The Meaning of Life

[The Man in Black]

Originally Posted by Banefull

With this is in mind. An aethiest would say that there is no meaning in life, a theist on the other hand would say that there is.

But by saying there is no meaning in life, wouldn't that inherently supply a meaning? *Twilight zone theme*, jk

[Banefull]

Well that touches upon things like: Is nothing something? Another big philosophical quandary.

[Grif]

As an atheist I believe that life has no meaning, so just have fun with it.

[Fosus]

This is from lyrics of one song:
"The meaning of life is to give life meaning"

But IMO it's just more difficult way of saying "Life itself is a meaning".

[Marley]

I believe that the meaning of life is yourself, you are the meaning of YOUR life.. As strange as that may sound.

[Ashen Key]

Originally Posted by Banefull

With this is in mind. An aethiest would say that there is no meaning in life, a theist on the other hand would say that there is.

Disclaimer: this isn't to start a religious debate. We can discuss such things in another thread.

(then maybe don't make grand sweeping statements like that?)

And, well, AS an atheist, I say life has what meaning you yourself put into it. I mean, yes, on the biological level the meaning of life is to survive long enough to reproduce, but that doesn't really cut it with humans, I don't think. So, yes, life is what you make it - and that it probably doesn't matter if you believe in a deity or not, you are still going to find a meaning in your life if you are that way inclined.

[Nargacuga]

IMO:

I don't believe in the meaning of life, all that matters is we are alive.

[Banefull]

Originally Posted by Ashen Key

And, well, AS an atheist, I say life has what meaning you yourself put into it. I mean, yes, on the biological level the meaning of life is to survive long enough to reproduce, but that doesn't really cut it with humans, I don't think. So, yes, life is what you make it - and that it probably doesn't matter if you believe in a deity or not, you are still going to find a meaning in your life if you are that way inclined.

But how does your wishful thinking change life's inherent meaning? I would argue that you start with an inherent purpose and simply discover it along the way rather than making one for yourself.

[Ashen Key]

Originally Posted by Banefull

But how does your wishful thinking change life's inherent meaning? I would argue that you start with an inherent purpose and simply discover it along the way rather than making one for yourself.

As I said, biological life's inherent meaning is to continue. Beyond that - no, life in general doesn't have a meaning, so we ourselves have to create one for OUR life. I don't believe in a deity, I don't believe in fate, so I don't believe that someone out there has given me something that I have to find. I have the choices that come up in the course of my life, and the option to take them, or to think about them, and form my own meaning.

[Banefull]

I think we are confusing semantics here. Meaning is what is inherent to something. Interpretation is what we attach to things. I never said that you shouldn't try to interpret things or interpret what we should do in life. Your view on inherent meaning from a biological perspective is simply an interpretation of things. Life does continue but there is nothing to indicate that it is intended to do so. The mechanism for continuing could have no meaning at all.

[Ashen Key]

Originally Posted by Banefull

I think we are confusing semantics here. Meaning is what is inherent to something. Interpretation is what we attach to things. I never said that you shouldn't try to interpret things or interpret what we should do in life. Your view on inherent meaning from a biological perspective is simply an interpretation of things. Life does continue but there is nothing to indicate that it is intended to do so.

...And so, logically, your view on the meaning of life is just another interpretation, and we get nowhere because we can't discuss the meaning of life because it's all just an interpretation.

And, yes, actually, we can hazard a guess that life's purposes is to continue, based on what we KNOW of living creatures. Life bounces back, again and again, and has done so for billions of years. And look at all the animals who die after reproducing - their "purposes", as far as Nature is concerned, is done.

But as humans now have choices about whether to reproduce or not, that doesn't help in the philosophical aspect.

[Banefull]

The problem is that no one truly knows what the meaning of life is or whether such a thing exists. What is food for thought is whether it can even be discovered (if its there to begin with)

As you say in the end, its just a guess. Life could very well have been created by aliens. We may be a giant petri dish experiment where life was seeded but accidentally had the ability to reproduce. The ability to have a choice does not necessarily provide evidence towards any meaning.

[Human No More]

Baneful, that is a typical theist interpretation, and not true at all. People can have their OWN meanings, which is far better than being told what to do by an argument from authority. Having a dictated purpose that is not your own is possibly the worst way to live possible.

Originally Posted by Fosus

This is from lyrics of one song:
"The meaning of life is to give life meaning"

But IMO it's just more difficult way of saying "Life itself is a meaning".

Originally Posted by Ashen Key

As I said, biological life's inherent meaning is to continue. Beyond that - no, life in general doesn't have a meaning, so we ourselves have to create one for OUR life. I don't believe in a deity, I don't believe in fate, so I don't believe that someone out there has given me something that I have to find. I have the choices that come up in the course of my life, and the option to take them, or to think about them, and form my own meaning.

Exactly.

[Banefull]

@ HMN Again I say that we're just getting into a semantics argument.

mean·ing   [mee-ning]

1.
what is intended to be, or actually is, expressed or indicated; signification; import: the three meanings of a word.
2.
the end, purpose, or significance of something: What is the meaning of life? what is the meaning of this intrusion?

By the way the word is defined. Meaning is an objective frame of reference. That objective frame of reference may or may not exist. I never said that people should not try and figure things out for themselves. I never said that.

[Ashen Key]

Originally Posted by Banefull

@ HMN Again I say that we're just getting into a semantics argument.

mean·ing   [mee-ning]

1.
what is intended to be, or actually is, expressed or indicated; signification; import: the three meanings of a word.
2.
the end, purpose, or significance of something: What is the meaning of life? what is the meaning of this intrusion?

By the way the word is defined. Meaning is an objective frame of reference. That objective frame of reference may or may not exist. I never said that people should not try and figure things out for themselves. I never said that.

Yes, but you are arguing against what people usually MEAN when they talk about the meaning of life - that's where the confusion is coming in.