The Meaning of Life
Published Mar 6, 2014 · John A. Mackay
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Abstract
My concern in this paper will be with the meaning of the lives of humans on earth before death; if, as I believe, there is life after death, that will be relevant to my discussion only insofar as its character affects the meaning of life before death. The question of what is the meaning of life can be understood in many ways, the most obvious of which are: ‘What purpose did anyone have in making humans?’, 'Which states of affairs or actions would give meaning to human lives?’, and 'Which states of affairs or actions do humans believe would give meaning to their lives?'. I shall ignore the third question, as it is clearly one for social psychologists to answer. The first question would take us into the whole issue of whether there is a God who created and sustains us and what he is like; and I shall not seek to answer that question here. But I shall argue here that the answer to it is relevant to the second question which is surely the one being asked by most of those who wonder about whether life has a meaning. And what the question seems to be getting at is: 'What would make a life worthwhile, or good to have lived?', and I shall understand it thus. I shall answer the question by appealing to intuitions which I believe almost all of us already have. I shall consider initially what would be worthwhile in our life on earth if we ignore the possible existence of God and a life after death; and then proceed to consider what difference would be made to the worthwhileness of our life on earth if there is a God and life after death.