philosophical question

[Jebediah]

It;s only nonsensical if you take that Materialist approach.

In Theism, a mind precedes matter and life remember.

No, in some theisms mind precedes matter and life. I am called a theist by most, and I certainly do not make such a claim. And, if I remember correctly, the pre-existence of souls before incarnate life was decried as heresy in Christianity. Speak for you and yours, not all theists or even all Christians, when you make such a claim.

And materialism is not required to believe that mind proceeds from brain. Read up on existentialism. To wit: Existence precedes essence.

And materialism is not what makes the idea of "meaning of life" nonsensical. Life is a biological condition, not the state of existence of the psyche. Biological conditions do not have meaning.

 

[Blackguard_]

No, in some theisms mind precedes matter and life. I am called a theist by most, and I certainly do not make such a claim.

Right.

And, if I remember correctly, the pre-existence of souls before incarnate life was decried as heresy in Christianity. Speak for you and yours, not all theists or even all Christians, when you make such a claim.

The mind I refered to was God, not the pre-existence of souls.

And materialism is not required to believe that mind proceeds from brain. Read up on existentialism. To wit: Existence precedes essence.

Yeah I can see that again.

And materialism is not what makes the idea of "meaning of life" nonsensical. Life is a biological condition, not the state of existence of the psyche. Biological conditions do not have meaning.

But isn't a "biological condition" material? But I think I see what you're getting at, as things like bacteria have life but no mind to give their own lives meaning.

BUt I do believe a mind, i.e. God, preceded biological conditions and so could give some sort of intention to them, even though I don't think he necessarilly did.

 

[Eudaimonist]

But isn't a "biological condition" material?

How would such an intention matter to the human individual? How is it that God's purposes would be one's own?


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[Blackguard_]

How would such an intention matter to the human individual? How is it that God's purposes would be one's own?

1. You have to make your own choice as to life's meaning/ to follow God's purpose and be right or wrong.

2. There is no free will.

I'm not sure which one is correct.

 

[Eudaimonist]

1. You have to make your own choice as to life's meaning/ to follow God's purpose and be right or wrong.

Let's go with this one. What would make one's choice right or wrong? What do right and wrong mean here?


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[The Nihilist]

You say you are a recovering philosopher, but I conclude that you would be able to grasp the meaning of my question.

I think it will be more helpful if you can articulate exactly what it is you are asking. So, I ask again, what is meant by meaning in this context?

 

[Blackguard_]

Let's go with this one. What would make one's choice right or wrong? What do right and wrong mean here?

Whether what you decide is your life's meaning is actually lines up with what the meaning of life/your life is. Eg. if God intends the meaning of your life to be one thing but you decide on another, you would be wrong as to the meaning of your life.

But yeah, you couldn't make a right or wrong choice on the matter if you have to put meaning on your own life.

 

[Jebediah]

I think it will be more helpful if you can articulate exactly what it is you are asking. So, I ask again, what is meant by meaning in this context?

He's Orthodox...they don't have answers to much philosophy post-Aristotle. It can be extremely frustrating.

 

[The Nihilist]

He's Orthodox...they don't have answers to much philosophy post-Aristotle. It can be extremely frustrating.

I'd be happy if he could settle on a consistent definition.

 

[Knowledge3]

I think it will be more helpful if you can articulate exactly what it is you are asking. So, I ask again, what is meant by meaning in this context?

You ask me to explain the meaning of the word meaning.

The principles and qualities I associate with the word are love,beauty,art,appreciation,purity,mystery, and especially purpose.

Without meaning, there is no purpose in life.

 

[The Nihilist]

You ask me to explain the meaning of the word meaning.

The principles and qualities I associate with the word are love,beauty,art,appreciation,purity,mystery, and especially purpose.

Without meaning, there is no purpose in life.

What do you mean you associate these words with the word meaning? Do you mean that they are the same or that they are related? What you are asking is extremely confusing.

 

[Eudaimonist]

Whether what you decide is your life's meaning is actually lines up with what the meaning of life/your life is. Eg. if God intends the meaning of your life to be one thing but you decide on another, you would be wrong as to the meaning of your life.

What objective difference does your meaning make? Are you physically or psychologically different from other people because you have a different meaning than others? If God were to change your meaning, would you have to change in some way?

Without meaning, there is no purpose in life.

How are these related?


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[MorkandMindy]

...Without meaning, there is no purpose in life.

There is a determinism issue: If we are clocks then we don't have choice and aren't free agents in the way we would like to think of ourselves; as gods.

