ipl-logo

Julian Baggini: The Meaning Of Life

1057 Words5 Pages

Introduction
Baggini keeps asking questions for what is the meaning of life through the chapters. Questions are bringing up in all the stages from birth to death. Though questions have been raising continuously, the answer of what is the meaning of life is not yet figured out. To discuss whether what is the meaning of our life, Julian Baggini quoted stories and sayings from different people, such as, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Satre and Soren Kierkegaard. He had also tried to lead us in searching the meaning of life from the past to the future of our life by using three different perspectives. The three positions illustrated by Baggini’s book including naturalism, creationism and existentialism will be explained in the following paragraphs in …show more content…

He argued that why human is being governed by the universe and the god, why can’t we just create our own life meanings. Therefore, he introduced the concept of existentialism to tell readers that human beings should self-consciously think for themselves. Humans should always “being-for-itself”. He then applied the case of a French stockbroker to inspire readers that one may have the tendency to risk everything in order to become the person who he wants to be.
Existentialism
Jean-Paul Satre embraced the term “existentialism in 1945. It is a theory telling that human are free and responsible for their own actions in the world without its own meaning (Hornby & Turnbull, 2010). He suggested that human beings should have some self-initiated actions in changing their life. Every moment is a turning point where we make decision for our life. We have our own freedom in choosing where to go and what to do.
We, however, as a human being, tend to deny our free choice of life and try to avoid the responsibility for making our own decision. It is because we are often anxious about other’s opinions and criticism after we had made our own decision. We are always being fearful of criticisms from others rather than following our heart. Baggini used the idea of bad faith from Jean-Paul Satre to criticize people who tried to escape from the responsibility to create their own life’s meaning after experiencing the

Show More
Related

Summary Of Jeremy Fink

311 Words | 2 Pages

In the story Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, Jeremy Fink is portrayed as a nerdy, germaphobe and clever 13 year old boy. Jeremy and his best friend, Lizzy, go on a hunt for four keys all over Manhattan when they get a box addressed to Jeremy from his dead father. The keys to the box are missing and he needs to open it by his thirteenth birthday. An example of Jeremy’s nerdiness is “...Lizzy would laugh at me for borrowing the eighth grade textbooks from the library to get a jump on my assignments…” (Mass 1).

Read More

Summary Of Julie Beck This Article Won T Change Your Mind Analysis

618 Words | 3 Pages

In Julie Beck’s informative article, “This Article Won 't Change Your Mind,” she explores and challenges the phenomenon that belief and choices are often influenced by a person’s moral characteristics and their environment. Beck first uses a short anecdote explaining how people often chooses to only believe the things that they want to believe. If a subject matter is too uncomfortable to discuss, people often become dismissive and choose not to acknowledge the unbearable truth. Beck then continues to pursue her argument by applying reliable studies in order to strengthen the ethicality of her beliefs. She uses sources such as T Leon Festinger’s study and Stanley Schachter’s book, When Prophecy Fails, in order to imbed undeniable facts into

Read More

The Other Wes Moore: The Meaning Of Life

300 Words | 2 Pages

People's individual experiences can shape the way they respond and interact with each other and their environment. Experiences such as falling in love, the death of a loved one, growing up in a harmful environment may change people's perceptions of life and their individual conceptions about the meaning of life. Some people experience horrid experiences and are inspired by these experiences in better themselves and make their lives the best in order to achieve their ultimate goals. Others may have equally bad experiences but may choose to follow a different, less successful path filled with actions and emotions which end up instigating Moore harm than good. The choices people make in response to their experiences exemplify their individual mindset.

Read More

Individuality In Ayn Rand's Anthem

1180 Words | 5 Pages

When one is confined to society and held captive against their ego, it is imperative that they learn to eulogize their own individuality, and learn to improve themselves. In Ayn Rand’s novella, Anthem, Rand uses Equality 7-2521 to communicate the importance of the individual. Equality has always had his own sense of individuality that causes him to stand out and defy the social norms. His individuality allows him to persevere and diverge from collectivist society.

Read More

Existentialism In Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

733 Words | 3 Pages

His position as a playwriter, novelist, journalist, and literacy critic helped him do so. One of his popular works Existentialism (1945) has significant points that are reflected in the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In his lecture Existentialism (1945), he says that one can't be defined by any concept; that man is what he makes himself out to be but also only by his will. Jean-Paul believed that we are what we choose to be, and we hold onto anguish (the overwhelming burden of total responsibility).

