Wynn's Entry #4: What do we mean by "What is the Meaning of Life?"

What do we Mean by "The Meaning of Life?"

Recently I have had the pleasure of writing an assignment regarding the meaning of life. While this assignment asked whether the transient nature of time makes life meaningless, and that I royally screwed up the conclusion section of said assignment, it none-the-less made me consider what we want to know when we ask the question “What is the Meaning of Life?” There seems to be some sort of emotion which communicates something the words do not in that question. Perhaps the one who asks this is looking for a purpose. Or perhaps they are just making sure we do have free will and humanity isn't just some pawn being manipulated by some greater being.

So in this post I will provide an interpretation of what we might mean by the word “meaning”, state my personal opinion based on this new interpretation, and give an explanation as to why we might take issue with questioning the meaning of life.

The Connotation of Meaning

So, the dictionary definition of the word meaning can provide us with some foundation of what the word means. However the dictionary definitions rarely communicate the connotation a word might have when it is used in the English language. It’s important that we understand a word’s definition is different to the word’s connotation. By connotation, I am referring to the ideas and feelings one may experience when using a certain word to convey meaning.

Let us take the connotation of the word “meaning” as to provide a subjective sense of deeming something as having a satisfying reason as its purpose. In other words, I suggest that meaning is found in something, only if the explanation of that thing’s purpose is deemed satisfactory to you on a subjective, emotional and/or logical level. By this, as long as it provides this feeling (the feeling of “it feels right”) to you in any form, you can accept the explanation as something’s meaning.

In consideration of this, I talked to some friends and colleagues who stated their opinion on what gives their life meaning. One friend, who is seemingly content in their position in life right now, initially made witty remarks in response to it, but as the conversation continued, deeper ideas and beliefs began to show up until a meaning for their life was articulated. Another friend, endlessly critical, stated their disapprobation at the lack of convincing explanations for the meaning of life in a more objective sense and was critically analysing the former’s given answer, stating inconsistencies via examples, to which the other seemed to become disquieted by this.

It appears they took two different approaches to the meaning of life in this case. They either questioned up until a certain point, to which they find unappealing to question any further, for whatever reason it is and adopt it as their view; or they question everything and find themselves in an uncomfortable situation in which they may feel out of place and see no satisfaction in any given answer to meaning.

Personal View (Subjectivist Incoming)

My personal view of the question of the meaning of life is one based in subjectivity: it is possible for people to find their purpose, one which makes them feel satisfied, and which justifies their existence; but whether or not we were given a purpose at the outset of our life is not for me to say. To say this is to assume things true with which I am not satisfied with.

Take for instance the pious man who fervently believes his life is given purpose by god. If someone were to question this purpose, this man becomes upset and keeps trying to justify his belief to the questioner, and perhaps to himself. Now compare this to the woman who believes science can tell us the meaning of life. Trying to convince her otherwise might cause her to become defensive and bring scientific evidence to her defence. I believe this defensiveness to be a form of mental protection, warding out ideas which are not welcomed for they may make you experience unpleasant-ness in the form of existential crises or doubt.

Here is where my point draws from. These people become uncomfortable questioning beyond these foundational beliefs that they have either been told or formulated on their own, given the definition of meaning I have provided above. The pious man and the science advocate are in the same boat as each other; they have found for themselves a convincing (to them) meaning for their life which they can accept. To extend the concept to a universal “meaning of life” seems counter intuitive to what the word meaning connotes to us. It is possible for someone to be content in what appears to be an objective meaning of life, in which case they have found an explanation they are subjectively content with. I wouldn't recommend saying their idea is subjective to them, however. Trying to convince someone who is already convinced in something else is a turbulent endeavour.

Limits to Metaphysical Consideration and Conclusion (Don't think too much about things unless you really want to. The conclusion is in here somewhere too.)

The point made earlier about using your foundational beliefs as a defence against unwanted ideas isn't intended to limit philosophical thoughts on matters you find yourself interested in. Rather, it serves to help us filter out information which we feel we shouldn't bother ourselves with if we already have some form of belief or opinion on the matter with which we feel satisfied. Alternatively, if the explanation of something’s meaning is seemingly insignificant to you then considering its meaning is likely to be subjectively pointless.

In conclusion, this post is meant to convey the thoughts that meaning is found only subjectively, even if you are convinced it is objective because it requires a subjective sense of satisfaction in order for an individual to accept the given meaning as true. We should be aware that people become uncomfortable questioning meaning beyond a certain point. Whether or not there is meaning to absolutely every physical, metaphysical and psychological phenomenon is not relevant to the considerations of this article, only that we can find meaning to things which we find relevant to our interests.

One last point. Should you start to question whether life has meaning or not, it might help you if you consider how relevant to know this is in your day-to-day life. If you can't answer this, then don't worry about it. The meaning of life, as with the meaning of many other complicated ideas, should only be contemplated as long as it causes no intentional distress to either you or others around you. 

As normal, any thoughts on this matter from the readers are entirely welcome! Just click the comment button at the base of this post to do so!

Author:

Clayton de Groot (Wynn)