Great atheists on the meaning & purpose of life

Cypress said:
Victor Frankel and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote eloquently about finding meaning, even in Aushwitz, or the Gulag.

I'd like to see some kind of philosophy about purpose and meaning in life that can speak to everyone, not just to people who can visit museums, attend concerts, have children, donate to the spotted owl fund, etc.
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It's nice to want every life to have meaning, I suppose.
 
NiftyNiblick said:
It's nice to want every life to have meaning, I suppose.
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It would be a hellava thing for a privileged American of the leisure class to walk into a gulag camp and tell the prisoners their lives have no meaning. After reading Solzhenitsyn and Frankel, I began to see how meaning could be found under the most adverse conditions.

That is where I see the flaw in Christopher Hitchens declaration of purpose and meaning in what amounts to a life of leisure
 
Cypress said:
Victor Frankel and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote eloquently about finding meaning, even in Aushwitz, or the Gulag.

I'd like to see some kind of philosophy about purpose and meaning in life that can speak to everyone, not just to people who can visit museums, attend concerts, have children, donate to the spotted owl fund, etc.
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Is one able to find enjoyment in something without needing a purpose or meaning? Isn’t that sufficient?

There’s a walk that I frequently take on a path that is along our river. Away from things. It gives me joy, a feeling of serenity and how awesome nature is. The question of “what does this mean” never enters my mind.
 
domer76 said:
Is one able to find enjoyment in something without needing a purpose or meaning? Isn’t that sufficient?

There’s a walk that I frequently take on a path that is along our river. Away from things. It gives me joy, a feeling of serenity and how awesome nature is. The question of “what does this mean” never enters my mind.
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I think communion with nature is perfectly meaningful, for those who genuinely feel that kind of deeper connection.
 
Cypress said:
It would be a hellava thing for a privileged American of the leisure class to walk into a gulag camp and tell the prisoners their lives have no meaning. After reading Solzhenitsyn and Frankel, I began to see how meaning could be found under the most adverse conditions.

That is where I see the flaw in Christopher Hitchens declaration of purpose and meaning in what amounts to a life of leisure
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When one suffers, I suppose it is natural to ask why and look for meaning in it.

When my sister had terminal cancer, she once said to me, “At first I asked ‘why me’? After thought, I said to myself, ‘why not me’?” I’ll never forget that.

In other words, shit happens.
 
is it meaningful to rock back and forth muttering in front of a wall, putting prayers in the cracks with a little black box tied to your head?
 
domer76 said:
When one suffers, I suppose it is natural to ask why and look for meaning in it.

When my sister had terminal cancer, she once said to me, “At first I asked ‘why me’? After thought, I said to myself, ‘why not me’?” I’ll never forget that.

In other words, shit happens.
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The Taoist philosopher Zhuangzi had some good parables about understanding fate and death as a natural process of transformation to be wholly accepted.
 
Cypress said:
It's not for me to be the judge of what is more reasonable for other people.
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Im speaking of reasonable for yourself. Reasonable is always up for debate.

You're more apt to commune with nature than with jesus? It's a bit Christophobic, but hey, thats you.

You're the boss.
 
Cypress said:
It would be a hellava thing for a privileged American of the leisure class to walk into a gulag camp and tell the prisoners their lives have no meaning. After reading Solzhenitsyn and Frankel, I began to see how meaning could be found under the most adverse conditions.

That is where I see the flaw in Christopher Hitchens declaration of purpose and meaning in what amounts to a life of leisure
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My view is that some lives are enjoyed and possibly more are merely endured.
I'm not sure that EITHER has actual meaning, though.
What does "meaning" even "mean" in this case?

To me, it is what it is, but I'm not sure that it actually means anything.
If it in fact does, I haven't figured it out in 77 years.
 
Blackwater Lunchbreak said:
Im speaking of reasonable for yourself. Reasonable is always up for debate.

You're more apt to commune with nature than with jesus? It's a bit Christophobic, but hey, thats you.

You're the boss.
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You didn't ask me your own question based on your own ideas. You just took my insight and substituted in your own buzz words.

I am sure it feels perfectly meaningful for people who live the authentically religious life

I don't think you have ever attended church or participated meaningfully in any religious community.
 
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