Hi Everyone!

What is the purpose of life? Would be great to hear suggestions from all please.

Rus

Its been 4 days, no responses as yet...come on guys bring on the replys

Hi Everyone!

What is the purpose of life? Would be great to hear suggestions from all please.

Rus

Hi Rus,

To help us get started then, do you have any evidence that there is any purpose to life?

Big question. For the religious among us there is a purpose in life determined by the creator. For the rest of us either there is a purpose defined by our nature. Neo- Aristotelians might say that it is natural for us, as rational beings, to seek a purpose for ourselves and some might go further in claiming that since certain activities are what defines us as people we ought to pursue them - cultural activities for example. Aristotle himself thought that flourishing as a human being was what would determine wheher our lives had been successful. this would include the cultivation of lasting friendship, activity in political life (in a broad sense), family life and the development of our capacities and sensitivities. he dismissed the search for wealth, fame and physical pleasure as means to an end not an end in themselves, and a life devoted to the latter not worthy of humans.

Hi Bob,

The purpose of life is to worship God, the creator of human life. The evidence that I would present would be the Qur'an where God states this purpose. Also the bible reiterates the existance of an all powerful creator and that we should worship him alone. The Jews worship one God and their views coincide with the Muslim faith. Ultimately the Abrahamic Faiths all believe in God the creator and present scripture as evidence. Other evidence would be Prophets as living by the principles of the doctrine. Billions of people believe in God intellectually. Any thoughts on this?

Russell

Bob,

To break it down further,

1) Biological Purpose of Life = Procreate to contribute to the continuation of human life

2) Intellectual Purpose of Life= Glorify God by worshipping him, To know God the creator, i.e. To think, comprehend,contemplate,reflect,apply reason

As an atheist, i would argue that all the religious texts and the messages and stories within them, are man made constructs.

What we do have scientific evidence for, is the creation and propogation of life. So, in very simplistic terms, i would say that the purpose of life is to reproduce and continue the species, and ensure that your own genes are within it - purely at a 'natural world' level. If there is an 'ultimate' purpose that you can put your finger on, then i'm not sure we have anything as clear as that.

I would put religion on a par with the (very interesting) summary of aristotles philosophies. i.e. That they are man made, or man thought, methods of living one's life to the best of one's own ability, different approaches to making the most of your life and contributing to your community.

I guess i'm arguing that there is perhaps a single, ultimate natural (scientific) purpose to life, and then there are a myriad of philosophies for leading a productive, fruitful and rewarding life. Which is how I would class the religions. Just another man made philosophy.

How you assign more merit to one philosophical construct over another, i'm not really sure, and this would be a very very in depth discussion! I tend to think it is a matter of choice for the individual. I don't see any such philosophy as in principle having more merit than any other (broadly speaking) - they are all ideas which man has independently arrived at, so am of the view that none of them can represent a single fundamental universal truth.

So basically Russell, i agree entirely with your last post

Except that the possibilities for the 'intellectual' purpose of life I would suggest are much, much broader than those offerered by organised religion.

Hi Anton,

Thanks for the reply. What do you think is the main intellectual purpose of life? Some ideas if possible

Rus

Purpose is not life. Purpose is always elsewhere, an abstraction. To have a purpose is not to live but to be perpetually deferred. Asking the purpose of life only arises in alienation and discontent with immediacy, it is to have a dualizing experience. A porpoise is actually a dolphin.