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Andrius: I'm systematizing various answers regarding the meaning of life.

Systematizing (In Progress)

Allow the universe to reflect upon itself

• we are a way for the cosmos to know itself [Sagan]
• ...the structure of the universe, which happens to be such as to produce thought by way of life and mind. Thought, in turn, is a faculty whereby the universe can reflect upon itself, discover its own structure, and apprehend such immanent entities as truth, beauty, goodness, and love. [de Duve]

storytelling [Smith]

Relating to the whole

• It is within us and without us.
• positively connecting with organic unity beyond oneself (Nozick 1981, 594–619);

belonging [Smith]

• It is in our families and in our friends. It is in our communities and in our world.

Contributing to humanity's progress

• (Julien Musolino) Naturalism, through science, can help us better understand purpose and meaning, and therefore can lead to progress for all of us.
• (Lee) The purpose of life is to advance humanity
• (Evolutionary manifesto) Intentional evolutionaries are energized by the knowledge that their decision to embrace this role is part of the unfolding of the great transition itself. They see that they are contributing to the success of processes much larger than themselves that will outlast them and potentially live forever. They know that if they live their lives incompatibly with the processes that govern the evolution of life in the universe, their lives will not have any longer-term relevance. They will die without leaving a lasting trace.

Self-transcending

• transcendence [Smith]
• realizing goals that are transcendent for being long-lasting in duration and broad in scope (Mintoff 2008);
• progressing toward ends that can never be fully realized because one’s knowledge of them changes as one approaches them (Levy 2005);

Life simply happens

• Life is a process, or an event, rather than a material substance. This is analogous to a flame. When the flame goes out, the process ends. The flame does not “go anywhere” it simply ends. (Sean Carroll)

We embrace the life which happens

• “Life is happening for us, not to us.” [Get attribution, heard on “Two Hearts” movie]

to focus on the here and now

• The meaning of life is here. It is now. It is in our lives and in our loves. ... Hope springs eternal, whether life is eternal or not.
• being creative (Taylor 1987; Matheson 2018);
• living an emotional life (Solomon 1993; cf. Williams 2020, 56–78);d

Creating the meaning of life

• (Julien Musolino) Life may be without meaning. But it really doesn’t matter because you bring the meaning to it. Purpose and meaning are inherently yours because you are free to create them for yourself.
• (Lee) the meaning of life is what you make of it
• (Shermer?) Even if naturalism is true and there is no meaning or purpose of life, this does not mean that there is no meaning or purpose in life!
• (Greene) "As we hurtle toward a cold and barren cosmos, we must accept that there is no grand design. Particles are not endowed with purpose. There is no final answer hovering in the depths of space awaiting discovery. Instead, certain special collections of particles can think and feel and reflect, and within these subjective worlds they can create purpose. And so, in our quest to fathom the human condition, the only direction to look is inward. That is the noble direction to look. It is a direction that forgoes ready-made answers and turns to the highly personal journey of constructing our own meaning. It is a direction that leads to the very heart of creative expression and the source of our most resonant narratives. Science is a powerful, exquisite tool for grasping an external reality. But within that rubric, within that understanding, everything else is the human species contemplating itself, grasping what it needs to carry on, and telling a story that reverberates into the darkness, a story carved of sound and etched into silence, a story that, at its best, stirs the soul."
• It is in our thoughts and in our actions.
• purpose [Smith]

Applying oneself sensibly to a worthy goal. The goal gives purpose, the worthiness is the order or significance, the sensibility is the coherence that makes the application meaningful

• (Wong) purpose, understanding, responsibility, and enjoyment:
  • You need to choose a worthy purpose or a significant life goal.
  • You need to have sufficient understanding of who you are, what life demands of you, and how you can play a significant role in life.
  • You and you alone are responsible for deciding what kind of life you want to live, and what constitutes a significant and worthwhile life goal.
  • You will enjoy a deep sense of significance and satisfaction only when you have exercised your responsibility for self-determination and actively pursue a worthy life-goal.
• (Reker and Wong) cognizance of order, coherence and purpose in one's existence, the pursuit and attainment of worthwhile goals, and an accompanying sense of fulfillment
• (Martela and Steger) coherence, purpose, and significance

The meeting of psychological needs (which are consequential)

• promoting good consequences, such as improving the quality of life of oneself and others (Singer 1995; Audi 2005; Smuts 2018, 75–99);

The potential to do good

• (Lee) Each life is valuable because of the potential to do good.

