significant if

they are likely to or actually do significantly affect us– The universe revolves around us

• We are all like this to some extent, but some people don’t realise that this is the same for other people!– You may know people like this

Our Significance from the Outside 1

• We are completely insignificant to 99.9999999999999999% of what exists– When heat death kills the universe, our

plans seem beyond insignificant– How big are we? (Not very big)– How long do we live compared to the

universe? (Not very long)• Nagel thinks these arguments are

misleading (justifications end OK)

Our Significance from the Outside 2

• Even if we do have free will, so many of our ‘choices’ are still the result of our prior causes– Why will most of you vote for the same

political party that your parents do?– Where did you get your very cool

“individual” ideas from?

Skepticism & the Absurd• We can’t be sure

that we’re not dreaming etc.

• And yet we carry on caring

• It’s like taking a cheating spouse back!??!?!

The Human Condition• Also known as the Human Situation• From the inside, our significance is

paramount• From the outside, our significance is

basically none-existent• The Human Condition is being aware

of the absurd contradiction between these two points

• Humans are thought to be unique in their ability to be aware of this situation

Which Story is True?• From the inside, our significance is

paramount• From the outside, our significance is

basically none-existent• So, which one of these ‘stories’ is true?• Probably both

Nagel’s Answer• If ‘nothing matters’, then it’s

also true that it doesn’t matter that nothing matters

• So, don’t despair• And don’t fight it• Just go along for the ride,

have a cosmic giggle when you get a parking ticket, enjoy the irony

Leo Tolstoy• Or Count Lev Nikolayevich

Tolstoy • Famous Russian author

– War and Peace, Anna Karenina etc.

• Anarchist, Pacifist, Christian• Loved, respected, healthy,

very wealthy, famous, politically influential

Tolstoy’s Confession• When middle-aged, and

successful on all accounts, he became plagued by “foolish, simple, and childish” questions

• Qns that would lead him to question the purpose of his life and life in general

Tolstoy’s Questions

• E.g. “Why. Well, and then?– Qn: Why write this book this? Ans: For fame. Qn:

But why should I want fame? Etc.• He realised they were important qns about

the meaningfulness of his actions and even of his life

• Questions that he thought unanswerable• Questions that paralysed him

– “I ought to know why I should do that. So long as I did not know why, I could not do anything. I could not live.”

Trapped Between Death and Meaninglessness

• Life seems “a mean, stupid trick” played on us by a mocking observer

• He had it all, but it was all meaningless– “there was nothing in life and never would be.”– “Sooner or later there would come diseases and

death… and there would be nothing left but stench and worms.”

– “All my affairs, no matter what they might be, would sooner or later be forgotten”

Tolstoy’s Moral of the Story• The problem of the

meaning of life is that…• Life is meaningless!• And then you die!• What a bummer!• Note that life is

meaningless because we all die and nothing is left of us

Get Over it!• Some say: “You cannot understand

the meaning of life, do not think, live!”

• But Tolstoy saw every event as bringing him closer to inevitable death– (Including licking honey off leaves and

going to parties!)

The Sweetest Honey…• “[T]he love of family”• “and of authorship”

…Isn’t Sweet Enough

On Loving Family• “they are also

human beings”• “they must either

live in the lie or see the terrible truth… [a]nd the truth is death”

• So, “[w]hy should I love them[?]”

On Loving Authorship• Looking at life through

the mirror of art was once pleasurable

• But knowing that there was no meaning of life made the mirror “useless, superfluous, ridiculous and painful”

• Art cannot help us to escape death

Will Science Help?• “I know… all which science wants to

know…, but there is no answer to the question about the meaning of my life”

• “What will come of my life?”– “Nothing”

• “Why does everything that exists exist…?”– “Because it exists”

• “You are a temporal, accidental conglomeration of particles”

No• Tolstoy: What is the meaning of my

life?• Science: “You are an accidentally

cohering globule of something. The globule is fermenting. This fermentation the globule calls its life.”

• Science: “[But] the globule falls to pieces, and all fermentation and all questions will come to an end.”

