In the course of our lives, we constantly strive to find meaning in our lives; it is the nature of our being. Those who found theirs have their names etched in the echelons of history. Having a meaning to our daily existence gives us reasons to look forward to tomorrows so much so that when we receive news about potentially life-ending conditions, we make the best of our remaining days. Subsequently, a purpose in life drives human beings to achieve great things, even though the universe does not care. Our lives may not be significant, in the grand scheme of things, but deep within us there is a purpose attached to it. As such, having a purpose in life is an important aspect of living because human life has meaning, but it is dependent on the individual’s own perspective and values.
In an attempt to explain why human beings have an ingrained need to have a purpose in their lives, Joseph P. Carter wrote an article titled The Universe Doesn’t Care About Your Purpose, which was published by the New York Times. He explains that a purpose helps people avoid destructive habits such as drug and substance use, being successful or recovering from a loss (Carter, 2017). He provides arguments based on Aristotle’s philosophical thought that everything in the universe is intrinsic. Human beings derive purpose from Greek telos, which stipulates that everything in the universe has an essential directive. Based on his work Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle argues that human beings strive for happiness as their primary purpose. However, carter differs with this explanation because of his materialistic ideals. He offers the explanation that the universe operates without purpose so much that in our search for permanence, the universe does not actually care. In contrast, this offers human beings the chance to actually thrive on developing meaningful relationships with others. Carter agrees that a meaning and a purpose lead to happiness. In the long run, everything will cease to exist, swallowed by a world that does not care about human beings, except a constant state of disorder.
As we grow older and begin understanding ourselves, we often question our purposes in life in a bid to unravel our purposes. For many, their purposes are to be successful in life, have a family, or to succeed in a certain sport. The search for meaning has led to the saturation of self-help books, and videos, the cropping up of numerous gurus that promise to help one find their purpose in life. The subject of meaning in life is widely discussed by philosophers such as Aristotle, where the ancient Greek philosopher posited that the purpose of life is to find happiness. Carter (17) argues that happiness brings about the order in our lives, and is cultivated through good habits, clean thoughts, and leading a virtuous life. And so, in our lives, we constantly search for that thing that we will be remembered for, that one thing that will put our names in history books just like the people who have made a tremendous change in the society. On that note, it would be devastating to know that life has no purpose or meaning as Carter claims when he says that there is no purpose in life, at least fundamentally. In the long run, every human being has his or her own purpose in life; which may include earning a decent living, developing meaningful and beneficial relationships, having a family, and so forth.
The beginning of the search for meaning in life starts when a person questions his own existence. These questions are: who am I? How did I come into existence? Man’s quest to seek answers to the questions has led to the development of theories. Baggini argues out two opposing theories which attempt to explain the origin of human life, and therefore find its meaning (5). These two are the creationist theory where it argues that human life was as a result of supernatural design working in conscious with the mind, whereas the naturalist theory argues that life is not a creation of any design, which life exists on its own. From the naturalist point of view, it follows that life has no purpose, except the continued existence of our species, the Homo sapiens (Baggini, 9). However, the creationist theory posits that God, the supernatural being, created human beings with a purpose in mind. The two contrasting theories are man’s attempt to decipher the meaning of life, and therefore the purpose.
In my own perspective, life has meaning whether one subscribes to any of the two theories that attempt to explain the origin of life, and subsequently its meaning. A person who subscribes to the creationist theory will go about his life knowing that God intended it to be meaningful and therefore has a purpose which he must fulfill on earth. On the contrary, a naturalist knows that he or she serves the genetic purpose of ensuring that favorable genes are passed to the next offspring. From the two standpoints, it can be argued that human life has meaning but the purpose is personal. In the developed nations, people are getting less and less religious, which points to the fact that they have developed their own value systems which they subscribe to, hence developing their own purposes in life. With the depletion of resources due to environmental degradation, people may choose to focus solely survival, that is, have a decent job to feed his or her dependents. Depending on their talents, others could focus on being successful in their fields, which they use to derive meaning and purpose in their lives. People such as Martin Luther King Jr. developed their purpose from the creationist perspective, and, influenced by the society in which he grew, fought for the recognition of black people as deserving of equal rights as anybody else. In the end, he achieves permanence, where he is still talked about a half a century later, as an icon of the civil rights movement.
Conclusion
In conclusion, life has meaning but the purpose is dependent on the individual’s own interests, background, talents, and values that have been passed on by the society. Some can derive purpose from the meaning they attach their lives. The universe exists in a state of entropy, where there’s no order in things. As such people derive their purpose from the relationships they forge with others in the society, which develop from the need of permanence, that is, existing when everything ends including life.
Works cited
Baggini, Julian. What's it all about?: philosophy and the meaning of life. Oxford University Press, 2005.
Carter, Joseph. “The Universe Doesn’t Care About Your ‘Purpose.’” The New York Times, The New York Times, 31 Dec. 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/31/opinion/the- universe-doesnt-care-about-your-purpose.html
