Do not look to philosophy to find your purpose in life. It is a method of inquiry that does not provide answers. It provides more questions and a springboard for even more questions.
Philosophy may provide answers about ethics—what is right and wrong behavior in the context of relating to others on this planet. But even there, philosophers have provided us with Situational Ethics, in which there are no hard and fast rules about how to comport ourselves. It depends on so many variables: Our culture, whether it is a life or death situation, our innate character, etc.
Philosophy provides wonderful filters through which we can see our world, including logic. But it cannot provide us with the answer to “What is the meaning of life.” Of course, the human mind wants to tie everything up in a neat package and present us with—”This is the Meaning of Life” so we can go about our busy lives and feel comfortable about our destination and that we are accomplishing so much. But, again, this is not the province of philosophy.
Finding the meaning of life is in the realm of Spirituality. And I don’t mean religion. I mean it is the realm of the mystic, who sees beyond the logic of the human mind. Then, whether there is meaning or not is beside the point. It just is. When you see that it just is, in all its glorious manifestation, it is even more magical and powerful. Our limited human minds must try to assign meaning to all this passing parade. And it will always fail because it is beyond the mind and its perceptual limitations.
Philosophy may provide answers about ethics—what is right and wrong behavior in the context of relating to others on this planet. But even there, philosophers have provided us with Situational Ethics, in which there are no hard and fast rules about how to comport ourselves. It depends on so many variables: Our culture, whether it is a life or death situation, our innate character, etc.
Philosophy provides wonderful filters through which we can see our world, including logic. But it cannot provide us with the answer to “What is the meaning of life.” Of course, the human mind wants to tie everything up in a neat package and present us with—”This is the Meaning of Life” so we can go about our busy lives and feel comfortable about our destination and that we are accomplishing so much. But, again, this is not the province of philosophy.
Finding the meaning of life is in the realm of Spirituality. And I don’t mean religion. I mean it is the realm of the mystic, who sees beyond the logic of the human mind. Then, whether there is meaning or not is beside the point. It just is. When you see that it just is, in all its glorious manifestation, it is even more magical and powerful. Our limited human minds must try to assign meaning to all this passing parade. And it will always fail because it is beyond the mind and its perceptual limitations.
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