Explain life in terms of philosophy. It includes dialogues of famous philosophers and how philosophers perceive the meaning of life.

2. Meaning of life
What is life? What do we purpose of
existence.
Philosopher explain life as a jigsaw
puzzle.
Socrates believed that no clear
conception of human life exist.

3. General classification.
To understand the meaning of life,
philosophers have set out a general
classification which are:-
(1) Questioning the question view
(2) Pessimisms
(3) Religious view
(4) Secular-humanism

4. Questioning the question view
According to this approach, philosophers
believe that the question ‘meaning of life’
makes no sense. They believe its nonsense
and meaningless to talk about life, meaning
of life or the reason for our existence.

5. Pessimism
Pessimist claim that there is no meaning of life.
Pessimism is sometime also referred to as
‘Nihilism’ which means nothing is ultimate. The
pessimist view of can be expressed in
Shakespeare Macbeth, in which he describes life
as:-
‘ a tale told by idiots – full of sound and fury and
signifying nothing.’

6. Religious view
These philosophers think that there is
one grand picture into which the
individual pieces of our lives can be
fixed. They SEEK THE MEANING OF
LIFE.
Religious thinkers believe that humans
were bought into this world to serve
some divine purpose.

7. Religious view continued..
Plato and Aristotle believed that human life
is the nature of cosmos (the universe seen
as a well-ordered.)
Plato and Aristotle might not have believed
in God personally but they did believe that
their was some nonhuman, metaphysical
object that has aligned our lives.
To understand the religious view more
thoroughly we may look the confession of
Leo Tolstoy – An acclaimed Russian writer.

8. Leo Tolstoy

9. Leo Tolstoy – My Confession
(Dialogue)
Had I simply understood that life has no meaning, I might
have been able to calmly accept it; I might have
recognized that such was my lot. But I could not rest
content at this. Had I been like a man who lives in a
forest from which he knows there is no way out, I might
have been able to go on living; but I was like a man lost
in the forest who was terrified by the fact that he was
lost, like a man who was rushing about, longing to find
his way and knowing that every step was leading him
into deeper confusion, and yet who could not help
rushing about. . . .
In my search for answers to the question of life I felt
exactly as a man who is lost in a forest.

10. Explanation of Dialogue
Tolstoy in this dialogue tries to explain
that he is living in a state of madness
followed by the thought of suicide. He
cam across people who seemed to have
a sense of the meaning of life but those
people did not include anyone among
his company or his fellow intellectuals.

11. Leo Tolstoy – My Confession
(Dialogue continued…)
So I began to examine the life and the
teachings of these people, and the closer I
looked, the more I was convinced that
theirs was the true faith, that their faith was
indispensable to them and that this faith
alone provided them with the meaning and
possibility of life. Contrary to what I saw
among the people of our class, where life
was possible without faith and scarcely one
in a thousand was a believer, among these
people there was scarcely one in a
thousand who was not a believer.

12. Explanation of dialogue.
To study the meaning of life in more
detail he started to observe the lives of
believers among ‘the poor, the simple
and uneducated folks.’ And he came to a
conclusion that the people among this
group has their life based faith and
beliefs.

13. Positive/ Negative evaluation of Religious view.
Positive:-
Religious view helps an individual to find
the ultimate meaning and purpose of life
and provides those basic needs.
Negative:-
Atheist exist too. They live a meaningful,
joyous life. Don’t these people prove that
religion is not the basic ingredient of life?

15. Secular Humanism
⁻ No ultimate meaning to either to universe
or human life.
⁻ Experiences and moments are like mosaic.
⁻ Philosophically, Secular Humanists
are naturalists.
⁻ Believe in evolution.

16. Secular Humanism continued..
⁻ The purpose of life?
⁻ The way to feel happy.
⁻ Meaning of life comprises of a number of
categories:
○ Psychological
○ Scientific
○ Philosophical

17. Black Lines
by Vasily Kandinsky

18. Perspective of Existentialism
⁻ Philosophical movement that arose in 19th
century in the writings of two main
philosophers:
 Soren (a passionate Christian)
 Jean Satre (intense atheist)
⁻ Influence of existentialism.
⁻ Individualism is one of the major themes of
existentialism.
⁻ Diverse group of thinkers.
⁻ However, there do exist some common
approaches.

19. Five common insights of to this approach.
1. In answering the questions of philosophy, make sure the
answers are your answers.
2. Take the standpoint of one who is down on the field engaged
with the game and not that of the spectator.
3. Recognize that choice, commitment, responsibility and risk are
inescapable.
4. Make use of all the rational, objective considerations possible,
but realize that in the end philosophy does not make the
decisions for them.
5. Live out your choice authentically.

20. Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog by Caspar
David.
Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog
by Caspar David.