- Concepts of meaning and purpose
- The problem of purpose and meaning of life in philosophy
- Buddhist understanding of the meaning of human life
- Purpose and meaning of life: Ayurvedic knowledge
A disturbing, contradictory and burning question at all times of the existence of life on earth for man, a thinking being, remains this: “What is the meaning and purpose of life?” And how many people, so many opinions on this issue. Before understanding this philosophical category “the purpose and meaning of human life...”, it is worth understanding what these words mean – “meaning” and “goal”?
Find the meaning of life. How can any of us do this?
You can find the meaning and purpose of your existence based on the question:
What value can I see in my life?
After all, it is the awareness of what is happening AS VALUABLE that fills our existence with meaning.
Again, I want to emphasize an important nuance: it is necessary to see what is valuable in YOUR life. At the same time, throwing out false stereotypes from your head, imperceptibly hypnotically instilled by the media and society. Also, it is worth saying goodbye to the expectations of relatives. Because all this will not allow you to meet YOUR meaning.
3 values that ANYONE can see will help us. He will see it if he wants. Provided that you look closely at your existence.
1. The meaning of life is in our experiences
This refers to experiencing oneself in relationships with loved ones. This is love, friendship. These are feelings, emotions. Also, spiritual, intellectual, and aesthetic experiences are very important and beautiful. Especially from simple moments accessible to all of us.
Nowadays they write and talk a lot about exactly this - learning to see the simple beauty that surrounds us. At some point, wisdom sets in and a person becomes able to fixate on his experiences. It is then that one can say that “I love life, I love the world.”
2. The meaning of life is creation
Oh, everyone doesn't have to be a great composer, architect, or astronaut. Each of us necessarily creates something small and quite accessible. For example, borscht cooks deliciously. Raises a child. Or, he can do something that most people can’t. Well, and most importantly, he builds his own life.
All these are acts of creation. Our task is to understand that EACH of us is a creator in some way. And every person can succeed in this. The most important thing is to stop belittling your achievements and skills. You need to see them!
3. The meaning of life is in suffering
A very interesting point that is not always immediately clear. I first understood its meaning from the words of a woman, a hospice employee.
She said that their dying people are divided into two categories. The first category dies with severe negative emotions. The second category is people who, until the end of their days, want to show others how they can remain human while dying. These people demonstrate fortitude, resilience and positivity. Until their death they live Life.
Also, as a striking example, I will cite the well-known Nick Vuychich. A man without arms, without legs, who proved to the whole world that suffering can be overcome. Even in this situation.
I’ll also give the example of the singer Madonna. She was interviewed in which she said: “I am very grateful to all those who caused me pain and suffering. To everyone who betrayed me. After all, it was by getting up from my knees every time that I became even stronger. It was thanks to them that I became who I am now.”
How to find the meaning of your life?
Self-realization
Self-realization is the process of realizing one’s abilities, abilities, skills in society, the ability to apply knowledge, and achieving goals. This is one of the highest human needs.
Self-knowledge is the process of a person learning about himself, his capabilities, moral qualities, and his own physical and mental characteristics.
Types of self-knowledge
- Direct – self-observation
- Indirect – analysis of one’s own activities and actions.
Paths of self-discovery
- Self-recognition is when a child becomes aware of himself as an individual person.
- Knowing oneself through knowing others - a person evaluates the actions and actions of others, accepting them or not, this is how personality qualities and worldview are formed.
- Self-esteem is a person’s emotional attitude towards himself, acceptance or not of his own behavior.
- Assessing the results of your activities, your behavior, self-observation.
- Self-confession is a person’s internal report to himself about his actions, actions, and attitude towards people.
Types of self-esteem
- Adequate or realistic - a person is objective in assessing himself.
- Inflated self-esteem - a person thinks of himself better than he really is.
- Low self-esteem - a person underestimates himself, his abilities and capabilities.
“I” is a concept – a person’s stable idea of himself.
The meaning of human life on Earth
The meaning of human life on Earth has concerned humanity for a long time. All religions try to answer it. At the same time, each claims to be true. However, new theories appear all the time, one more interesting than the other.
I will not retell excerpts from religious teachings. Instead, I will tell you two theories that are interesting in my opinion, namely a person from science, a psychologist.
