The meaning of human existence


Philosophical concepts of the meaning of human existence are very diverse. In the most general terms, you can divide them into two branches. Some philosophers seek the meaning of life within itself, in any visible forms and manifestations of life: in love and good, in enjoyment, in the attainment of power over the world, in the perfection of the mind, and so on.

In this case, life has absolute self-worth. Others go in search of meaning for their own limits of life and see its purpose in serving some higher, ideal beginning – humanity, Nature or God.

In this case, life is seen as a means of acquiring other values, for example, achieving happiness. In addition, some philosophers argue that life is completely meaningless, since it is finite. If there is death in being, then life is absurd and turns into the expectation of its natural fate.

In this case, philosophical discussions switch from the theme of the meaning of life to the problem of the meaning of death, for example, existentialists (Kierkegaard, Camus, Sartre). In the same vein, the concept of life develops as a means of achieving immortality in various forms – symbolic (social) or, on the contrary, literal (physical).

Philosophical understanding of the problem of the meaning of human existence is complemented by a modern debate in the field of biological ethics – on the admissibility of euthanasia, suicide, abortion, organ transplantation, cloning, and other new aspects of understanding human freedom at the disposal of life.


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The meaning of human existence