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Zusammenfassung von Finding Meaning in an Imperfect World

Name: Finding Meaning in an Imperfect World
Rating: 4.5 (110 reviews)
Author: Iddo Landau

Iddo Landau

An exploration of the many ways life can be meaningful

4.5 (110 Bewertungen)

22 Min.

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Finding Meaning in an Imperfect World
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What’s in it for me? Discover the many ways life can be meaningful.

Does life have meaning? Is it possible for meaning to exist in a world full of suffering? Does death render everything meaningless? Most of us have found ourselves puzzling over big questions like these at some point in our lives.

But answering them? That’s another matter. Questions like these, for most of us, ultimately seem impossible to solve. They’re lofty and esoteric, defying practical solutions. It seems like you’d need to have some kind of mystical experience to really crack them.

In these blinks, you’ll learn otherwise. Through easy, straightforward arguments, you’ll find out that the meaning of life is a much more normal, everyday phenomenon than it might seem. You’ll see that everyone’s life can be meaningful, and everyone can acquire the philosophical tools to think about – and answer – life’s big questions in a clear and logical way.

You’ll also find out

why perfectionists don’t have meaningful lives;
what a clean kitchen floor can teach you about the meaning of life; and
how talking to a child about candy can help you see the value in your life.

When we ask about the meaning of life, we’re asking about value.

“Life is completely meaningless.” If a friend said that to you, how would you respond?

Well, if you were a philosopher, the first thing you’d try to do is clarify what exactly she means by “meaning.” That’s the best way to make sure you’re both talking about the same thing.

So what do we mean by “the meaning of life?” It comes down to one word: value.

The key message here is: When we ask about the meaning of life, we’re asking about value.

Look at it this way. When people say that their life has no meaning – or not enough meaning – what they’re usually saying is that their life doesn’t have enough value. That there just aren’t enough worthwhile things in their life.

Take Leo Tolstoy for example. You’d think that if anyone saw their life as full of meaning, it would be the world-famous novelist who wrote War and Peace. During Tolstoy’s lifetime people were already calling him one of the greatest Russian writers in history. On top of that, he had a beautiful estate in the country, where he lived with his loving wife and children. What more could anyone want?

Yet at one point in his life, Tolstoy found himself in a real crisis, writing about how meaningless it all was. Why? All his achievements had lost their value to him. As long as he thought writing great books that inspired countless people was worthwhile, he could be happy. But when that lost value to him, any meaning was lost too. Tolstoy’s worldview was reduced to the question, “So what?”

Whenever you find yourself thinking about the purpose of your existence, or ask what it is you’re living for, you’re also asking about value. You’re unlikely to be satisfied with just any purpose, after all – you need one that you truly find worthwhile.

Let’s say your neighbor spends his life collecting tea towels. Most of us wouldn’t say that’s enough to make life meaningful; we just don’t see collecting tea towels as a worthwhile purpose. If your neighbor agrees – if he sees collecting as an unfortunate obsession that he’d rather be rid of – then it won’t add value to his life.

If he sees it as worthwhile, however, there’s no reason that tea towels can’t give his life meaning. His collecting is his aim in life, his clear purpose. When looking for the meaning of life, any old goal won’t do – you need one that you believe has value.

You don’t need to be a perfectionist about the meaning of life.

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.

Death doesn’t make life meaningless.

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?

Life can be meaningful even if you don’t believe in free will.

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.

Life lived for its own sake is plenty meaningful.

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.

Losing meaning doesn’t make life meaningless.

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.

Life can be meaningful despite pain and suffering.

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.

If your life lacks meaning, you can take steps to find it.

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.

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Worum geht es in Finding Meaning in an Imperfect World?

Finding Meaning in an Imperfect World (2017) shows us that while questions about the meaning of life are difficult, they don’t need to be mysterious. Iddo Landau provides the tools to help us think about the meaning of life in a clear and logical way. He explains the theories that enable us to see the meaning in life, and offers practical advice on how to enhance that meaning.

Wer Finding Meaning in an Imperfect World lesen sollte

Restless thinkers who’d like to lead a more meaningful life
Cynics convinced that life is meaningless
Curious minds interested in how philosophers think about life’s deepest questions

Über den Autor

Iddo Landau is Professor of Philosophy at Haifa University, Israel. He has published widely about the meaning of life.

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