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- There have been three main philosophical approaches to the problem of defining life that remain relevant today: Aristotle's view of life as animation, a fundamental, irreducible property of nature; Descartes's view of life as mechanism; and Kant's view of life as organization, to which we need to add Darwin's concept of variation and evolution through natural selection (Gayon 2010; Morange 2008).
plato.stanford.edu/archIves/sum2013/entries/life/Life (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy/Summer 2013 Edition)
Oct 11, 2018 · In Plato’s philosophy, the aristocratic man has a well-tuned balance of desire, logic and spirituality. Such a society is ruled by a philosopher king who possesses a love of knowledge and a desire to live a simple life.
- Life is full of pain and suffering. This Buddhist sentiment can seem incredibly bleak and dismal and you would only be sane if you were to have this reaction on first being told this.
- Be humane. Confucianism teaches the importance to be humane to one another. We are all enduring the same existence. Everyone else has probably had their heart broken, been grief-stricken or been betrayed at some point down the line.
- Let things happen. When things don’t go our way in life, we can frustratingly try to make things happen. We may also try to stop things from happening. Our attempts to try and force this could prove futile and create unnecessary harm in the process.
- Life is a state of continuous change. Our lives are always changing in many different ways. We become older, we lose friends and family, we may be offered a job, we may lose a job, our relationships will end and new ones will begin.
A personal philosophy is a set of explanations, values, and principles by which we navigate existence: it’s a framework that describes both what we think about the world and how we can best live in it. Crucially, whether we’re conscious of it or not, we each already have a philosophy for life.
- Aristotle. Aristotle was one of the most famous and eminent philosophers and a pioneering figure in the history of philosophy. His ideas have significantly shaped Western culture.
- Confucius. Confucius is one of the most famous and influential philosophers in Eastern history. We think of democracy as a Greek invention, however, Confucius was saying similar things about politics and power at the same time.
- Epicurus. Epicurus often gets misrepresented. He has gained a reputation for advocating self-indulgence and excess. This is not a true portrayal of his ideas.
- Plato. Plato asserted that the world that appears to our senses is defective, but that there is a more perfect form of the world that is eternal and changeless.
Stephen Coleclough explores the life and works of five of his favourite philosophers and reveals what they had to say about the meaning of life.
May 15, 2007 · When the topic of the meaning of life comes up, people tend to pose one of three questions: “What are you talking about?”, “What is the meaning of life?”, and “Is life in fact meaningful?”.
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Jun 17, 2023 · These five different philosophical answers and approaches to the question of the meaning of life showcase the vast diversity of human thought. 1. Existentialism - There is No Meaning Human beings can decide their own life and meaning. The question of the meaning of life is central to existentialism, a philosophy that explores human existence.
