The Meaning of Life

1. The Meaning of “Meaning” One part of the field of life's meaning consists of the systematic attempt to clarify what people mean when they ask in virtue of what life has meaning. Beyond drawing the distinction between the life of an individual and that of a whole, there has been very little discussion of life as the logical bearer of meaning. Returning to topics on which there is consensus, most writing on meaning believe that it comes in degrees such that some periods of life are more meaningful than others and that some lives as a whole are more meaningful than others (perhaps contra Britton 1969, 192). Another uncontroversial element of the sense of “meaningfulness” is that it connotes a good that is conceptually distinct from happiness or rightness (something emphasized in Wolf 2010). Of course, one might argue that a life would be meaningless if (or even because) it were unhappy or immoral, particularly given Aristotelian conceptions of these disvalues. 2. 2.1 God-centered Views

Cambridge Nights | Conversations about a life in science We Are All Princes, Paupers, and Part of the Human Family - Facts So Romantic I recently discovered that my 10-times-great-grandfather bought a good chunk of Brooklyn from the Lenape Indians. He was one of the first Dutch landowners on this continent, a man who had run a laundry bleaching business in Holland but had traveled under the auspices of the Dutch West India Company to become a farmer in the New World. The deed in question, written in Dutch in 1636, is the first record of any land being sold on Long Island. Pretty neat, right? Chances are, if you have a famous ancestor far enough back that finding out about them is a surprise, you share them with a small city of other people. Now, there’s another important implication of these studies: Most of the people you are descended from are no more genetically related to you than strangers are. Now, there’s another important implication of genomic ancestry studies: Most of the people you are descended from are no more genetically related to you than strangers are. Luke Jostins”>

Is Death Bad for You? - The Chronicle Review By Shelly Kagan We all believe that death is bad. But why is death bad? In thinking about this question, I am simply going to assume that the death of my body is the end of my existence as a person. (If you don't believe me, read the first nine chapters of my book.) People sometimes respond that death isn't bad for the person who is dead. Story 1. Story 2. Story 2 is worse. In thinking about this question, it is important to be clear about what we're asking. Maybe nonexistence is bad for me, not in an intrinsic way, like pain, and not in an instrumental way, like unemployment leading to poverty, which in turn leads to pain and suffering, but in a comparative way—what economists call opportunity costs. Despite the overall plausibility of the deprivation account, though, it's not all smooth sailing. If death has no time at which it's bad for me, then maybe it's not bad for me. Suppose that on Monday I shoot John. Should we just reject the existence requirement? Hmm. Wait.

Funny monkey experiment Posted on February 7, 2012 in Humor If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Facebook or Twitter . Thanks for visiting! Rate this Post Loading ... So... Check this out on our Partner Network The Meaning of Life (or, What's it all about?) Now available in Spanish! (Traduccin de hsu - midipaj@arrakis.es ) Let's step back a moment... Why do you want to know the meaning of life? Often people ask this question when they really want the answer to some other question. If you're questioning the meaning of life because you've been unhappy and depressed a good bit, click here. On a related note, if you want to know the meaning of life because you feel useless and worthless, click here. If you want to see our answer so that you can prove your intellectual prowess by poking holes in it, click here. If something awful just happened to you or someone you care about and you don't understand why bad things happen to good people, click here. If you would like to help the world but most of the rest of the world seems completely insane, click here. If you wonder why there is so much hatred in the world, click here. If you wonder why there is so much violence in our society, click here. The Meaning of Life - Part II