[lit-ideas] Re: The meaning of life
- From: Eric Yost <mr.eric.yost@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2008 10:12:10 -0500
Questioner: What is the meaning of life?
Krishnamurti: Who wants to know?
[way down the Neoplatoist spiritual ladder]
Someone else: What is the meaning of life?
Eric: A meaningful life!
Someone else: That's a fancy way of saying nothing.
Eric: Asking after the meaning of life is a symptom. In
the young it's a symptom of emerging self-reflection.
In older folk, it's a symptom of re-evaluation, that is
to say, it's a call to attention. If we pay attention
to our own lives, the question of meaning, solus, never
emerges.
Someone else: Human life is a necessary condition of
meaning ...
Eric: If you say so.
Someone else: I do.
Eric: And this is helpful ... how?
Someone else: Stating that "human life is a necessary
condition of meaning" allows me to pretend to look down
on the value systems of other people from an alleged
transcendental perspective. That way, when somebody I
disagree with talks about courage or integrity, I can
smirk and say that all these terms are culture-based,
provisional, or even adventitious illusions.
Eric: Why would you want to do that?
Someone else: By claiming all meaning is human, hence
cultural, I can avoid examining my own and other
people's failures and strivings ... since after all,
meaning is contingent and therefore a type of choice
among other choices.
Eric: So the motive is fear?
Someone else: If you say so.
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