Tolstoy had 4 Options…• Of people’s attitudes towards the

meaning of life problem:• 1) living in ignorance of the problem• 2) admitting the problem and trying

to maximise their pleasure• 3) admitting it and committing

suicide• 4) admitting it and continuing to live

aimlessly

…Until He Hung with the Masses (Normal People)

• Who didn’t fit his classificatory scheme

• 1) They knew the problem well• 2) Their lives were full of suffering,

not pleasure• 3) Killing themselves is taboo• 4) They can explain

why they perform every act

Science vs Religion 2• “Rational knowledge” AKA science

“did not give any meaning to life”– We are just fermenting globules

• “the meaning which… all humanity… ascribed to life was based on… false knowledge” AKA faith in religion– “creation in six days, devils and angels,

and all that I could not accept so long as I had not lost my senses”

Science vs Religion 3• Problem:• Faith demands that reason/rationality be

abandoned to gain meaning – (the meaning of life)

• But we only need meaning if we have exercised reason/rationality– (asked what it’s all about)

Tolstoy’s Mistake• He was asking:

– “What is the extra-temporal, extra-causal, extra-spatial meaning of my life?”

– I.e. “What… indestructible essence will come from my… destructible life?”

– I.e. “What meaning has my finite existence in this infinite world?”

• But gave an answer to the question:– “What is the temporal, causal, spatial meaning

of my life?”• To which, science answered: “none”

The Flaw of Reason• Rational knowledge only says

that the real question of the meaning of life cannot be meaningfully answered – It gives the answer: Life = Life– because it cannot reconcile the finite with the

infinite (our lives with greater meaning)• So rational knowledge leads to the limited

“What is the temporal, causal, spatial meaning of my life?” question– Which is not what we really want to know!

Faith’s Virtue• Despite being “irrational and

monstrous”, faith provides answers that always reconcile the finite with the infinite– Qn: “What is the meaning

which is not destroyed by death?”

– Ans: “The union with infinite God, paradise.”

Tolstoy’s Argument• The finite must be reconciled with

the infinite to give meaning to our lives

• Reason cannot do this• Faith can• Therefore, we should use faith to

answer the question: “what is the meaning of life”

Tolstoy’s Position• We need faith to avoid the catch 22 of

meaninglessness vs death/suicide• He needed faith to become un-

paralysed by the problem of the meaning of life

• Faith is the power of life that allows all people to live

• He thinks that we should have faith & live “According to God’s law”

Summary of Tolstoy• If you think about it, life is absurd – we

live a meaningless life and then we die!

• Only faith can properly answer the question of the meaning of life– By reconciling the finite & infinite

• Despite being irrational, faith in religion is the only way to know the meaning of life

• We must know the meaning of life to go on living

Read for Next Time• Taylor, Richard (2000). The Meaning of

Life, in E.D. Klemke (ed.), The Meaning of Life, 2nd edition, pp. 167-175. New York: Oxford University Press.

• Schlick, Moritz (1988). On the Meaning of Life, in Hanfling, Oswald (ed.), Life and Meaning, pp. 60-73. New York: Basil Blackwell.

More on the Meaning of Life

PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 6

What Does it all Mean?• What is the meaning of

life?• Purpose, point, reason for,

etc?• Why this and not

something else?• Why is my existence

meaningful?• What should I be doing?

This Time: Richard Taylor• More on meaninglessness• An account of how to find

meaning in your life• Brief summary:

– the meaning of life is to live in accordance with your nature

– for humans, that is to use our will – to make plans and follow them through

Richard Taylor• Maybe we can better

understand this tricky qn (what is the meaning of life) if we consider what a meaningless existence would be

• It’s rude to examine real people so…

The Myth of Sisyphus• Sisyphus made a deal with

the Gods and then went back on it

• They punished him by giving him a meaningless chore to do for eternity

• Nothing ever comes of Sisyphus’ labours

• His existence is meaningless– Nothing comes of it

A New Myth of Sisyphus• The Gods changed

Sisyphus’ desires so all he wants is to roll rocks

• He now gets exactly what he wants for all eternity– Sounds great!

• But, this doesn’t make his existence any more meaningful– Nothing comes of it

Taylor on Meaningfulness• Meaninglessness is endless

pointlessness• Meaningfulness is activity

with a point, a result, a significant culmination

• So, which of these best represents all life as we know it?– This includes plants and

animals

Is Animal Life Objectively Meaningful?

• Glow worms, cicadas and the meaningless cycle of life

• The only point of any living thing’s life is just life itself

Is Human Life Objectively Meaningful?

• Humans also perpetuate the meaningless cycle of life

• We have goals and plans, but are they ultimately for anything other than surviving & reproducing?

• Even when our achievements create lasting results– how long will they persist?– and will it prevent our children from

merely surviving and reproducing?

