Finding Meaning in an Imperfect World by Iddo Landau

Author:Iddo Landau [Landau, Iddo]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2017-06-30T16:00:00+00:00

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We should not settle for this argument, however. There are indeed cases in which people feel, once they have achieved a goal, that it is less worthy than they had taken it to be. But like many other arguments for the meaninglessness of life, this one, too, wrongly generalizes from some cases to all: it presents people as sensing the paradox all the time, while most sense it only part of the time and only after attaining some ends. It is simply not the case that the worth or meaning of all goals disappears after they have been achieved.6 Many achievements continue to seem valuable to us for a long time after they have been achieved. Thus, even if there were no other problems with the argument, it would show not that our life is meaningless but only that some parts of it are. But the fact that some parts of life are meaningless does not show that life as a whole is meaningless, since—unless one is a perfectionist—a meaningful life need not be completely and wholly meaningful; it may include some parts that are meaningless.7

For example, many people experience the worth of having raised children successfully, of having had satisfying personal encounters with other people, or of moments, hours, or weeks of grace they have had, for a long time after those events or processes are over.8 These aspects of worth in our lives can shine and emanate some of their worth for a long time and even onto the rest of our lives. Many people, similarly, remember and appreciate, for a long time afterward, the beautiful aesthetic experiences they have had and the good deeds they have done that made a difference to other people. Many are justly proud of having been decent, honest people or having been part of helpful social or political movements. Likewise, many who have recovered from a difficult sickness, or overcome a great obstacle, are pleased with that achievement for a long time afterward, even for the rest of their lives. Every time they remember it, they are pleased, or see the worth of it, to some extent. Note that in many cases the happiness and recognition of worth at achieving something are indeed greater in the first seconds after it has been achieved than after several days, but then the happiness and recognition or worth remain constant.9

Not only does the paradox not affect the many cases in which the ends we have achieved continue to be deemed worthy, it also fails to affect those cases in which ends are achieved but have no terminus, such as being and remaining a good and loving husband or being and remaining a good teacher. These are goals we may achieve every day and never cease achieving, so that they are never “over and done with.” Nor does the paradox affect the many cases in which our actions do not lead to the achievement of ends at all. Some of our efforts are geared toward regulative

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