Outcome of consequential choices

Loving

• loving what is worth loving (Wolf 2016)

Living virtuously

• living virtuously (May 2015, 61–138; McPherson 2020);
• exercising or fostering rational nature in exceptional ways (Smith 1997, 179–221; Gewirth 1998, 177–82; Metz 2013, 222–36);

to have lived life well (additionally: making better choices)

• with Virtue (Stoics)
  • It is in the courage of our convictions and in the character of our commitments.
• with Honor (Honor cultures)
• with Engagement, choosing more difficult challenges
  • (Sean Carroll) The meaning of life can be understood by analogy with the sport of surfing. For surfing to be interesting the surfer must leave the beach and engage with the waves. More waves, more rides, and more challenging waves makes for a more meaningful surfing session. Active surfers inevitably fall off their boards, tumble in the surf, and struggle to get back onto their boards. Poseurs stand on the beach, pretending they have engaged with the surf. At the end of the day, surfers end up right back where they started. The surfer is not going anywhere, they are enjoying the ride. Similarly, in life we engage with possibilities. We make choices and these choices can be good or bad, fun, or boring, challenging, or dull. The more difficult challenges we choose to engage in the better the ride. The set of experiences we have, resulting from the better choices we make, establishes the meaningfulness of our lives.

Data Sources

Meaning of life

Eri Mountbatten-O'Malley. 'Summum Bonum': An analysis of the complex conceptual relationship between happiness, meaning and self-delusion

• Leland Beaumont. Collected notes. Letter, Attachment
  • The Power of Meaning, by Emily Esfahani Smith. See Leland's book review at “Pillars of Meaning”. In searching for the essential elements of meaning, Smith studied Sufi rituals, the work of several philosophers, great literature, positive psychology, student interviews, mythology, Life magazine, and other sources. Four themes presented themselves again and again throughout her search. She identifies these four pillars of meaning as: belonging, purpose, storytelling, and transcendence. Each chapter dedicated to exploring one of these pillars brings the ideas to life through the experiences of real people.
  • Sean Carroll’s 100th Mindscape Podcast, On Life and Its Meaning, June 8, 2020
  • Owen Flanagan, The Really Hard Problem: Meaning in a Material World
  • Susan Wolf, Meaning in Life and Why it Matters
  • Terry Eagleton, The Meaning of Life: A Very Short Introduction
  • Julian Baggini, What’s It All About? Philosophy and the Meaning of Life
  • Thaddeus Metz, “The Meaning of Life” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
  • Michael Shermer, The Believing Brain
  • Julien Musolino, The Soul Fallacy
  • Life Driven Purpose: How an Atheist Finds Meaning, by Dan Barker and Daniel C. Dennett
  • Until the End of Time, Brian Greene
  • The Web of Meaning: Integrating Science and Traditional Wisdom to Find our Place in the Universe, by Jeremy Lent
  • The Romance of Reality Bobby Azarian
  • Christian de Duve: Vital Dust
  • Greene, Brian. “Until the End of Time.”, Chapter 11, The Nobility of Being: Mind, Matter, and Meaning (The last paragraph in the book)
  • The Jim Rutt Show, Peter Wang on The Meaning Crisis and Consequentiality
  • The Evolutionary Manifesto.
  • Meaning vs. Purpose

Notes

Possible Investigations

• Leland: Create a (QFD style) matrix showing the connection between the psychological needs (autonomy, relatedness, and competency) and each of the suggested “purposes of life”. Use this to test the hypothesis that the purpose of life is to meet the phycological needs.

Data