Finding Meaning in an Imperfect World summary

Open a book by any philosopher, from the ancient Greeks to modern thinkers, and you’ll probably read that a meaningful life has to involve achieving something difficult.

That’s because many philosophers are perfectionists when it comes to the meaning of life. It’s not just philosophers, either. Perfectionism is one of the main reasons people tend to believe their lives are meaningless. They see life as all-or-nothing. If they aren’t doing something absolutely amazing – discovering the theory of relativity or devoting themselves to caring for the sick and poor – then life has no meaning.

Imagine you’re given a huge heavy rock and told to push it up a hill. You get to the top, exhausted and out of breath, only to watch the rock roll back down. So down you go, to start your effort all over again.

Imagine spending your life that way. Pretty pointless, right?

Do you believe that everything that happens has a cause? The idea seems to make sense; things don’t just happen for no reason whatsoever, after all.

Let’s say you let go of your phone – what happens? It drops to the ground rather than flying off into the sky. That isn’t random. Clearly, gravity is responsible for your phone’s downward plunge.

If you’ve spent any time around young children, you’ve probably played the why game. Say you’re putting your shoes on and they ask you why. “To go outside,” you answer. “Why?” comes the reply. To walk to the bus stop. Why? To catch a bus. Why? To get to the store. Why? And on it goes.

The game is silly, but it illustrates a point, too. We know the “why” for most things we do – the goal of an activity gives it meaning. This makes sense as long as that activity is a means to some end.

Ever had the experience of working really hard to achieve a goal – say, saving up for a new car – only to find yourself feeling empty and losing interest when you actually get it? If so, what you came face to face with was the paradox of the end. Here’s how the paradox works: without a goal, we feel meaning is lacking. But after we attain the goal, all the meaning we got from having it is lost.

It might seem like when it comes to meaning, we just can’t win. And that can make life itself feel totally meaningless. The reality, however, is actually quite different.

Let’s face it, the world can be a horrible place. Illness, injury, loss, grief, heartache, sorrow – the list goes on and on. If you’ve gone through tough times, you might be forgiven for concluding that all the pain and suffering in life make it meaningless. This is a common theme among philosophers.

However, despite the bad things, there’s space for a more hopeful view of meaning.

Once you realize that the usual arguments about how life is meaningless don’t really stand up to scrutiny, you’ll likely realize that there’s no good reason not to have a meaningful life. But while that’s a wonderful revelation, you might still be left struggling to find meaning in your own life.

Often, we feel life lacks meaning simply because we haven’t taken the time to understand what we really value and find meaningful. But through careful thinking and self-reflection, we can take steps to change that.