Analysis Of Meaning In Life And Why It Matters By Susan Wolf
1347 Words6 Pages
In the article “Meaning in life and why it matters”, Susan Wolf talks about two concepts which are the “egoistic perspective” and the “impersonal perspective”. According to Wolf, the egoistic perspective refers to “self- interest”, in which a person has his own thoughts and thinking about his own interest, and impersonal perspective means from the point of view of the world. Susan wolf emphasizes that the “objective aspect is as important as the subjective”, which I see is very true. Although people could criticize this perspective by saying that one should live life according to himself, and not from the perspective of others . It is very contradictory to ask whether or not we should live our lives according to ourselves or according…show more content… Mainly, a person acts for three primary reasons which are happiness, impersonal reasons and morality demand. In terms of happiness, smoking pot all day long, doing endless cross word puzzles and other such activities would make people think that they are engaging themselves in such activities which makes their lives worth living because it gives them happiness. In terms of impersonal reasons, there are the things that we do under such circumstances, regardless of our self-interest; for instance, justice, compassion or simple morality demands. Those actions do not necessarily give any type of remunerations. However people might take it wrong that they should do what makes them happy and satisfies them; perhaps they think that this is meaningful…show more content… If a person smokes pot all day long, for him it may be a meaningful life, but from the point of view of others, it is worthless. The conception of a meaning full life states that both the subject and object must be active ones, and therefore, a combination of subjective and objective can give meaning to a life. Furthermore, there are certain things that are accepted by those we deem to be wise in our society, and these things are also generally accepted by everyone. If a person’s view can support these commonly held norms and beleifs in harmony, then it is beneficial. In simple words, we should do what we love doing but it does not have to be justified by everyone. Once there is a balance and some harmony, then only can live a meaningful life. Therefore I agree with Wolf’s point that in order to achieve a meaningful life one must satisfy subjective as well as objective conditions. This concept sounds easy but it is not. Instead it is hard for common people to pursue something in order to satisfy everyone. But there are some legends in our world’s history, who had done tremendous job to change this world and genuinely wanted very little benefit to themselves such as Gandhi, morther Teresa or Einstein. What they have done was actually unusual if you look at the bigger picture of world