The Thoughts of We

The meaning of life has many philosophical connotations that range from a belief in God to the question as to whether everything is meaningless, all meaningless, and therefore meaningless. The meaning of life is one that must be derived from personal experiences and reflections of ones’ own life and experience in the larger context of philosophy and religion. Some people may subscribe to a religion with some religious connotations to the concept of meaning of life. For others, the concept of meaning of life is nothing more than an abstract theory used to explain the effects of human actions on the environment, and why those actions have meaning beyond the self-defined meaning they give to each individual event. The meaning of life as determined by those who have experienced it may differ significantly from another’s understanding of life and its meaning.

The meaning of life can be found in the philosophical works of thinkers such as Locke, Aristotle, and Ryle. Locke argued that our sense of personal reality is based upon our having a personal relationship with our own personal existence and the reality of other external existences such as the planet and other celestial bodies. The world would then be a “swan” or a “bird” to which we owe our personal bond. For Locke, the purpose of our existence is not so much to create happiness for ourselves as it is to make a connection between our happiness and the existence and condition of other realities. Thus, the philosophy of Locke suggests that it is more important to find a meaning for life in terms of these connections than in finding a simple answer as to what is the meaning of life.

A more radical branch of thought about the meaning of life is the idea that it is a meaningless event. This school of thought comes to its conclusions about the meaning of life from scientific evidence that shows how the biochemistry of living matter exhibits certain fingerprints. In this view, everything that happens to an organism has a purpose outside the life of that particular organism. These scientists argue that whatever our personal experiences and circumstances have been like in the past, those same experiences and circumstances will be experienced by us in the future and if we are willing to embrace the concept of a “meaning of life”, we could learn to make better decisions about the future.