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The first English use of the expression "meaning of life" appears in Thomas Carlyle's Sartor Resartus (1833–1834), book II chapter IX, "The Everlasting Yea". [1]Our Life is compassed round with Necessity; yet is the meaning of Life itself no other than Freedom, than Voluntary Force: thus have we a warfare; in the beginning, especially, a hard-fought battle.
The dialogue has the full title ad Gallionem de Vita Beata ("To Gallio on the happy life"). It was probably written in early 58 or a little earlier. [1] From incidental remarks made in the work, it is thought Seneca wrote it when he was in a position of power near the beginning of Nero's reign between 54 and 59. [2]
While specific theories vary, there are two common aspects: a global schema to understand one's life and the belief that life itself is meaningful. Meaning can be defined as the connection linking two presumably independent entities together; [2] a meaningful life links the biological reality of life to a symbolic interpretation or meaning. [3]
Existential nihilism is the philosophical theory that life has no objective meaning or purpose. [1] The inherent meaninglessness of life is largely explored in the philosophical school of existentialism, where one can potentially create their own subjective "meaning" or "purpose".
De Brevitate Vitae (English: On the Shortness of Life) is a moral essay written by Seneca the Younger, a Roman Stoic philosopher, sometime around the year 49 AD, to his father-in-law Paulinus. The philosopher brings up many Stoic principles on the nature of time , namely that people waste much of it in meaningless pursuits.
Though hailed by Thomas Carlyle as "the writer's best book" [12] and despite its commercial success, initial critical reactions to The Conduct Of Life were mixed at best. The Knickerbocker praised it for its "healthy tone" and called it "the most practical of Mr. Emerson's works," [13] while The Atlantic Monthly attested that "literary ease and flexibility do not always advance with an author ...
However, he approaches the subject from different angles. Thus, when he deals with the possibilities of historical science, he addresses the topics of philosophy of history and philosophy of science. On the other hand, by relating history to (human) life, he also engages in a kind of anthropology. The text is written within the framework of ...
"The psychological question asks after the historical origin of our moral ideas and judgments; the metaphysical question asks what the very meaning of the words 'good,' 'ill,' and 'obligation' are; the casuistic question asks what is the measure of the various goods and ills which men recognize, so that the philosopher may settle the true order ...