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May 15, 2007 · Most analytic philosophers writing on meaning in life have been trying to develop and evaluate theories, i.e., fundamental and general principles, that are meant to capture all the particular ways that a life could obtain meaning.
- Existentialism. Existentialism is an approach to philosophy that focuses on the questions of human existence, including how to live a meaningful life in the face of a meaningless universe.
- Absurdism. Absurdism is a philosophy created by Sartre’s one-time friend and later intellectual rival Albert Camus. It is based on the idea that existence is fundamentally absurd and cannot be fully understood through reason.
- Religious existentialism. While the primary existentialist thinkers were all atheists — Nietzsche raised the alarm on nihilism when he declared “God is dead” — the founder of the school was an extremely religious thinker by the name of Søren Kierkegaard.
- Buddhism. Another religious take can be found in the works of Japanese philosopher Keiji Nishitani. Nishitani studied early existentialism under Martin Heidegger, himself a leading existentialist thinker, but provided a Zen Buddhist approach to many of the same problems the existentialists addressed.
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.
Feb 6, 2023 · Many philosophers begin thinking about the meaning of life by asking what the question itself means.[3] Life could refer to all lifeforms or to human life specifically. This essay focuses on human life, but it is worth considering how other things might have or lack meaning, too.[4]
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.
Jul 8, 2024 · “What is the meaning of life?” is simultaneously one of the oldest questions in philosophy and a relatively new concept. Here’s what Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Albert Camus had...
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The first Western philosopher to link the ideas of life and meaning, and to ask expressly “What is the meaning of life?” was the great German pessimist Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860). At least he was the first to ask the question and get it noticed by other philosophers.
