A Philosophical Debate About Existence: Living A Life Of Purpose Or A Meaningless Existence? What’s
A philosophical debate about whether to live a life of purpose or acknowledge a meaningless existence what’s the best way to live out life?
What is the point of life?
Like that line in the cult classic film ‘Fight Club’ elucidates, “This is your life and it’s ending one minute at a time”. So what are you going to do with it? What are you going to do with your time? And what’s the point then? Are we here for a grander purpose? or are we just here to live out a meaningless existence?
Being a rather deep thinker, I’ve always questioned existence and what we’re here to do. There’s this line in a poem by Jim Morrison, which I rather like, that says ‘We’ve assembled here to propagate our lust for life’ while in another poem Morrison says ‘No eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn.’
And it is in these two lines of poetry that my debate which I was having with my younger sister boils down to.
Why are we here?
I’ve previously been of the notion that having a grander purpose or a motive or ‘why?’ to live out your life brings meaning and purpose to the existential angst we feel.
That is true to some degree.
So, in that line of thought, finding what quenches your soul and what your grander purpose is can give you meaning and a ‘Why?’ to live out your existence.
Whether it’s your goals, your ambitions, your desires etc.
You can define what your purpose is.
Finding your purpose comes with a lot of time introspecting and asking the question ‘What do I really want?’
But what does that lead to?
From a philosophical standpoint, having a purpose is great, but in trying to achieve it(whatever it may be), it leads to cycles of chasing after it and wanting, which in turn, brings a lot of dissatisfaction, pain, problems, hurdles, etc.
It’s again like Buddhism suggests, chasing desires, which in turn leads to pain and suffering.
I’m talking about the action and the process from a philosophical lens.
While it’s rather equivocal, chasing a goal can bring a lot of hurdles, pain, etc that’s part of the process.
Unless of course your purpose is simple and brings you peace.
And then there’s the result: The moment you achieve your purpose or goal, you’re left with the emptiness and boredom and meaninglessness again, as I’ve mentioned in an old article of mine analyzing Arthur Schopenhauer’s philosophy called Schopenhauer’s Thought And Solving The Paradox To Lead A Fulfilled Life.
So it’s coming back to where you started, a meaningless existence. So the question is why pursue all of it in the first place?
From a realist perspective; At the core of every life on the face of Earth, is a meaningless existence.
Whether it’s a dog or a cat or any animal, it just lives. Animals are born, they live out their lives, procreate and then die. Rather meaninglessly.
Or a plant or tree is the same, a seed is sown, it grows, bears fruit or flowers and then wilts and dies eventually.
So the argument is what is the better way to live?
Just like every other living creature? (And we’re the same, just humans)
We’re not special, we’re not something out of the blue. We’re exactly like every other life on the planet.
And essentially, we’re here for no reason whatsoever.
Meaning vs Meaninglessness
So this is the meat of the debate: A life of meaning or one that’s meaningless? What’s better?
Well the answer is rather subjective. But this is just my two cents on it.
Do we need to chase after and fulfill a purpose and what does that bring in terms of action and result? And what does acknowledging that it’s a meaningless existence bring?
There’s this poem I wrote in my poetry book ‘The Indian Night’ which also reflects on this dilemma.
In my book, I’ve mentioned a conversation I had with a South American I met on a trip to Parvati Valley in Himachal Pradesh, India in the form of a poem.
And in the poem he says, “Amigo, girls, drugs, booze, views, chained to the money, time, and pyre” and I say, “Find some meaning and savor the good times because a shit one is just around the corner” and then I pause and think and then say, “I think it’s a mistake and we can do as we please”
That’s just a poem but it reflects on this dilemma.
So from my personal experience, a life of meaning brings a lot of satisfaction because you are in line with with what you really want. And further you are living life trying to get and make the most with what you want inherently.
Which I’ve touched upon in an earlier post of mine called Mindfulness: 3 Questions To Practice Mindfulness & The Art Of Mindful Walking Which Together Lead To Spiritual Growth & Awakening
However, the ‘want’ and the ‘desire’ to fulfill it comes from the ego. And in relentlessly chasing and pursuing it, we are faced with suffering, just as Buddhist philosophy explains.
But by acknowledging that life is essentially meaningless, it brings a lot of peace.
And that peace is existentially very satisfying.
It further helps in a feeling of contentment & feeling relaxed. In perfect harmony with the way life is.
But the reason I said it’s subjective is because maybe some people don’t want that peace.
As infamous writer Hunter S. Thompson put it in his letter to a friend named Hume Logan, can’t we just ‘float’ through life, enjoying the momentary bliss of it all instead of ‘swimming’ against all the difficulties towards a goal?
“And indeed, that IS the question: whether to float with the tide, or to swim for a goal.
It is a choice we must all make consciously or unconsciously at one time in our lives. So few people understand this! Think of any decision you’ve ever made which had a bearing on your future: I may be wrong, but I don’t see how it could have been anything but a choice however indirect — between the two things I’ve mentioned: the floating or the swimming.
But why not float if you have no goal? That is another question. It is unquestionably better to enjoy the floating than to swim in uncertainty.”
- Hunter S. Thompson
Balance: The Key
However, according to me, a mix of both i.e. finding a balance, is the most ideal way to live your life.
Yes, it’s great to have found your purpose. But the moment your purpose interferes with your peace you need to switch back to meaninglessness.
It’s in alternating between pursuing your purpose & goals and living in meaninglessness that the perfect balance of peace and other feelings are felt.
A mixture of swimming and floating, like Hunter S. Thompson’s analogy.
Further when it comes to activities, in the article based on Schopenhauer’s Thought(in case you didn’t read it), the ideal way is to balance living is with ‘telic’ activities i.e those that have an end and exhaustion(like goals and targets) and ‘atelic’ activities i.e. those that don’t have a finite end(like listening to music, watching films, or reading books or traveling)
So finding your purpose and pursuing it while also remembering the meaninglessness of it all is the perfect way to live in harmony with everything.
Life, shouldn’t be taken too seriously, that’s mainly the ego talking.
The balance that arises from consistently pursuing your purpose and alternating and switching back to living in the moment and the ‘Now’ and , I think, understanding the pointlessness of it all, and enjoying every moment in peace is the ideal way to live.
We’re just like every other life on the planet. We’re here and then we’re gone.
There’s no rush.
It’s about balance.
So yes, just relax.
