Meaning of Life Essay

“If a man hasn’t discovered something he will die for, then he hasn’t got a reason to live.” These were famous words of the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., spoken June 23, 1963 in Detroit, Michigan.

Purpose Throughout the Apology, Socrates explains how God chose him to explore the unexamined life. “God appointed me as I supposed and believed, to the duty of leading the philosophic life, examining myself and others…” (Apology 28e) He compares himself to a Gadfly that goes around annoying people in order for them to assess their flaws. Most believe that their purpose in life is to achieve the highest good prioritize, summum bonum.

The meaning of life is a maxim every person seeks, regardless of race, class, or history. Individuals draw inspiration for their meaning of life from a variety of sources and compile these inspirations with their beliefs to create an understanding of what their time on earth means. Socrates was a man who did just this. Thousands of years ago, his background in Athens, Greece, helped shape his meaning of life through both what he experienced in life and what he noticed about Athenian life. Through these sources he established basic ideals toward which man should strive, how man should use his intellect, and how man should act in society. Socrates’ conclusion was this: the meaning of life should emphasize fulfillment of only the basic physical

I picture myself living a life in which I have no worries or financial concerns; a life where I can travel all around the world and meet new people each and every day of the week. A life such as this is one that I have dreamed for since the days of my childhood, this new life will provide me with financial stability, new opportunities, and the chance to explore the world around me. It is on this very day that I hope to accomplish this dream, I can only hope and pray that this one chance I am given will give me redemption and allow me to make peace with myself.

Many philosophers, throughout centuries of human existence, have deciphered, or at least attempted tried to cast some light on to, our purpose. Consulting their findings could give several answers on whether we should live to maximize our pleasure, minimize our pain, avoid frustration or achieve greatness. In my own considerations, though, sorting through the tumultuous noise and clutter of the world around me for the some obscured or hidden meaning was not necessary. To me, the noise and clutter is the meaning. I do not live for what is hidden; I live for what is all around me. My experiences are not tools that assist me in find some truth. Rather, they are the truth. In other words the Good in my life is, in fact, life in its entirety.

When people ask what the meaning of life is, they are usually asking an objective value based question. Phrased better: what is the meaning of life, ultimately? But, there are no good answers to metaphysical value based questions. Look at some other value based questions. Why is there something rather than nothing? Why do people have to die? Why does everything change? Why do people and animals suffer? There just simply aren't answers to these questions.

Of the philosophers I have studied, Socrates stands out to me from all the rest. Although I would be the first to confess that I have never put forth the time nor the effort necessary to consider myself a philosopher (at least not in the sense that I imagine most would consider to be the credentials of a philosopher), my philosophy about life is most closely aligned with what I understand Socrates philosophical beliefs to be. Although there are some distinct differences in what I believe to be the ultimate meaning behind life, which I will later address, I believe his thoughts on how one should live their life to be the wisest of any philosopher we have studied. First, let me relate what I understand Socrates

When I was younger, I was often discouraged because it always felt like my parents favored my sister, Megan, over me. I know many children felt this, and in the end, it was false, but to me, it was an undeniable fact. She was the smart one, the athletic one, and the compassionate one. Everything I did in attempt to step out of her shadow was unremarkable in comparison. Feeling disheartened, I opted out informing my parents about what was going on in my life—it would never be as impressive as what was going on in Megan’s. This mentality left me to figure things out on my own. I became independent and started inquiring answers to all the questions fluttering around in my head. I wondered about the world and the meaning of life, as cliché as it sounds, but I didn’t share my personal theories with

Life is something that is cherished greatly because it means spending more time with your wife and son who you love and love you more than anything on this earth. To be able to get up early in the morning and kiss your beautiful wife before you go to work 35 miles award from home. As your phone goes off when you get a text message and it is your wife telling you that she loves you. You take the time to text her back unless there is a meeting going on and have to get to your phone when you can. As you continue your day working, there are thoughts of how both of you met and how at first you were nervous to even mutter one word to her. After all she was your best friend’s sister and there has always to been a rule to never mess or talk to any friends family members, but she was beautiful and breathtaking.

Have you ever took note of how many people you’ve heard say, “I don’t want to die?” But in most situations, you perceive that they don’t even know to live their lives in a way that they will be able to say, “I’m loving my life!” There are so many people that never really realize that they could be out somewhere doing big things, until they are alone somewhere realizing that they could be accomplishing lots of obstacles. In the commencement address, “You’ve got to find what you love, Jobs says”, Steve Jobs, a CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios claims that despite the ups and downs in your life, you should still achieve the things you want to before it’s too late. Jobs’s speech was to purposely alert the students and even staff members that no matter what happens in your life, you should always get up when you find yourself fall. When wanting to live to value your life, accepting the rough paths is a beneficial way to get to the happiness that you need in your life.

My few years on this planet have been a bit confusing. I have learned of many aspects of life from which one can draw meaning, if indeed such meaning can be drawn. I have also learned that there can be no singular meaning of life to stand for us all, or even any one of us. What I have learned above all is that trying to put words to the meaning of life is a task of absolute absurdity. This is not to be confused with the idea that life has no meaning, for life certainly has meaning. However, there is no single meaning of life to be defined - life is different for us all. Therefore, rather than define life for an entire planet, I shall try to explain what life means as I perceive it, and why it means so.

The abstract idea of life cannot be explained by such simple ideas as being animated, breathing, or speaking. Ordinary machines in this century can perform all of these basic functions. The quandary with defining death is not as abstract and elusive as that of life. The problem of defining life and death has plagued philosophers and the religious bodies for thousands of years for one reason; each philosophy or religion has tried to define the meaning of life and death from only their certain perspective. The seemingly appropriate approach to this problem would be to understand the ideas presented in various philosophies and religions and through this knowledge create a new definition for each idea of life

The consideration of the purpose of life has been ongoing and is never-ending throughout the course of history. The question itself has caused many people to generate many different strong views and opinions based on traditional, ideological backgrounds, and religious outlooks. The deliberation about the meaning of life will never end since there is not one reassuring basic, general answer. Instead, examine the question in another way, like, “What is my purpose in life?” The purpose of life varies from one person to another because of “free will.” While some people believe that for every human, life is called to some divine duty by God, everyone has a different drive that is waiting to be discovered within themselves, and people must set

Life is actually mesmerizing adventure and actually have no general meaning. Each and every person has their own meaning of life and it is oneself who renders the meaning of one’s life. Life is an opinion. It’s an idea. It begins with the birth of an individual. One day that body will die, but that opinion or idea brought by that individual is immortal. It persists in this world for many years.

The meaning of life is a philosophical question concerning the significance of life or existence in general. So people might not ever know what the exact meaning of life is about, they also may ask “Why are we here? The meaning of life is in the philosophical and religious conceptions of existence, social ties, consciousness, and happiness, and borders on many other issues, such as symbolic meaning, value, purpose, ethics, good and evil, free will, and the existence of one or multiple Gods, the soul, and the afterlife. Meaning we are here to live, laugh, play, cry, but most importantly learn for a better tomorrow. This is why life is worth so much, because there are so many wonders of life, so many that we don’t even get to see it every single one of them. We tend to only notice and the