NYU Professor of Philosophy, Thomas Nagel, wrote about The Meaning of Life, or rather, the lack of it:
Even if life as a whole is meaningless, perhaps that’s nothing to worry about. Perhaps we can recognize it and just go on as before.
Nagel maintains that, although we can’t answer the larger questions, life can still have “meaning” in a limited sense—planning the next meal or movie, visiting a friend—for some people. The key is learning to lighten-up:
Some of us have an incurable tendency to take ourselves seriously…If our lives as a whole seem pointless, then part of us is dissatisfied—the part that is always looking over our shoulders at what we are doing…If life is not real, life is not earnest, and the grave is its [only] goal, perhaps it’s ridiculous to take ourselves so seriously; perhaps we just have to put up with being ridiculous.
In one sense, Nagel is correct. If life is bereft of meaning and purpose, then struggling to try to find or create it will prove highly frustrating and disappointing. It would therefore be better to just resign ourselves to life’s meaninglessness and accept the inevitable. However, his advice is no more satisfying than, “Just be happy!” In fact, it lays another unbearable burden on our backs—the necessity of finding happiness or contentment within a life where peace eludes us like a rainbow when you try to catch it.
I know what my students would ask at this point: “Why doesn’t he just try God?” Well, Nagel seems to have an issue with God:
The same problem seems to arise if God and His purposes are offered as the ultimate explanation of value and meaning of our lives. The idea that our lives fulfill God’s purpose is supposed to give then their point, in a way that doesn’t require or admit of any further point…If God is supposed to give our lives a meaning that we can’t understand, it’s not much of a consolation.
We might not be able to understand God completely, but we can understand enough about Him to know that He is the source of all truth and goodness, that He created and redeemed us, that He loves us with a love that goes beyond anything we can imagine, and that He is totally able and willing to take care of us in all situations, even into eternity. Likewise, I might not know a lot about the healthful qualities of eating a salad, but I know enough to know that it’s good for me.
Besides this, He infuses our lives with significance, value and meaning—so much so that it is a joy to serve Him:
His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Psalm 1:2-3
Even if life as a whole is meaningless, perhaps that’s nothing to worry about. Perhaps we can recognize it and just go on as before.
Nagel maintains that, although we can’t answer the larger questions, life can still have “meaning” in a limited sense—planning the next meal or movie, visiting a friend—for some people. The key is learning to lighten-up:
Some of us have an incurable tendency to take ourselves seriously…If our lives as a whole seem pointless, then part of us is dissatisfied—the part that is always looking over our shoulders at what we are doing…If life is not real, life is not earnest, and the grave is its [only] goal, perhaps it’s ridiculous to take ourselves so seriously; perhaps we just have to put up with being ridiculous.
In one sense, Nagel is correct. If life is bereft of meaning and purpose, then struggling to try to find or create it will prove highly frustrating and disappointing. It would therefore be better to just resign ourselves to life’s meaninglessness and accept the inevitable. However, his advice is no more satisfying than, “Just be happy!” In fact, it lays another unbearable burden on our backs—the necessity of finding happiness or contentment within a life where peace eludes us like a rainbow when you try to catch it.
I know what my students would ask at this point: “Why doesn’t he just try God?” Well, Nagel seems to have an issue with God:
The same problem seems to arise if God and His purposes are offered as the ultimate explanation of value and meaning of our lives. The idea that our lives fulfill God’s purpose is supposed to give then their point, in a way that doesn’t require or admit of any further point…If God is supposed to give our lives a meaning that we can’t understand, it’s not much of a consolation.
We might not be able to understand God completely, but we can understand enough about Him to know that He is the source of all truth and goodness, that He created and redeemed us, that He loves us with a love that goes beyond anything we can imagine, and that He is totally able and willing to take care of us in all situations, even into eternity. Likewise, I might not know a lot about the healthful qualities of eating a salad, but I know enough to know that it’s good for me.
Besides this, He infuses our lives with significance, value and meaning—so much so that it is a joy to serve Him:
His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Psalm 1:2-3