Read More

Opposing Views On Sartre And The Existence Of God

750 Words | 3 Pages

That is, they have consciousness and goals. Sartre cannot even begin to explain this “upsurge,” since it is absurd, not being grounded in a Creator and Designer. An existentialist is a humanist, says Sartre, in the sense that he does not judge man but sees him as

Read More

Persepolis Existentialism Essay

1744 Words | 7 Pages

The way that such intricate, specific, and divergent books and life events relate is quite showing that the choices we make do affect others and ourselves, our passions define us in positive and negative ways, and being alone in an indifferent world makes us more aware in the end. Hardship and toil prove themselves to be worth it because for Marjane, Meursault, and myself, the results of our hard work with teach us more strength and independence than before. Existentialism exists more than we can see, and its philosophy promotes learning from

Read More

Man's Search For Meaning

1527 Words | 7 Pages

What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment” (Frankl, p. 108). The meaning of life, when used as a general term, has a broad definition because of its ever-changing nature. However, the true definition of the meaning of life is supposed to be established on an individual basis. It’s the events going on in your personal life at that moment in time that defines what meaning is. “To put the question in general terms would be comparable to the question posed to a chess champion: ‘Tell me, Master, what is the best move in the world?’”

Read More

Existentialism In Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life

894 Words | 4 Pages

In Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life, there are scenes that trick the audience into thinking that it will give them the movie’s view on the meaning of life. The film, however, never actually gives the audience a real, serious answer to the questions that relate to life’s meaning; by doing this, the people who created the film probably wanted the audience to make up their own views and answers to life’s meanings and purposes (a loosely defined meaning of existentialism). In existentialism, existentialists reject proposed systems that have a definitive answer to the questions involving the meaning and purpose of life; they freely choose standards of values on the human condition, which asks questions, like “Why am I here,” “What does it mean to be human,” or “How should I live my life?” According to Mitchell’s Roots of Wisdom, the idea of existentialism “emphasizes the uniqueness and freedom of the human person as an individual (what makes each life a unique, personal experience) as opposed to the essence of a human being (what makes all of us alive).”

Read More

Decision-Making In Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist

806 Words | 4 Pages

Decision-making through the theory of Existentialism Existentialism is a philosophy which means finding self or finding meaning of life. It is theory which talks about freedom. Paulo Coelho in the novel The Alchemist talks about Santiago’s dilemmas and how he takes decision.

Read More

Determinism Vs Free Will

1777 Words | 8 Pages

1. In western philosophy such terms as determinism, free will, and moral responsibility are treated differently by different authors. There are three main positions on determinism, free will, and moral responsibility. Those who adhere with hard determinism assert that everything in our world and our actions are predetermined, and decisions we make are not completely ours; moral responsibility is the reflection of free will. Soft determinism philosophers’

Read More

Rene Descartes On Personal Identity

1801 Words | 8 Pages

For many years, the issue of self-identity has been a problem that philosophers and scholars have been to explain using different theories. The question on self –identity tries to explain the concept of how a person today is different from the one in the years to come. In philosophy, the theory of personal identity tries to solve the questions who we are, our existence, and life after death. To understand the concept of self-identity, it is important to analyze a person over a period under given conditions. Despite the numerous theories on personal identity, the paper narrows down the study to the personal theories of John Locke and Rene Descartes, and their points of view on personal identity.

Read More

Existentialism In Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead

1007 Words | 5 Pages

Existentialism: an interesting, odd, confusing concept. However, those three words are what existentialism is. It is the theory and approach to life that looks at the person as an indivual, not as a whole society of people. Some of the most well-known existentialists deny that they are existentialists (Corbett). Often, people don't realize the way that they think, write, or speak is existential.

Read More

The Pros And Cons Of Naturalism, Creationism And Existentialism

1022 Words | 5 Pages

This part of the essay will summarize the main points of naturalism, creationism and existentialism suggested by Baggini. Both pros and cons of the above positions will be discussed and the preferred position will be indicated at the last part. Naturalism is a science aspect to examine the meaning of life. All life has started with the Big Bang 15 billion years ago. This position suggests that the meaning of life can be found by the origin of life.

Read More

Carl Rogers Theory Of Personality: A Psychological Case Study

1773 Words | 8 Pages

Introduction The personality perspective has been described by many theorists in order to explain behaviors behind a functioning person. There has been legendary theorists’ underlying this perspective, with different views and observations of understanding personalities exceptionally well. Regardless of lack of prominence in some approaches, their terminology and ideas still influence psychology today (Meyer, 2008). Only the two theories of Carl Rogers and Victor Frankl have been applied in the case study of Thapelo and Lerato.

Read More

More about Julian Baggini: The Meaning Of Life

Related Topics

Open Document