1. What is meaningfulness? (September 3)
In the prime of life and at the peak of his powers, Tolstoy finds himself despairing over the point of it all. Kauppinen provides an analytical overview of the philosophical theories we’ll cover in this course. Baumeister et. al. present empirical research on what people consider meaningfulness to mean.
Readings:
Leo Tolstoy, “A Confession” (1882)
Antti Kauppinen, “Meaningfulness” (2015)
Baumeister et al., “Some Key Differences Between a Happy Life and a Meaningful Life” (2013)
2. Religious Answers (September 10)
One popular view is that meaning in life derives from fulfilling God’s purpose. Cottingham defends this view. Nozick asks how God’s purpose is supposed to solve the problem. Metz argues that the standard motivations for “purpose theory” are unpersuasive and that the theory itself faces serious objections.
Readings:
John Cottingham, On The Meaning of Life (2003), Chapter 2
Robert Nozick, Philosophical Explanations (1981), extract
Thaddeus Metz, The Meaning of Life (2013), Chapter 6
3. Subjective Answers (September 17)
Another popular view is that your life is meaningful if you have the right kind of attitude toward it. Metz distinguishes between different variants of this view. Frankfurt endorses one variant, arguing that meaning derives from wholehearted devotion to what you love. Taylor agrees, arguing that even Sisyphus could have a meaningful life if he were super into rolling rocks.
Readings:
Thaddeus Metz, The Meaning of Life (2013), Chapter 9
Harry Frankfurt, The Reasons of Love (2004), Part 1
Richard Taylor, “The Meaning of Life” in Good and Evil (1970)
4. Objective Answers (September 24)
On reflection, many of us believe that our lives are meaningful for reasons that are at least partly independent of our attitudes. Meaning depends on having the right kinds of attitudes to the right kinds of things. Wolf defends this hybrid view.
Readings:
5. Achievement (October 1)
Many of the lives we consider highly meaningful are rich in artistic, intellectual, social, political, athletic and other achievements. Hurka defends the worth of gaining knowledge and performing complex, challenging activities. Levy argues that “superlative” meaning requires active engagement in projects that, in a certain sense, never end. Schlick argues for the opposite of the achievement view: meaning lies in purposeless play.
Readings:
Thomas Hurka, The Best Things in Life (2015), Chapters 4 and 5
Neil Levy, “Downshifting and Meaning in Life” (2005)
Moritz Schlick, “On the Meaning of Life” (1927)
6. Authenticity (October 8)
Maybe meaning is an internal rather than an external achievement: a matter of coming to know, and act in accordance with, your own true nature. Emerson argues for this view, under the banner of the value of “self-reliance”. Taylor defends such proposals against the charge of narcissism. We’ll spend the second half of the class talking about your commencement speech assignment: watch one of the Jobs, Adichie or Zuckerberg speeches as preparation.
Readings:
Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance” (1841)
Charles Taylor, The Ethics of Authenticity (1991), Chapters 3, 5 and 6
Choose one to watch:
Steve Jobs, Commencement Address, Stanford (2005)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Commencement Address, Wellesley (2015)
Mark Zuckerberg, Commencement Address, Harvard (2017)
7. Morality (October 22)
All of the above may seem overly focused on the self. What if a meaningful life is instead a life lived for others? Parker introduces us to the hyper-philanthropist Zell Kravinsky. Wolf argues that we have good, non-selfish reasons to neither want to be nor want to hang out with a “moral saint”. Metz discusses in more depth what meaning might mean to a utilitarian like Kravinsky.
Readings:
Ian Parker, “The Gift”, The New Yorker (2004)
Susan Wolf, “Moral Saints” (1982)
Thaddeus Metz, “Utilitarianism and the Meaning of Life” (2003)
8. Love (November 5)
Maybe “living for others” isn’t primarily a matter of doing right by them, but instead loving them. Is that what a meaningful life is all about? Overall discusses her meaning-based reasons for having children; Solnit discusses hers for writing books instead. Franzen talks about why we should risk deeply loving others even if it hurts (as well as try bird-watching). Cohen asks whether our culture overvalues romantic relationships at the expense of other bonds.
Readings:
Christine Overall, Why Have Children?, chapter 10 (2012)
Rebecca Solnit, “The Mother of All Questions”, Harper’s (October 2015)
Jonathan Franzen, “Pain Won’t Kill You” (Commencement Address, Kenyon 2011)
Rhaina Cohen, "What if friendship, not marriage, was at the center of life?
(2020)
9. Beauty (November 12)
Many of us have some of our most meaningful experiences when appreciating or creating beauty. Riggle discusses why aesthetic value is so important to us, connecting it to freedom, individuality and community. Cochrane goes further and argues that aesthetic value is the only form of ultimate value, so that being aesthetically sensitive is essential for a good life. Carver's short story illuminates these ideas in both its content and its form.
Readings:
Nick Riggle, This Beauty, pp. 151-179
Tom Cochrane, "Attuned to the Aesthetic"
Raymond Carver, “Cathedral”
10. Living in the Moment (November 19)
Many of the prescriptions for a meaningful life that we’ve discussed so far require arduous activity and constant striving. What if meaningfulness isn’t a matter of doing but a matter of being? Wallace advocates the art of attending. Hanh provides a brief introduction to the Buddhist practice of mindfulness. Setiya’s paper offers “a philosopher’s version of a self-help slogan: live in the present” as a solution to that midlife crisis you’ll be having sooner or later.
Readings:
David Foster Wallace, “This is Water” (Commencement Address, Kenyon College, 2005)
Thich Nhat Hanh, You Are Here, Chapter 1
Kieran Setiya, “The Midlife Crisis”
11. Narrative (November 26)
Lives can be seen as stories, with characters, plots, themes, motifs, a beginning, middle and end. Do the stories we tell about our lives contribute to their meaning? Beck presents recent psychological research on the role of narratives about the self in people’s lives. Kauppinen argues that meaning derives from our lives having a certain narrative structure. de Bres (yo, that's me) critiques Kauppinen's view and proposes an alternative.
Readings:
Julie Beck, “Life’s Stories”, The Atlantic (2015)
Antti Kauppinen, “Meaningfulness and Time” (2011)
Helena de Bres, "Narrative and Meaning in Life" (2018)
12. Is life: a) Absurd or b) Awful? (December 3)
Maybe none of the above will do it: perhaps life is irredeemably pointless and, viewed from a certain angle, absurd. Nagel illuminates that angle. Schopenhauer suggests that the problem isn’t that life is absurd, but simply that life sucks. Benatar agrees, arguing that even the best human lives are very bad.
Readings:
Thomas Nagel, “The Absurd” (1971)
Arthur Schopenhauer, “On the Sufferings of the World” (1851)
David Benatar, Better Never To Have Been (2008)
13. The Secular Afterlife (December 10)
We’re all going to die! Just how bad is that? And does it strip life of all possible meaning? Barthelme poses the question. Barnes gets the death sweats. Scheffler argues that it’s not our own deaths that threaten the possibility of meaning, but the deaths of (all) those who live after us.
Readings:
Donald Barthelme, “The School” (1974)
Julian Barnes, Nothing To Be Frightened Of (2008), extract
Samuel Scheffler, Death and the Afterlife (2013), Parts 1 and 2--course text
Reading Responses: 5pm Mondays
Paper: October 16, 7 pm
Meet with me to discuss Commencement Speech ideas: before November 22
Text of Commencement Speech: Dec 11-Dec 13 (depending on the date you give the speech)