Does Life Have Meaning?

1. Does Life Have Meaning? Hedonism —Epicurus • The aim of a blessed life is the soul’s freedom from disturbance. • The standard by which we judge every good is pleasure. • Excessive drinking, reveling, and luxurious eating cannot produce a pleasant life.

2. Does Life Have Meaning? Hedonism —Epicurus • Death is nothing to us, because as long as we exist, death is not with us, but when death comes, then we do not exist. • It is not possible to live pleasantly without living virtuously.

3. Does Life Have Meaning? Life Is Absurd —Albert Camus • The question of the meaning of life is the most urgent of questions. • Being aware of one’s life and one’s freedom is living to the maximum. • The myth of Sisyphus is tragic because its hero is conscious.

4. Does Life Have Meaning? Life Is Absurd —Albert Camus • The sense of the absence of a profound reason for living is the feeling of absurdity. • Sisyphus is a hero.

5. Does Life Have Meaning? Religion Gives Meaning to Life —Louis Pojman • If theism is true and there is a benevolent sovereign of the universe, we have an answer to the problem of why be moral. • If theism is true and there is a benevolent sovereign of the universe, there is life after death.

6. Does Life Have Meaning? Religion Gives Meaning to Life —Louis Pojman • Since we don’t know whether theism is true, we should live as if theism is true. • The argument that we cannot have both autonomy and purpose in life presents a false dilemma.

7. Does Life Have Meaning? Reflections on Suffering —Bertrand Russell • The loneliness of the human soul is unendurable. • Only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair can the soul’s habitation be safely built.