What is the meaning of life? What is the purpose of existence?

[Rick O'Shez]

Keep your mind open.

Good advice for theists too.

 

[Deidre]

You went from an atheist to an agnostic in the same sentence. Keep your mind open.

Agnosticism is a position of knowledge whereas atheism is a position of belief.

No one knows with certainty, if a deity exists or not. Even a theist can be agnostic.

 

[FunctionalAtheist]

Well, if the term "directional" is subject to personal interpretation, then you cannot objectively say that the interpretation is right or wrong.



An eating utensil (e.g. a fork or spoon) does not have a will. So, are we to conclude that it has not been designed for a specific purpose?

Good point. Let me clarify, the purpose is not with the item being used, it is with the user. A 'spoon' does not have a purpose. I have a purpose 'for a spoon.'

 

[FunctionalAtheist]

But to exercise will is to act according to some telos or final cause.

First let me say I much appreciate the references you provide. It helps me tremendously.

If I understand final cause, then it lies with the user of the spoon as well. The spoon has no purpose, it has no final cause.

I purpose (verb. to have as one's intention) the spoon for the final cause of leaving offspring (moving food to my mouth, to eat, to survive, so that I may mate, and spread my genes).

 

[Gambit]

Sure, but the complete lack of evidence and ease with which human claims concerning a divine mind and a divine purpose can be falsified make clinging to such hogwash a highly dubious intellectual undertaking.

That there is something rather than nothing is more than sufficient evidence.

 

[Gambit]

I purpose (verb. to have as one's intention) the spoon for the final cause of leaving offspring (moving food to my mouth, to eat, to survive, so that I may mate, and spread my genes).

Why do you want to spread your genes?

 

[FunctionalAtheist]

Why do you want to spread your genes?

lol, point

 

[Rick O'Shez]

That there is something rather than nothing is more than sufficient evidence.

No it isn't.

 

[Deidre]

Well, that sounds like a purpose to me.

I suppose it is.

 

[Sapiens]

That there is something rather than nothing is more than sufficient evidence.

A semantically empty argument.

 

[Cephus]

And you're still not understanding. Either the entire natural process has a purpose (a final cause), or nothing does. IOW, if there is no final cause, then any purposive or goal-directed behavior that human beings appear to exhibit must be deemed purely illusory.

Then it's illusory. Maybe you just like to argue.

 

[McBell]

And you're still not understanding. Either the entire natural process has a purpose (a final cause), or nothing does. IOW, if there is no final cause, then any purposive or goal-directed behavior that human beings appear to exhibit must be deemed purely illusory.

Says who?
Based on what?

 

[Cephus]

Says who?
Based on what?

Because he says so?

 

[Gambit]

Then it's illusory.

Finally! The

 

[Gambit]

I purpose (verb. to have as one's intention) the spoon for the final cause of leaving offspring (moving food to my mouth, to eat, to survive, so that I may mate, and spread my genes).

But you really can't "purpose" because your worldview doesn't allow for final causation. (The mechanistic worldview of atheistic materialism only allows for efficient causation, not final causation).

 

[Cephus]

Finally! The

Finally the what? I've said nothing different the whole time. A purpose that we give to our own lives is ultimately illusory, it has no objective meaning. You act like you've made some kind of discovery here.

So what?

 

[Looncall]

I just don't get what you are trying to say I'm afraid - 'may be' is perfectly justified when considering possibilities. It is not a 'scam'nor does it 'sneak anything in' - it is my personal view, not a theology or claim I am trying to convince anybody of or claim to have evidence for.

Perhaps this is a question of taste. I prefer to use "what if" or some such for speculation that is not based on facts. "May" implies permission or possibility.

 

[NulliuSINverba]

What is the meaning of life? What is the purpose of existence?

Those are rhetorical questions, right?

 

[Nakosis]

This raises the topic of free will, a related issue, but also a controversial one.

Will need not be free. People like Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King alter the will of many. Provided a purpose to many.

Assuming there is no God, then no purpose. That just means we are free to come up with our own.

Otherwise if you believe in a God you'll have to look to the prophets of that God to provide a purpose, unless you talk to God directly yourself.

The Christian purpose I think can be summed up, is to receive salvation so that when you die you can go to heaven.

 

[Nakosis]

So, the purpose of existence is for you to give it a purpose?

I don't think there exists a purpose. However if you want one, you can create one. Otherwise, nothing saying you can't exist without purpose.