Part 1: Due 09/29/22
The meaning of life question is an ancient one. From Socrates to Jesus Christ, to contemporary thinkers like Dalai Lama, the question of the meaning of life evokes not just self-understanding but appreciation of the other. For some, understanding the meaning of life is founded on the acceptance death and futility of mundane endeavors. Yet, some equate meaning of life with success. Viktor Frankl sees meaning in a complete search peace through forgiveness. But, what do you think?
To prepare for this Discussion:
Review Interactive Unit 3, Module 2.
Reflect on the traditional approaches to the meaning of life discussed in the module.
Explore how you make sense of your own life, and how you find meaning.
Explore your experiences where you made decisions that impacted your own life and other people’s lives.
With these thoughts in mind:
By Day 3
Post a 2- to 3-paragraph response in which you discuss how your life has meaning. Why are we in the world? Do we have a greater purpose beyond the pleasures we enjoy and pains we endure? What constitutes meaning in your life? Is meaning intrinsic in life itself, or do we need to find meaning elsewhere? What makes life worth living?
Support your ideas by connecting them to Interactive Unit content, or something that you have read, heard, seen, or experienced. Be sure to use evidence to support your claims by citing your source. For example, acceptable citations include “According to the ‘Feminist Philosophy’ link” and “According to a January 5, 2015 article in the New York Times.”
Part 2: 09/30/22
Respond to colleague 1: G. HERN
Everyone is placed here on the earth for a reason, and it is up to us as individuals to figure out that reason. That reason gives us a purpose in life. Everyone has a greater purpose in life, for some that may be raising children and having a large family, for some that may be finding a cure for cancers, and for some, it may be being a caregiver. For me, my life is worth living because I have a son and animals that depend on me. Because of my son, I work harder so he does not have to struggle as much as I watched my parents do. I want to be able to provide him with the best of me. My life is not just being my son’s caregiver, because at some point even if I do not like it, he is going to leave my home and I need to be happy in whatever long-term career I choose for myself. I very much believe that the pleasures and pain we suffer or enjoy in our lives help shape us into a person and throughout our younger years, we use those experiences to find our purposes in life.
This view very many lines up with Victor Frankl who felt one must find meaning in the suffering of life. In his book A Man’s Search for Meaning, he talks about how he survived concentration camps and how his mother, father, and wife were all killed. He talked about how there were two distinct types of people in the camp, the ones who looked at life as a challenge, and the ones who had given up, he noticed the ones who were challenged tended to do better within the camps. Just like with Frankl I believe that a person must have a strong way to deal with sufferings in life. Frankl stated, “some suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds meaning.” My why is my son and my family, getting to better places than previously done before. My is to also find a job I’m passionate about so I never have to “work” in my life again.
Resources
undefined [WISDOM FOR LIFE]. (2017, November 19). MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING BY VIKTOR FRANKL [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved September 26, 2022, from
Respond to colleague 2: W. Dow
We all play a role in the world even with our own choices of what we do. Somehow it all merges to make the world work. Agreeing with existentialists, Soren Kierkegaard made it clear that “human beings construct their meaning and are responsible for their choices for their choices.” (Walden University, LLC (2018)). In adopting this idea, I realize we are here truly free and are responsible for making our own decisions as Jean-Paul Sartre also makes clear. In turn, this means a life of exploration, thus the pursuit of knowledge.
Socrates explained that we will be living worthlessly without pursuing wisdom. From my point of view, I agree. We must find purpose beyond our pleasures and pains so that we can satisfy our innate curiosity. The knowledge we acquire in each generation must be given to newer and upcoming generations to add to and continue our pursuit of wisdom.
My life’s meaning is constituted by developing memories to share with my descendants at the end of my life. Memories that would turn into stories and be passed down through generations of my family. This makes living life meaningful to me. As Will Durant stated, “The meaning of life, then, must lie within itself;” (Walden University, LLC (2018)). The meaning of life can be found in one’s own life, in what a person chooses to value and set as goals for themselves. My perspective of what makes life worth living is the experiences we have and share with others. The differences between individuals and the vision of what we can accomplish together. These are some of the many reasons we use to explore the question of what the meaning of life is.
