What Is the Meaning of Life?
It’s a question all humans inevitably ponder: what is the meaning of life? Is the purpose of life to reach our highest good? It’s the ultimate question that makes life worth living. There’s no simple answer. Let’s explore some different philosophies and attempt to find an answer to the question.
The Three Definitions of the Meaning of Life
This thought provoking question of life can be approached from almost any angle. Psychologists Frank Martela and Michael F. Steger attempted to break down the answer into three dimensions in the 2016 Journal of Positive Psychology. They are:
Coherence: how the moments of your life come together as a story. Basically, it's how you understand that "everything happens for a reason." This doesn't mean you accept every new event into your narrative as it happens, but rather that you can integrate things in retrospect. This gives you reassurance when things feel chaotic.
Purpose: your personal goal and ambitions. This means believing your life exists for a reason. Examples of purpose could be "I'm here to spread joy to everyone." They could even be very specific like "it's my mission to rescue retired racehorses."
Significance: the overall sense that your life is meaningful. People with high levels of personal significance are confident that the world would be a slightly-- or even significantly worse place without them.
Theories of Meanings
Many famous thought leaders have attempted to find the meaning of life. Before the Industrial Revolution, most people found meaning through religion. However, as technology advanced, new theories began to emerge.
Modernism
Modernism was the reigning perspective of the late 1800s and early 1900s. This was a time of the Industrial Revolution. As life itself rapidly shifted from agrarian to urban societies, so did people's thinking. People also did away with a lot of traditionalism and mysticism in favor of science. Instead of learning through tradition, people started learning through observation of the physical world.
Before this, religion dominated how people saw life. Before, people generally believed that a divine entity granted humans meaning by creating us. Now without an all-powerful "god," we needed new philosophies. People still needed to explain day to day phenomena like good and evil. One of the theories to emerge from the era was Logical Positivism.
Logical Positivism
WWI had a profound impact on the collective psyche. In the aftermath, people needed to make sense of the confusing new world. Logical Positivism was an attempt to answer this question.
It was a school of thought that tried to rationally explain universal truths. Many rationalists eschew any non-verifiable evidence. Logical positivism state any sensed feeling was a form of verification. It quickly fell out of favor with many philosophers, but it was still part of the search for a comprehensive theory.
Postmodernism
Postmodernism was a more centered view than the Modernist idea that all things could be defined. This theory states that meaningful existence is not an absolute that can be measured. Rather, it’s a fluid and subjective experience. The postmodern school of thought states that each person finds the meaning of life in their own way.
Viktor Frankl created his postmodern “Meaning-Seeking” model after studying survivors of concentration camps. He found that physical strength wasn’t the biggest factor in survivorship. Rather, the mentally resilient people were the ones most likely to survive. The people who exhibited the strongest ability to make sense of their citation and put it in a greater context often survived long enough to be rescued.
Existentialism
Existentialism is another example of a postmodern belief set with one key difference. Postmodernism states that people are free to find their own meaning. Existentialism questions whether human life has meaning to begin with.
So ultimately, both state that humans are free to find their own meaning in life. However, a postmodernist believes that humans find meaning in the world around them. Existentialists believe that humans create their own meaning.
While those seem like two very similar ideas, it plays out in different ways. Postmodernists believe in the natural order of things, existentialists do not. Postmodernists believe in science and technology as keys to a utopian society. Existentialists question if there's any "right" way to live.
Examples of Meaning
So if humans have the ability to make their own life’s meaning, what should be the meaning of life? Here are some examples that existentialist philosophers decided to assign their purpose of life to.
Positive Experiences
Many people choose to maximize their positive experiences in life. While for some this means a life of pure hedonism, many find a sense of boredom. Due to the hedonic treadmill, one must chase greater and greater highs to experience the same thrill. That said, for many, positive experiences reach beyond simple pleasures.
Purpose Within Community
Many people find meaning in their lives by participating in a community. The community has a way of giving people a sense that they are a part of something bigger than themselves. Some philosophers even believe this was the original point of religion: to organize communities and unify them.
Legacy
Still, many find meaning in their lives through legacy. Some achieve this by raising children, others by writing books and creating things that will last beyond their death. Many people find solace in knowing something they created will continue on, even after they shuffle off this mortal coil.
Find Your Own Life’s Meaning
As you can see, when you ask “what is the meaning of life?” you can find a lot of answers. How do you know which one is the right one? In times of religion, the local priest offered spiritual counsel to help people find their life’s purpose. These days, we have coaches. If you’re seeking guidance, reach out to Gareth Micheal. His spiritual coaching has helped hundreds of clients find their true purpose in life.
So what are you waiting for? Find your purpose today!
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