Exam 9: The Meaning of Life

_______ said, "I saw that [the life of the working masses] was life itself and that the meaning given to this life was truth, and I accepted it."

People who believe humans can have a purposeful life only if God created them with a purpose are

Baggini says that a belief that we were created by God for a purpose

A person who states that life is meaningless may actually be asserting only that life has no external meaning but still has internal meaning.

The two views that identify the two possible sources of life's meaning are the _______ view and the _______ view.

For most people, the phrase "the meaning of life" refers to internal meaning.

Questions about the meaning of existence are themselves meaningless.

According to a poll, _______ % of secular, nonreligious, or atheistic people thought their lives had an important meaning or purpose.

Often people begin their search for meaning by asking, "What is the meaning of life?" But understanding the question is a secondary endeavor.

Susan Wolf claims that meaningfulness in life must consist in both subjective and objective elements.

E. D. Klemke says life has no objective meaning, "But from this it does not follow that life is not worthwhile, for it can still be subjectively meaningful…I, for one, am glad that the universe has no meaning, for thereby is man all the more glorious. I willingly accept the fact that external meaning is non-existent (or if existent, certainly not apparent), for this leaves me free to forge my own meaning." Is this a good response to the claim that life without objective meaning is not worthwhile? Why or why not?

After his crisis of meaning, Tolstoy

Is it possible for a person to be miserable and still live a meaningful life? Why or why not?

The main impediment to clear thinking about life's meaning is confusion about what meaning refers to.

Does a human life have meaning only when it is part of God's plan? Is this view plausible? Critique it.

The concept of "the meaning of life" is, in common usage, vague and slippery.

_______ said, "The longer you live the more clearly you feel that, on the whole, life is a disappointment, nay, a cheat."

Explain why many philosophers distinguish between a happy life, a moral life, and a meaningful life. Do you find these arguments convincing? Why or why not?

Baggini says that if we were here to do God's will, our lives would have a purpose for the being that created us, but not

Baggini says that almost all deniers of meaning in life really seem to be rejecting only the idea that life has _______ meaning.