“Whatever!!! My Life is Objectively Meaningful!!!”

• Sorry buddy – that’s just absurd!

• You need to consider the dramatic difference between:– Your (internal)

perception of the significance of your life, and

– The objective (external) perception of the significance of your life

Our Significance from the Inside

• We think that all events in the universe are only significant if they are likely to affect us– I.e. The universe

revolves around us• We are all like this to

some extent, but some people don’t realise that this is the same for other people!

Our Significance from the Outside

• All of us are completely insignificant to 99.99999999 etc.% of what exists– How big are we? (Not very big)– How long do we live compared to the

universe? (Not very long)– When heat death kills the universe, our

plans would seem beyond insignificant to anything left to observe

“It is not surprising, then, that men invent ways of denying it”

• Religious beliefs centre around a departure from this meaningless cycle– Going to heaven– Becoming enlightened, etc.

• This would be nice! But which, if any, is right?

• Are there any good reasons to believe in one over another?

What Does ‘What is the Meaning of Life?’ Mean? 1

• What does ‘life’ mean? (Not interesting)– To us, it means not being dead or lifeless– To a God, it means amusement or experiment– To a plant, it doesn’t mean anything

• What is the purpose for life (objective meaning/significance)?– Various religious purposes - e.g. heaven– Continuing the cycle of life - e.g. glow worm– There is no purpose for life– Taylor: But, if there is a purpose for life, then life

is meaningless!!

Taylor: A Purpose for Life (Objective Meaning) Makes it

Meaningless• If life had an ultimate

purpose, then you could achieve it

• Let’s say you do…• Then, for the rest of the

time you would lead a boring meaningless life

• E.g. Sisyphus’ Temple

What Do We Want ‘What is the Meaning of Life?’ to Mean?

• So, if Taylor is right, an objective meaning of life leads to either:– Fulfilling it and then being bored– Not fulfilling it

• Both end in meaninglessness!• Taylor: Since an objective meaning of life

would be bad, the best way to understand the MoL question is taking it to ask:– ‘How can we make our lives subjectively

meaningful?’

Taylor’s Answer:• Simply understand that the MoL is to live in

the manner in which it is our nature to live– The glow worm does what is in it’s nature

• For humans, then, the meaning of life is living as we will to live– Making plans and seeing them through

• Dissatisfied with this?– Remember, if there were a purpose for life, then

life would be boring or meaningless! • So, the best MoL we can hope for comes

from within us

The Moral of Taylor’s Story:

• Whatever your dreams and goals are – you should live them as only you can…

• like this guy

Taylor’s Position on tMoL• So, the meaning of life comes from within us

– living in accordance with our will is how we can achieve meaning in our lives

• Our plans are the only significant thing we have – only the pursuit of them brings (subjective) meaning to our lives

• These plans are absurdly insignificant from the outside, but not so from the inside – thank goodness!– Without the subjective importance of our own

plans, our lives might truly be meaningless

Summary of Taylor• The MoL is the same for all life• The meaning of life is to live in accordance

with your nature• For humans, that is to use our will – to make

plans and follow them through• Life may seem absurd but we should make

plans and take them very seriously (don’t consider their significance from the outside)

• So, the meaning each of our lives have for us, is very significant for us (thank goodness!)

This Time: Moritz Schilck• Plans and goals are a

curse• The meaning of life is

to do things for themselves (not for some future purpose)

• E.g. Living fully in the moment, like when children play

The MoL: Warm up• Think seriously about

how you would answer this question:– What would you tell a child

if you could tell them just one thing and they would take it on board?

• Turn to your neighbour and tell them what your answer was

We, the Seekers• Some have not yet

asked themselves if life has a meaning

• Others have given up the search after finding no meaning in their own life

• But, we are the “seekers”, still looking for an answer

Meaning in Goals/Purpose?• Some “believe… that [meaning]

continues to be found where a person has reached his [or her] goals”

• “Once the goal is reached, however, after the first flush of triumph has passed away, there follows inevitably a mood of desolation.”

• “A void remains…” which only “the painful emergence of new longings” can fill

Why Our Goals are Not Enough• The view that meaning can be

found where a person has fulfilled their goals/purposes makes our lives only a dull and painful voyage from one ‘satisfaction’ to the next… until we die!

• “In truth, we shall never find an ultimate meaning in existence, if we view it only under the aspect of purpose”

Why the Hurry?

