Meaning in Life and Why It Matters: by Wolf Susan Macedo Stephen Arpaly Nomy Koethe John Adams Robert M. Haidt Jonathan

Author:Wolf, Susan, Macedo, Stephen, Arpaly, Nomy, Koethe, John, Adams, Robert M., Haidt, Jonathan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Princeton University Press

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Robert M. Adams

PEOPLE SPEAK OFTEN ENOUGH of a human life as being meaningful or meaningless, having or lacking a meaning, either at a given time or in its history as a whole. Almost always, when we think in those terms, we want to find meaning in our lives; we do not want them to be meaningless. Philosophers, at least in the English-speaking world, have published relatively little about meaningfulness in life, despite its apparently profound human importance. We have found the concept of it a tough nut to crack and pry open.

A most welcome exception to this generalization is Susan Wolf’s account of “meaning in life.” In her view, “meaning arises from loving objects worthy of love and engaging with them in a positive way.” That seems to me insightful and right-headed. It also seems fruitful, offering a way forward in thinking about this difficult topic.

Wolf conceives of meaningfulness of life as having both a subjective and an objective side. It has a subjective side insofar as it involves love and positive engagement, and an objective side insofar as what one loves in a meaningful way must be worthy of love, must have value independent of oneself. A further interesting and important structural feature of Wolf’s thinking is her insistence that meaningfulness offers a perspective on the evaluation of lives that is distinct from those of self-interest and morality. A meaningful life is not the same as a happy life or a morally good life.

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