tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1747503782613986319.post1290330306753080811..comments2022-06-10T22:26:42.828-05:00Comments on Looking In The Distance: What Is The Meaning Of Life?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1747503782613986319.post-77366322508561341482008-02-07T08:21:00.000-05:002008-02-07T08:21:00.000-05:00DM, Andy et al:Enjoyed your comments! I think we ...DM, Andy et al:<BR/><BR/>Enjoyed your comments! I think we are all in basic agreement and I think Eagleton is on the same page too. Eagleton asks:<B> <I> Is love then the meaning of life?</B></I> and discusses this in terms of one of the four forms of love, that of 'agape' rather than 'eros', 'philia' or 'storge'. <BR/><BR/>In biblical literature, agape's meaning and usage is illustrated by Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1747503782613986319.post-52130426991588214832008-02-06T08:11:00.000-05:002008-02-06T08:11:00.000-05:00DM and MichaelI like both of your points and I thi...DM and Michael<BR/><BR/>I like both of your points and I think they tie in nicely with the point Eagleton made on the debate in literary criticism about whether the meaning of a poem is already in the work waiting for the reader to extract it or is it something that each reader brings to the poem through individual interpretation. So if you find that your life is empty of meaning why not just Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1747503782613986319.post-42707004851226030462008-02-02T08:52:00.000-05:002008-02-02T08:52:00.000-05:00MichaelYou make a great point and one that is very...Michael<BR/><BR/>You make a great point and one that is very similar to the view of Kant who believed that life had a 'purposiveness without purpose'. Kant argued that one's hand or foot can be described as having a 'purpose' - the foot's purpose is to walk and the hand's purpose is to grip things etc. So while the 'purpose' of a foot or a hand is clear what is the 'meaning' of the foot or Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1747503782613986319.post-12837431367968997502008-01-30T07:28:00.000-05:002008-01-30T07:28:00.000-05:00I would like to discuss the definition of the word...I would like to discuss the definition of the word 'meaning' as it pertains to the question 'What is the meaning of life?'<BR/><BR/>My view on this is that <B>MY</B> life has no 'meaning' to <B>ME</B> but my hope is that it has a 'meaning' to others. <BR/><BR/>What I mean by this might be illustrated by asking the question "What is the meaning of a daffodil?" <BR/><BR/>It seems to me that the Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1747503782613986319.post-71094389510529033802008-01-30T06:42:00.000-05:002008-01-30T06:42:00.000-05:00This question of the meaning of life only arises b...This question of the meaning of life only arises because Man is the only living species that is aware of his own death as inevitable. Eagleton describes this as always living in the shadow of one's own death. <BR/><BR/>If one had no meaning and no existence before one's life began and will have no meaning and no existence after one's life ends then is it just an awful but simple fact that one Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1747503782613986319.post-80551672911536028892008-01-30T06:36:00.000-05:002008-01-30T06:36:00.000-05:00MAZ - I think you are right that the search for me...MAZ - I think you are right that the search for meaning is a purely personal one. Indeed I wonder if there was a grand answer given to the "What is the meaning of life" question those who didn't arrive at that meaning for their lives, or lived in frustration trying to obtain such a meaning, would be made quite unhappy. Perhaps the question should be raised but not answered and then inquiring Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1747503782613986319.post-65886377780463159982008-01-30T06:30:00.000-05:002008-01-30T06:30:00.000-05:00Maybe there is no external meaning to life but onl...Maybe there is no external meaning to life but only the internal meaning that one gives it. Maybe one's life is only meaningful in the way that each of us brings meaning into our own individual lives?<BR/><BR/>So using the analogies of 'hats' and 'pains' that DM introduced above maybe just like my 'pain' can only be experienced and known by me my 'meanng of life' can only be similarly Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1747503782613986319.post-91526392908266524622008-01-29T09:17:00.000-05:002008-01-29T09:17:00.000-05:00DMI'm coming to the same conclusion about question...DM<BR/><BR/>I'm coming to the same conclusion about questions such as <B>"What is the meaning of life?".</B> The point you brought up about the 'hat' and the 'pain' was brought out again when he was discussing Derrida's term 'deconstruction'. I liked the example of adding up things that are colored pink when Eagleton writes:<BR/><BR/><I>We can say <B>'This is worth a dollar, and so is that, so Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1747503782613986319.post-13147350346653470522008-01-26T08:04:00.000-05:002008-01-26T08:04:00.000-05:00As I pointed out in an earlier thread on Wittgenst...As I pointed out in an earlier thread on <A HREF="http://lookinginthedistance.blogspot.com/2007/08/poker-for-popper.html" REL="nofollow">Wittgenstein</A> the irony is that philosophers continually worry over the nature of knowledge - what we can know through experience (if anything), and the nature of truth and whether certain questions are valid etc. <BR/><BR/>Eagleton acknowledges this problem Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1747503782613986319.post-83147380509506412222008-01-24T08:26:00.000-05:002008-01-24T08:26:00.000-05:00There was an excellent piece in The Guardian where...There was an excellent piece in <A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1308219,00.html" REL="nofollow">The Guardian</A> where Julian Baggini gave his answer to this question. He details the taxi driver discussion as follows.<BR/><BR/><I>A taxi driver once had Bertrand Russell in the back of his cab. Since Russell was the most famous philosopher of his day, the cabby asked him "What's Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1747503782613986319.post-82467216330564305252008-01-24T08:05:00.000-05:002008-01-24T08:05:00.000-05:00OK help me out. Eagleton says this is the only bo...OK help me out. Eagleton says this is the only book on the meaning of life that doesn't mention Bertrand Russell and the taxi driver.<BR/><BR/>Somebody please mention it to me.<BR/><BR/>PhilAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com