The Purpose Driven Life

[Eudaimonist]

I'd say that one reason for the idea of life having a purpose [to life] comes from the law of causality (or cause and effect relationship). This law states that "one cause can have many effects, but no effect can be quantitatively greater or qualitatively superior to its cause."

I can't think of a single good reason why this should be a law of causality.

I'm personally of the belief that everything that has a beginning has a cause (I am referring to the efficient cause, or the chief agent causing something to be made or happen), or a reason why and so on. This in turn gives rise to meaning.

A "reason why" has to do with final causation, not efficient causation. E.g. lightning striking a piece of wood and causing it to catch fire is only efficient causation... and there is no meaning to the burning of the wood, since there was no intent for the wood to burn. If I were to light a match and touch it to the wood, this would be both efficient and final causation. Something that comes about due to efficient causation does not necessarily have a "reason why", at least not a reason in someone's mind, and therefore no necessary meaning.

 

[BelovedSonofRock]

Christians do not believe that there is a 'cosmic purposes imposed' on anyone either but as you do, that you have free will to choose your own direction.

Interesting. Do most Christians really believe this?

I was at an atheist forum reading a thread that a Christian put out asking about how the universe was made. When someone mentioned an expanding and collapsing universe the Christian asked what was the purpose of that.

That statement, along with The Purpose Driven Life and other conversations that I've had give me the idea that many Christians (at least US Evangelicals) do believe that life has a cosmic purpose.

 

[Valiant]

Eudaimonist:

A "reason why" has to do with final causation, not efficient causation. E.g. lightning striking a piece of wood and causing it to catch fire is only efficient causation... and there is no meaning to the burning of the wood, since there was no intent for the wood to burn. If I were to light a match and touch it to the wood, this would be both efficient and final causation. Something that comes about due to efficient causation does not necessarily have a "reason why", at least not a reason in someone's mind, and therefore no necessary meaning.

Okay, good points. We can explain why or what caused the wood to catch fire when lightning strikes it, in terms of heat and energy transfer, for example. I guess there would be no meaning or purpose to it (as you said). A similar thing with car accidents. Someone may have crossed over to the wrong side of the road and hit another car.

Cause: car crossing onto the wrong side of road and travels into the path of an incoming car.
Effect: smashed cars.

For this, I guess there would be no meaning or no purpose. We have a reason why (driver may have fell asleep) and how it happened, but no meaning or purpose.

So, to an atheist, life has no meaning (no purpose) then. Would I be right in assuming that?

 

[Eudaimonist]

So, to an atheist, life has no meaning (no purpose) then. Would I be right in assuming that?

Only no "cosmic" meaning or purpose. No purpose outside of one's own purposes.

I view my life as having purpose. As an intelligent and self-directed being, I am capable of final causation, and so I can have purposes. Moreover, depending on individual talents, capacities, circumstances, etc, (not what caused one's existence as a human individual) I think there are certain purposes that an individual ought to prefer over others, justifying one's selection of those purposes, and making their fulfillment special and appropriate to that individual. I think one is justified in feeling that they are uniquely "one's own purposes".

But I'm a little strange as an atheist philosophically, perhaps. What I describe above assumes some philosophy many atheists wouldn't agree with.

 

[TeddyKGB]

I'd say that one reason for the idea of life having a purpose [to life] comes from the law of causality (or cause and effect relationship). This law states that "one cause can have many effects, but no effect can be quantitatively greater or qualitatively superior to its cause." Observed effects are assumed to have causes because of this law, and are not treated as purely random or chance occurrences.

Hmm. A nuclear explosion is caused by a relatively small initial series of forced decay events. By any measure I can think of, the explosion itself is "greater" than and "superior" to its cause.

I guess it is technically possible for your "law" to hold in that case, but it requires transcending billions of years to find the conditions under which the fissile material was born.

 

[levi501]

purpose of my life.... to seek pleasure and avoid pain.

 

[JohnR7]

I read The Purpose Driven Life and the question I have is...

Why must life have a purpose?

I have not read that book, but I have read the Bible. Going back to Moses we discover that we have a choice in life. We can choose life or death, sickness or health, blessing or curse. So really our purpose in life then is to choose health, blessings and life itself. People who tend to think there is no reason or purpose in life tend to think they can sit on the fence and live a neutral life. But God tells us there is no fense sitting and you have to go one way or the other.

There are people who speculate that because everyone going back to Adam and Eve are given the choice between life and death, then that must be the reason or purpose we were born or created to see what our choice will be. This can cause us to ask: How then shall we live? What sort of a life does God want for us? How can we be sure that He is well pleased with us?