• Stop someone in a rush on Lambton Quay at 9am

• Ask them why they are rushing?• Keep asking them questions until you

find their ultimate purpose• Schlick: if they are honest, it will be

“maintenance of life”• But why is that important?

Why Maintain Life?

• If all purposes lead to the ultimate purpose of preserving life, then we would hope that life has some value

• But, where is the value in mere existence?

• “The core and ultimate value of life can lie only in such states as exist for their own sake and carry their satisfaction [in] themselves”

But, Pleasure from Achieving Goals is Not Enough

• Pleasure from achievement of goals is a state that is good in itself…

• But the striving for this pleasure (which is inevitably attached) is not

• Aiming at this kind of state is to join Schopenhauer’s dull and painful voyage from one ‘satisfaction’ to the next… until we die!

Schlick: The MoL is Play

• “to find a meaning in [life] we must seek for activities which carry their own purpose and value within them, independently of any… goals”– I.e. activities that are “not work”

• “play… is the name for free, purposeless action, … [play] carries its purpose within itself”

• “the meaning of existence is revealed only in play”

Err… What about War ‘n’ Stuff?• Surely we need work to prevent

the suffering of the less fortunate… and ourselves!?

• Schlick: Play can also be work

Schlick: Creative Play – The Future’s Life Philosophy

• In the future we will need to play creatively in order to survive

• Creative play is play that produces something good or useful

• We’ll need more than the play/work of artists – we’ll need people to ‘play’ farmers and parents and doctors

Stop all “Evil” Work• Evil work (no e.g. given) is

“mechanical, brutalizing, degrading” and it “produce[s] only trash and empty luxury”

So, Live the Life of Animals!?!• They sure seem to live in the moment!• Schlick: they feel pleasure & pain, but they

lack our superior consciousness

Schlick: We are “supremely self-conscious being[s]”

• “[Our] joy in the moment will not be blind and bestial, but bathed in the clearest light of consciousness.”

We Don’t Have Our Heads in the Sand!

• Of course we see possible consequences of our actions…

• “but no specific goal stands there as an end to be necessarily attained”

• Of course we set little goals in order to play, but they are fine

Live the Life of Youth• “the meaning of [life] is concentrated and

collected… into a few short hours of deep, serene joy, into hours of play”

• “these hours crowd thickest in youth”• Youth doesn’t care about purposes• Youth really refers to anyone enthusiastic about

activities for their own sake

Summary of Schlick• There is no reason to think that the

meaning of life only comes after you are dead or when you get older

• Goals/purposes/work only lead to boredom and frustration

• tMoL is Play/the spirit of youth• ‘Play’ is activities done for their own

sake – for the joy they bring• The spirit of youth is enthusiasm about

activities for their own sake

How to Answer the Question• Be clear about what you are asking!• Try to give a single answer that all people (&

maybe animals) can use. • “tMoL is what each of us chooses it to be”

could be a bad answer– This would mean we couldn’t be wrong about the

meaningfulness of our lives– E.g. A depressed man could claim that tMoL is to

be depressed, making his life meaningful!– E.g. Or a Nobel-winning all-round nice gal might

think that her life was meaningless – necessarily making it so!

Summary of Questions• Nagel: How can we deal with the

Absurd?• Tolstoy: How can my finite

(destructible) existence be meaningful in this infinite universe?

• Taylor: How can we make our lives subjectively meaningful?

• Schlick: What gives our lives meaning or value?

Summary of Answers• Nagel: Ironically• Tolstoy: Faith in religion reveals the

meaning and purpose of life – live according to God’s law

• Taylor: Live in accordance with your nature - use your will to make plans that are significant to you

• Schlick: Be like a youth and play – enthusiastically do things for their own sake

A Religious Clean Sweep?

• Irony, faith, plans, play• If you have ironic faith in and enjoy

your religion and plan to continue doing so, then you achieve all 3 of these!

• ‘Ironic faith’ because it’s hard to know if you have the right religion

• Not clear if ‘ironic faith’ is enough like ‘faith’ to help Tolstoy

What if Life is Meaningless? • If you believe that life is ultimately

meaningless, don’t do anything rash…• Watch a child play, see how they can find

joy in nearly anything• The fact that your experiences feel real to

you is enough to give your life significance & meaning to you at least

• And the same is true of others as well• So, make some plans, do something fun, or

do something for someone else and then see if life feels meaningless