Philosophy Discussion Forums

Theophane wrote:
I suspect that you don't want life to have meaning.

can't want what never was. i would blow you away in real life with my passion, and i haven't the drop of meaning in my life.

i do not create life; i appreciate life.

Bad things happen. To seek the cause of bad happening is healthy, to force responsibility when none could rationally be found is not. A earthquake suddenly strikes, killing people and damaging properties; holding governmental services responsible for such losses is irrational. When bad things happen through the action of human being, moral responsibility has everything to do with it. The 'not in my backyard' perspective is very effective to laxist people who resolve to self pity and deferring of responsibilities on others for every bad happening, instead of helping themselves and allowing themselves to be helped. Help come to those who help themselves first. One cannot be burdened with some thing which is beyond one's abilities. Given one limited means, it is not possible to intervene everywhere sh** happens. May be one of the purpose of life might be to recognise this as a fact, and our life gets meaning to the extent that one is able to handle sh** and get through.

@Daviddun- it seems from your circular argument that you have taken NIMBY to heart since you profess indifference and a reluctance "to be burdened" by others' suffering etc.,- as was the attitude of policy makers in the UK and USA towards the ongoing massacre of millions of Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, and other so called "sub humans" by the nazi monsters - despite irrefutable intelligence that this was happening. It was well within the "abilities" ( both technologically and intelligence wise) to destroy the German factories of death very easily - but the UK and the USA failed to act.. thereby condemning themselves and forever blighting their track record of human rights. Remember for those murdered, they were not granted the privilege of handling their torture and slaughter and getting "through".... Such platitudes are indeed the attitudes of those who devalue life, and strip it of all "meaning"...

The nimby is aimed at whoever thinks life is or should be a walk in the park, and is aloof to the realities of life and the human condition, and believes that thinking is hard and all one has to do is just wishing for everything to go well.

Now, do I condemn USA and Uk for the atrocities of the nazi? Absolutely not. If you think it is easy for someone to risk the life of their dear ones to save strangers, then i ask you have u ever made such a decision? How many american and british soldiers died in this war? How many american and british parent, wife and children wept for the lost of their children, spouses and fathers in this war? Judging by some abstract principles is easy, but putting myself in their shoes and the answer is not that strt forward. War on the field is awful, although in discourse upon some principle of ultimate goodness of upholding high moral standard sounds pretty. Therefore, I firmly stand by the principle that one should not be burdened by things which are beyond one's abilities.
Now, if someone chooses to burden himself/herself with greater responsibilities, like risking their lives and their dear ones for others, they should get respect and high moral status. They are setting the moral standard to a high level, which if one aspires to be up to, one should follow. However to put such a responsibility on someone as a general rule, I am not prepared and my limited wisdom advises me against for then i fear of being judged against my own principles.

America is a God believing nation, to the extent of their belief that God gives life, God sets standards for the rightful conduct of this life and to the extent that risking or giving one's life to save others is part of these standard, they make themselves responsible for others. Their failing to be up to these standards, render themselves accountable to God only, and no other human being can blame them, other than themselves. But you seem to be very eager to blame.

The way you say 'very easily' makes me think either you have great power or abilities yourself, or you talk without knowing of the implication war, especially in this neuclear pollitical atmosphere.

Anyway, on such issues I am not lavish on blaming, and prefer to draw lessons to be able to better myself rather than asking and requiring of others to be perfect in my place because I have difficulty to live perfectly.

HIHIHIHIHI wrote:can't want what never was. i would blow you away in real life with my passion, and i haven't the drop of meaning in my life.

i do not create life; i appreciate life.

What is the source of your passion? You must care about something to have as much passion as you claim to have. Something must matter to you if you have so much passion.

I will keep this to the point. The original post questions whether there is meaning to life. My contention is that one adds meaning to a life by demonstrating and validating life-affirming actions. Choosing not to respond to the suffering of others because it is thought to be too burdensome or because one wishes to emphasise that "life is not a walk in the park" or that others need to be able to "handle sh*t and get through" .. Is simply grotesque and outrageous. The nazi regime and the majority of germans during WW2 had lost all sense of "meaning" to life -to the extent that they were able to commit mass murder to a unprecedented degree. For them life had no "meaning" and no value. A previous poster does not understand that I DO NOT hold the UK or the USA responsible for the nazi atrocities... that would be blatantly ridiculous!! However everyone everywhere IS responsible for acting to prevent and suffering whenever and wherever that occurs. Your opinion may differ -- as should your ability to sleep at night. QED

It was because they derived so much meaning from their idealogy that the Nazis did what they did.

Theophane wrote:It was because they derived so much meaning from their idealogy that the Nazis did what they did.

. Yes- but that "meaning" had nothing to do with life...only with death..

Schaps wrote: (Nested quote removed.)

. Yes- but that "meaning" had nothing to do with life...only with death..

It had everything to do with Aryan life and everything to do with the death of non-Aryans. Good enough?

Helping an old person, a handicapped or an orphane or someone suffering from pain where one is able to, or giving to charity to the extent of ones means to alleviate suffering is one thing. Giving one's life to save another life is another thing, especially for a stranger. On which ground one can judge one life to be more worthy than another? Thinking that the choice is an easy one, is deluding oneself. No human law can put such a burden on someone. It should be left to the individual to decide, and who can blame someone for valueing his life more than other lives?

Taking care of ones family, also adds meaning to life. Giving one's life for others is the ultimate action where one can demonstrate how one values life. It is not easy and should not be thought as such.

The nazi monsters are at the lowest end of the value spectrum, they are worst than animals.

This being said, I have much respect for those like late mother Teresa and people who does more than can be reasonably expected of human beings. To expect everybody to behave like that, one is on the way for great deception in life. I still maintain that our responsility does not excede our abilities, and i do not think it unreasonable or outrageous to live by that principle.

There is no meaning to life. There is no value to life. Yet, everything each person does and says, gives meaning and value to life. (value can be good or evil) Even suicide expresses meaning and value to or about life. Life per se is meaning and value.

Theophane wrote:
What is the source of your passion? You must care about something to have as much passion as you claim to have. Something must matter to you if you have so much passion.

What is the sources of my passion? Volumes.

"This is not due to any God or third-party source implanting meanings in us, but this is rather the way human consciousness operates on conscious and subconscious levels."

Human consciousness is than the creation of what exactly? does it have any parameters? Is consciousness the creation of itself? Maybe meanings are implanted from the beginning; there is no implementation because we've been created as a whole, functioning entity. The bridge is not built as we walk across but it has already been built from the beginning of our understanding of 'time'. Our existence is the awakening from an infinity of sleep.

Alphabravo123 wrote:Nothing we do matters at all. Our short physical existences are but a micro fraction of the blink of an eye in the face of time. Therefore, no emotion or action can make any true difference,

Have you thought about taking up a hobby.

There is no meaning to life other than what you create for yourself.