 

[BelovedSonofRock]

So really our purpose in life then is to choose health, blessings and life itself.

So, are you saying that the reason life has a purpose is so that we can choose? The why and the what of a purpose for life is the same thing? To choose?

 

[psychedelicist]

but it's a joke as wisdom.

Funny you should say that because it is also the idea that most discordians hold. Jokes as wisdom.

I personally like discordianism as an idea simply because it professes jokes as wisdom, while making a joke out of itself. It's a funny paradox, but its just a funny idea, not really a religion. We know this just as well as you do. We just find it funnier.

You'd make a great discordian.

 

[BelovedSonofRock]

I don't think it is arrogance to hope we have more reason to exist than a bug. I would also think I could fulfil a higher purpose than my dog. If we are merely another animal and there is not reason for our existence then we like our dog simply eat, sleep and die. I think that is selling ourselves short and I don't thing thinking that is arrogant.

It's sounds like you are saying that some species of life (humans) have a purpose and other species (dogs) don't. Or that some purposes for life are higher than other purposes.

The original question was: Why must life have a purpose?

Now in your case: Why must life have purposes?

You expressed that you hope life has a purpose. Why must your life have a purpose? Or as others have put it: Why must your life have a cosmic purpose?

Are you hinting that life has to have a purpose so we can sleep better at night?

 

[MidnightBlue]

Why must life have a purpose?

"We just drift along from day to day. We have a roof over our heads, clothes to wear, and we eat and drink well. We have and get the good things of life so easily it seems silly to go to some boring, meaningless, frustrating job to get the money to buy them, yet almost everyone does. 'Earning their way in life,' they call it. 'Slavery,' I call it.

"Sometimes Daddy frets and says we are little better than possums living this way. Possums can live most anywhere, even in big cities. They're the stupidest of animals, but there were possums on Earth millions of years before men appeared, and here they are--still going strong.

"Who can say if we or they will outlast the others in our good green world? They're all fat and sassy and love life (or so I like to believe), and nothing you can do will persuade one to work in a factory or office. Possum living is what we call our life here now.

"So we live like possums? Good! Let us do so even more."

- Dolly Freed, Possum Living​

 

[humblemuslim]

Why must life have a purpose?

Life need not have any univseral purpose (However some have religious beliefs as to one).

Yet life has a purpose for each individual person and that is to achieve their personal goals.

 

[chava]

Why must life have a purpose?

Because it is God's will therefore human beings are instilled with this sense that there has to be some reason for them being here.

 

[psychedelicist]

Because it is God's will therefore human beings are instilled with this sense that there has to be some reason for them being here.

But what about people like me who don't like the idea of my life having a set purpose, even a self-set subjective purpose?

Which I suppose might be kind of impossible, if a-purposeness can still be considered a purpose (the same kind of debate, I suppose, as the "is atheism a religion" debate)...

 

[AFallingStar]

I guess I've always thought life has a purpose because the alternative would be that it didn't and we all just existed for no good reason. I believe that people can find purpose in their life, a reason to want to live, even if the odds are against them. But I dunno...I guess life without purpose seems scary...

 

[psychedelicist]

Scary, yes. What could be more terrifying but vaguely heroic and attractive than the idea of you, alone, against the endless infinity of existence, for no purpose but your own? There's a reason why it's probably the most overdone cliche storyline ever invented, you know

 

[BelovedSonofRock]

Because it is God's will therefore human beings are instilled with this sense that there has to be some reason for them being here.

So, you are saying that the reason why we have a purpose is that God gave us a purpose. Why did God give us a purpose? And what happens if we don't find that purpose?

 

[BelovedSonofRock]

I guess I've always thought life has a purpose because the alternative would be that it didn't and we all just existed for no good reason. I believe that people can find purpose in their life, a reason to want to live, even if the odds are against them. But I dunno...I guess life without purpose seems scary...

So, you're saying that life has a purpose because otherwise it would be scary? So, life has a purpose so that we will not be scared?

 

[somasoma77]

The Christian ego is inflated with an easy fix, a purpose to get converts.The old saleman trick they teach ministers to get a congregation and manipulate them. The true Chrisitians are humble, peace loving and believe we are all God's children. They don't divide people into the purpose driven and the floaters.

 

[BelovedSonofRock]

The Christian ego is inflated with an easy fix, a purpose to get converts.The old saleman trick they teach ministers to get a congregation and manipulate them. The true Chrisitians are humble, peace loving and believe we are all God's children. They don't divide people into the purpose driven and the floaters.

I feel you're being unfair toward Christians. Most humans want an easy fix, a simple answer. That is why people of all cultures and religions fall for false cures and false information.