Yes, this has already been discusses many times on ILP, but lets for the Love of Philosophy once more venture to expose the hopes of those who search, let their curiosity be feed, as “hunger not of the belly kind that’s banished with bacon and beans but the lonely cry of a hungry man for [truth] and all that it [brings].” To paraphrase Robert Service.
The Meaning of Life, not only is it an entertaining movie by Monty Python it’s also the birthplace of most philosophical investigations. Or should that be most people wonder about life and more to the point their life, then before you know it they’re whisked away to Disney World and surrounded by all sorts of philosophical amusements to deduce yet only induct more complex ways of phrasing the initial question… Meaning!
So where do we begin? Why at the beginning of course, but where is this beginning? The most obvious place is our birth, but how many of us still remember day one? Apart of those taking psychedelic trips back.
Now that we have a starting point let’s look at the possible avenues of discussion or directions we can take when looking for Meaning as over the centuries lots of intelligent people have whiled away their days looking for this illusive Meaning. Is it more then just a notion, an idea to keep people with too much spare bandwidth occupied?
Here are some of the more common approaches:
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Ontology: Metaphysics or as some would say ‘World Views’. Can we come to know our purpose by looking at this vast expanse of existence which surrounds us? (i.e. By examining the world we can find what we need to do to have meaning or put another way is meaning something we get from the world around us?). This is the basis which all ideas about Meaning sit, everything anybody believes comes from their view of the world in the context of their own existence. But there are many different dimensions to existence: Spiritual, Physical and Consciousness, (a.k.a Mind Body Soul dichotomy, although in this case there are three parts rather then two).
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Spiritual: ‘In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God’. How many ways can I love God, let me count the ways? But which God should I love? Religion can give Meaning to some, just look at 9/11 and jihads or the crusades. These people found meaning, but to those who have communed with “true spirituality†(i.e. their personal view) might think this is a shallow representation of the Meaning that can be found through the search for God. Loving God in a sense becomes the purpose of being and so Meaning. Those who like reason might call this the snake oil approach. It’s a combination of metaphysical and physical which creates an augmented picture of the world where facts are shaped to fit into the metaphysics and not so much the other way round. It’s like playing Jeopardy, they have the answers and with the help of theology they systematically make up the questions, well that would be Bertrand Russell’s view. But then again there are people who in the name of God give up their lives to help others and through this find a personal meaning. To help and serve bring them happiness.
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Physical: Can we reason Meaning from the physical world through such subjects as Biology, Physics or any of the other practical sciences? Could they hold valuable answers in this quest for Meaning? The different from this and Metaphysical inquiry is provability. In these empirical sciences could we reduce Meaning into some form of logical equation that has both a proof and a solution? (m = E/c^2) Or do we only have facts with no reason for why? Yes, Pi is 3.142… But why??? and if we knew would it be of any help in the search for meaning? Biology to a large degree tells us how the human body, amongst other things, functions. But do these functions give clues to meaning? As a child I’m expected to learn, as a teenager I use this still limited knowledge to rebel against the establishment. Middle-aged it’s time to settle down and have a family, then old-age is spent reflecting on the past while waiting for Death’s tingling cool caress. In most peoples’ society this is considered life’s path. The body is surprisingly adept at each of these points in life to fulfil the role. But by taking the biological function at face value we reduce meaning to our genes and the process of survival of the fittest. Is life in its multitude of variances struggling to stay alive through the process of evolution, taking only those incarnations that manage to survive the ultimate Meaning of Life? If life’s paramount concern isn’t survival, then life would surely cease to exist. I don’t deny this as a real possibility but most still have romantic ideas about Meaning.
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Consciousness: The human mind or any mind for that matter, lets not limit meaning to just our species. Does that mean each consciousness should have an independent personal meaning, or is meaning something that should be shared? Is my meaning also your meaning? Most would say each person needs to find their own version, as we are all different. So objective meaning isn’t true and it’s all subjective from our own point of view. We use our ability to reflect and ponder: Who we are and What we are and Why we are; the last of these being the search for meaning. Is it because finding answers so readily to the first two questions, we expect that there must be an answer to the Why? Without this ability to reflect we wouldn’t even know that we need to have a meaning for our existence.
Where does that leave use? For me meaning seems to be like looking for ‘Mr / Miss Right’ an ideal partner for the journey along the road of life. We might not be able to force it, but when we find it we’ll know. Or will it be more like unfulfilled love, must we choose to settle down with something that’s good enough, but not enough to invigorate our passion for this world through a life filled with meaning. What if our meaning is nothing more then the mechanical operation of the world around us, like the way the Tao or Buddha would see ourselves one with and in the world. So to search for a personal meaning is to miss the point of unity with all. But again this is just one point of view. To an egotist meaning could be found through worship of any kind be it love or fear; I see all God’s as egotistical entities, either you love or hate them, but never ignore them as then they cess to be.
Will Philosophy or Religion give you meaning? The old adage, ‘The search for meaning becomes our meaning to live’, yet this rings hollow to a great number of people. As an emotional being surely we should strive to live a hedonistic life? I don’t necessarily mean that in a self-indulgent way, but if happiness is good then it would make logical sense to always want to be happy? Could this search for happiness be enough for meaning, or is this searching just another version of the same meaning question? Does being happy in itself bring meaning. But what if the answer we believe to be true ends up making us depressed, can we be satisfied with this outcome? Must meaning bring happiness?
Could having too many choices in our life lead to this search for meaning? If life gave just two paths, either A or B would it be easier to find meaning? With all the possibilities and different choices we make on a daily basis, are we left suffering and searching for meaning because the obvious path to take isn’t available to us? With so many options to choose from does the process of selecting the right one in itself lead to us asking the question what is our purpose, thereby knowing which is the right choice? Remove the knowledge of different choices and do we also remove the search for meaning as there is only one possible way to live our life?