Logotherapy's view of the meaning of all human life on Earth
Logotherapy is translated as “therapy with meaning.” That is why this concept is key here. But, despite this, logotherapy DOES NOT GIVE an exact answer.
Or rather, he believes that for a person the meaning of his life on Earth is UNCOMPROSIBLE. And therefore, there is no need to ask such a global question.
And really, think about it. We live in three dimensions. These are: time, space, matter. And, today science knows at least 10 dimensions. Which explain the structure of the Universe. What happens and what meanings look like at the level of 10 dimensions - who knows? Our brains and our level of development simply cannot explain these things.
Quantum theory's view of the meaning of life
According to her, everything is information. I am a bundle of information, you are a bundle of information. Moreover, “quantum entanglement” (a term from science) suggests that ALL information is connected and interacts with each other.
And, naturally, the properties of the set of all quantum particles, which is the world, are distributed IMMEDIATELY between all particles. Moreover, an attempt to measure the property of one particle immediately changes the parameters of others associated with it.
How does this relate to the meaning of life on Earth?
Probably because meaning is incredibly comprehensive and each of us is a piece of global meaning. And, when you try to observe it, micro-changes immediately occur, spreading like a wave to the rest of the world. Like the “butterfly effect”.
I think we can use the World Wide Web as a simplified metaphor. After all, it is also a field of information where ALL information influences each other.
For example, there is a separate page with an article. Which is written, lives for itself and asks the question: what is my meaning? And if I rewrite this page, it will affect the entire Internet system. Since the page with the article will be displayed based on user requests in a different place. Plus, its semantic load will become different. This means that the location of other pages will change. That is, one page is small, but it affects the ENTIRE information system.
What is the meaning of human life on Earth?
Pragmatism
Pragmatism states that the end justifies any means.
A person must achieve success by any means, without disdaining anything.
The only possible criterion is benefit.
While utilitarianism is limited to the area of ethics, pragmatism goes beyond and explores other issues as well.
The criterion of truth and semantic significance in pragmatism is practice.
That is, we must translate the issue into a practical plane and decide
what happens if the statement is true, and what happens if the statement is false?
Let's proceed from this.
The meaning of life quotes
Wise sayings about the meaning of life. Answers to this question from great people - thinkers, writers, poets, historians, politicians, philosophers
Everything that changes our lives is not an accident. It is within us and awaits only an external reason for expression through action. Alexander Sergeevich Green
Life is neither suffering nor pleasure, but a task that we must do and honestly complete it. Alexis Tocqueville
Strive not to achieve success, but to ensure that your life has meaning. Albert Einstein
Every life creates its own destiny. Henri Amiel
Life is a moment. It cannot be lived first in a draft and then rewritten into a white paper. Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
It is not necessary to look at where a person was born, but what his morals are, not in what land, but by what principles he decided to live his life. Apuleius
Life - is a risk. Only by getting into risky situations do we continue to grow. And one of the biggest risks we can take is the risk of love, the risk of being vulnerable, the risk of allowing ourselves to open up to another person without fear of pain or hurt. Arianna Huffington
No one lived in the past, no one will have to live in the future; the present is the form of life. Arthur Schopenhauer
We should not be afraid of death, but of empty life. Bertolt Brecht
The moral qualities of a person should be judged not by his individual efforts, but by his daily life. Blaise Pascal
Our life is a journey, an idea is a guide. There is no guide and everything stops. The goal is lost, and the strength is gone. Victor Hugo
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Utilitarianism
According to utilitarianism, to live means to benefit from everything and everyone.
Utilitarian ethics states that the only criterion for the correctness of an action is its consequences.
This approach is called consequentialism and is opposed to the deontological approach, which
expressed in Kant's categorical imperative.
The classic of utilitarianism Jeremy Bentham preached the principle of “maximizing happiness”:
when faced with a moral dilemma,
a person must choose the option that will subsequently result in more happy people.
“Start living right away and consider each day a separate life”
Seneca
Abraham Maslow identified a set of needs that underlie all motivation, and therefore all action. He classified them into 6 categories:
- physiological needs (food, drink, sleep),
- need for security (housing, money),
- the need for achievement (development of one’s knowledge, values and potential),
- need for belonging (family, community),
- need for respect (feeling of being usefulness),
- the need to transcend oneself (invest in a cause that goes beyond oneself).
