Post by Tra_XxX on Feb 21, 2008 13:44:57 GMT -5
A generic question, I know, but let's consider it all the same 
What's the meaning of life? In which direction is humanity going and for what purpose? How do we find the meaning of life? Is there a meaning?
I'll write back later with my views, I must be doing yet more Archaeology presently
(God I'm gonna be so glad when it's over 
)
Edit: Here's my opinion.
First of all I'm not sure there is a meaning, and I'm not sure we will ever be sure. Therefore I'm not sure we will ever be certain of the meaning, even if we are certain there is one. As a student of Philosophy the search for truth is ever important for me when discussing such things as this, and finding truth is the primary goal before we try to apply truths to our existence and world.
Even if there is a meaning it is naturally very difficult to accurately say what it is. If we suggest that our purpose is to find happiness there where is the consequence in that? What possible meaning could ultimate happiness have? I refer to ultimate happiness here because I believe that if happiness, or pleasure, is our goal as an individual human and possibly humanity as a whole then are we putting all forms of happiness into equity? For me we should not; I believe there is long term pleasure and short term pleasure and that our entire actions as individuals are based around these two forms of pleasure. As a general rule we seek long term pleasure, something that will last beyond our comprehension, but we also seek short terms pleasures, something with a conceivable end but not limitless in nature. If a short term pleasure will compromise our long term pleasure then we will not act go bring the short term pleasure into being, indeed we would put ourselves into short term displeasure so that we might satisfy some long term end. I, for example, am slaving over my Archaeology coursework so that in the long term I might be able to benefit from it more so than if I just satisfy my short term pleasures. However, if the short term pleasure is non-compromising of our long term pleasures then we feel compelled to act on them too. Watching the TV presently might be a short term pleasure but it is unlikely to compromise my long term pleasures, i.e. I will not be compromised by watching it (unless it's particularly stressful but let's not focus too much on the logistics of the examples I'm giving). To be bereft of the short term pleasures might even cause the compromise of the long term ones so, naturally, acting on the short term ones are thus advisable as long as they don't affect the long term pleasures. If a potential murderer were to apply this he might come to the conclusion that murdering a certain person might be pleasurable short term but in the long term could cause severe dissatisfaction and as a consequence would not perform the murder.
There are limitations of this, of course, and most are partly due to the fact that I don't believe in ultimate happiness and it's meaning. If we cannot conceive the nature of our ultimate happiness then why should we have reason to even be sure there is such a thing? How do we know what pleasure is? Is it an intuitive feeling, and if so how can we justify this as being a definition of pleasure? The whole thing is riddled with flaws and is simply not justified, but I believe that humanity could, theoretically, work along these terms and perhaps is unknowingly?
Where is humanity going anyway? What is our cause for living? What is our direction? The 19th century seems to me to have been an exciting time to live; perceptions were being challenged and reclassified; science was rising up and justifying why things were the way they were and how they worked; science was new and expounding on every aspect of human life and humanity was working behind it driving it forward. Life was changing, basically, for the individual and for society, but what about now? Science might still be evolving but at a slower rate it seems, and humanity is beginning to get bored of it already and questioning its accuracy and benefits. Discontentment with life is ubiquitous and there doesn't seem to be a direction. Once we have our science what does it do for us? Where does it bring us? In the 19th century it would be reasonable to assume that all this unknown science might bring us some meaning and that was humanity's drive for a while; to bring science to light and ultimately bring our meaning to light. Now we are uncertain, and this is good for certainty is not easily defined. However, uncertainty gets so tedious after its initial exciting premiss supposing that all we see around us is questionable; the moon, the sun, science, religion, the table and our friends; all are questionable. We need a direction but before that we need to justify our beliefs and if we can't we need to work out how to justify them. We basically need certainty before we can even begin to propose meaning. Perhaps we're being too greedy asking for the meaning now? Perhaps we need to just go along with humanity and play our part, and perhaps one day the meaning will become apparent to our ancestors? Or perhaps there's no meaning and hence why do we continue to live and what will happen to humanity if it finds there is no meaning and truly becomes aware of their reality?