'Purpose' suggests our existence is not itself adequate but must have a role in some bigger plan.


To be ultimately satisfied with our existence we require:

1. to be completely rational and in control of our own lives
2. to also have some impact on some great super-human eternal entity.

 

[MorkandMindy]

What is the meaning of life?

Life is defined, take a simple biological one, so the meaning of life must apply to single celled organisms as much as to multicellular.

Ask a leaf of spinach

 

[DailyBlessings]

1. to have in mind as one's purpose or intention; intend: I meant to compliment you on your work.

As for this, I think people have a variety of meanings that they apply to their lives. All of us have conscious and unconscious intentions of what we would like to accomplish, and these cannot be summarized. The will of God precedes all of these intentions, and one can find oneself at a loss if one fails to listen to their vocation, but there is no uniform way to talk about the meaning of life through this definition- it would be different for each person, and many things are alive without having minds as such.

2. to intend for a particular purpose, destination, etc.: They were meant for each other.

Again, the meaning for which each living thing came into being is unique to it. One might say that all living things strive toward the greater balance and intention of the universe, such as that might be.

3. to intend to express or indicate: What do you mean by “liberal”?

Asking for a clarified definition of life might actually be the most difficult question to come to a consensus on. From a mechanistic, materialistic point of view, nothing is really alive- everything is just a collision of particles interacting in a surprisingly interesting way. From a panentheistic point of view such as mine, everything that exists has life, from creatures to solar systems.

4. to have as its sense or signification; signify: The word “freedom” means many things to many people.

What one implies by the term life probably depends on their answer according to definiton three.

5. to bring, cause, or produce as a result: This bonus means that we can take a trip to Florida.

Life causes things to have motion, to interact with other living things and to change the world around them.

6. to have (certain intentions) toward a person: He didn't mean you any harm.

I like to think that life has generally good intentions, if not always considerate. The greater pattern of life in the universe is a beautiful one, filled with many awe-inspiring and elegant iterations.

7. to have the value of; assume the importance of: Money means everything to them. She means the world to him.

This only applies to thoae living things which have some measure of consciousness, and I can only imagine that it varies from creature to creature. I've certainly known some people who did not value life at all, theirs or others'.

 

[phsyxx]

My interpretation is that this question is already pushing for an answer.
It is weighted -
If anyone has any time, go onto YouTube and watch a video with Douglas Adams explaining how, as a hunter, man sees the world in terms of purpose - and uses all things as such.

Therefore this question comes out of that.
As in, "what" rather than "is there " meaning.

Anyone understand where I'm coming from?

 

[Jebediah]

My interpretation is that this question is already pushing for an answer.
It is weighted -
If anyone has any time, go onto YouTube and watch a video with Douglas Adams explaining how, as a hunter, man sees the world in terms of purpose - and uses all things as such.

Therefore this question comes out of that.
As in, "what" rather than "is there " meaning.

Anyone understand where I'm coming from?

Yup. It's a consequence of not being able to cope with post-Aristotelean philosophy. Shame really; those that get to Kierkegaard are usually much more pleasant.

 

[DoubtingThomas29]

I'll try to help knowledge three to articulate the question, what is the meaning of life?

Meaning could mean purpose, or how you would define life. For me I think it is about having a reason for getting up in the morning.

Why don't we all become potato farmers and live off the land, and just go to the doctor for a doctor visit and pay him with potatos?

I feel what gets me up in the morning is to make a living. I want to keep my job and keep a roof over my head and money in my wallet. I also want a job that helps people, something I care about.

I see children as innocent creatures who pretty much haven't done nothing to anybody. I care about the children learning what they are suppose to learn. I am so glad I have a job where I feel like I am doing something more than just trying to see how fast I can wrap a hamburger.

I used to work at Mc Donald's and these people like are way too into their job for such little money, they all act like they are sandwich making experts, which is ridiculous, anybody can make those sandwiches and they act like this is a great thing making sandwiches. I'll tell you what is worth my time and energy is teaching the students english and mathematics, all while getting them to quiet down.

Take care,

Thomas

 

[The Nihilist]

Ok, I think your real question is this: How do we interpret the world, and what is the best way to live in it?

I think the answer is this: we each essentially decide for ourselves, whether by actively choosing for ourselvesor by accepting what we are told by our society. If our system of interpretation has the infrastructure to support it, then everything is fine. And I mean, I dunno, maybe a church, a community, and kind of a social reinforcement of the belief system. If not, there is a possibility that the system will break down, and in that case, nihilism may result., and that's bad.

 

[The Nihilist]

someone please tell me i'm wrong