What is the meaning of life

".......In the visible world, the Milky Way is a tiny fragment; within this fragment, the solar system is an infinitesimal speck, and of the speck our planet is a microscopic dot. On this dot, tiny lumps of impure carbon and water, of complicated structure, with somewhat unusual physical and chemical qualities, crawl about for a few years, until they are dissolved again into the elements of which they are compounded" Quoted from Russell

Seeing from this view point, life seems purposeless and insignificant.


".........For Sartre, the crucial truth we have to recognise is that because purpose and meaning are not built in to human life, we ourselves are responsible for fashioning our own purposes. It is not that life has no meaning, but that is has no predetermined meaning. This requires us to confront our own responsibility for creating meaning for ourselves, something which Sartre believes we would much rather not do. We would prefer to live our lives in 'bad faith', pretending that how we live and ought to live are not down to our choice but a product of fate, outside forces or supernatural design."

Seeing from this viewpoint, the idea that destiny is in our own hands, that we are free to create our own purposes, it seems so empowering and liberating.

However, doesnt that sound like an excuse to comfort ourselves by making up a purpose which is no real meaning at all. Doesnt that sound like a pretended purpose?


So what is the meaning of life? Why are we living? What is our purpose? What is it all about life?


Read this book: What's it all about? by Julian Baggini