'Even if there is a heaven when we die, endless bliss would be as meaningless as the lie'
Just some thoughts
Please post yours 
What's the meaning of life? In which direction is humanity going and for what purpose? How do we find the meaning of life? Is there a meaning?
I'll write back later with my views, I must be doing yet more Archaeology presently
(God I'm gonna be so glad when it's over ) Edit: Here's my opinion.
First of all I'm not sure there is a meaning, and I'm not sure we will ever be sure. Therefore I'm not sure we will ever be certain of the meaning, even if we are certain there is one. As a student of Philosophy the search for truth is ever important for me when discussing such things as this, and finding truth is the primary goal before we try to apply truths to our existence and world.
Even if there is a meaning it is naturally very difficult to accurately say what it is. If we suggest that our purpose is to find happiness there where is the consequence in that? What possible meaning could ultimate happiness have? I refer to ultimate happiness here because I believe that if happiness, or pleasure, is our goal as an individual human and possibly humanity as a whole then are we putting all forms of happiness into equity? For me we should not; I believe there is long term pleasure and short term pleasure and that our entire actions as individuals are based around these two forms of pleasure. As a general rule we seek long term pleasure, something that will last beyond our comprehension, but we also seek short terms pleasures, something with a conceivable end but not limitless in nature. If a short term pleasure will compromise our long term pleasure then we will not act go bring the short term pleasure into being, indeed we would put ourselves into short term displeasure so that we might satisfy some long term end. I, for example, am slaving over my Archaeology coursework so that in the long term I might be able to benefit from it more so than if I just satisfy my short term pleasures. However, if the short term pleasure is non-compromising of our long term pleasures then we feel compelled to act on them too. Watching the TV presently might be a short term pleasure but it is unlikely to compromise my long term pleasures, i.e. I will not be compromised by watching it (unless it's particularly stressful but let's not focus too much on the logistics of the examples I'm giving). To be bereft of the short term pleasures might even cause the compromise of the long term ones so, naturally, acting on the short term ones are thus advisable as long as they don't affect the long term pleasures. If a potential murderer were to apply this he might come to the conclusion that murdering a certain person might be pleasurable short term but in the long term could cause severe dissatisfaction and as a consequence would not perform the murder.
There are limitations of this, of course, and most are partly due to the fact that I don't believe in ultimate happiness and it's meaning. If we cannot conceive the nature of our ultimate happiness then why should we have reason to even be sure there is such a thing? How do we know what pleasure is? Is it an intuitive feeling, and if so how can we justify this as being a definition of pleasure? The whole thing is riddled with flaws and is simply not justified, but I believe that humanity could, theoretically, work along these terms and perhaps is unknowingly?
Where is humanity going anyway? What is our cause for living? What is our direction? The 19th century seems to me to have been an exciting time to live; perceptions were being challenged and reclassified; science was rising up and justifying why things were the way they were and how they worked; science was new and expounding on every aspect of human life and humanity was working behind it driving it forward. Life was changing, basically, for the individual and for society, but what about now? Science might still be evolving but at a slower rate it seems, and humanity is beginning to get bored of it already and questioning its accuracy and benefits. Discontentment with life is ubiquitous and there doesn't seem to be a direction. Once we have our science what does it do for us? Where does it bring us? In the 19th century it would be reasonable to assume that all this unknown science might bring us some meaning and that was humanity's drive for a while; to bring science to light and ultimately bring our meaning to light. Now we are uncertain, and this is good for certainty is not easily defined. However, uncertainty gets so tedious after its initial exciting premiss supposing that all we see around us is questionable; the moon, the sun, science, religion, the table and our friends; all are questionable. We need a direction but before that we need to justify our beliefs and if we can't we need to work out how to justify them. We basically need certainty before we can even begin to propose meaning. Perhaps we're being too greedy asking for the meaning now? Perhaps we need to just go along with humanity and play our part, and perhaps one day the meaning will become apparent to our ancestors? Or perhaps there's no meaning and hence why do we continue to live and what will happen to humanity if it finds there is no meaning and truly becomes aware of their reality?
'Even if there is a heaven when we die, endless bliss would be as meaningless as the lie'
Just some thoughts
Please post yours 
