The Meaning of Meaning of Life

Editorial

Author
Amir Abbas Alizamani
Assistant Professor in Philosophy of Religion, Theology Faculty, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
10.30497/prr.2012.1158
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to analyze properly the meaning of "the meaning of life" and to explain different approaches to it on the base of different grounds and presuppositions. By "life" we mean a conscious process ended by death. We consider life as a whole whose parts are coherently related to each other. In considering "life", we can't merely concentrate on its surface layers. Seeking for its meaning is going beyond these layers. The word "meaning" in the expression "the meaning of life" has two interpretations: one, the "purpose" of the life, and the other, the "value" of the life. We hold that if the purpose of the life is an appropriate goal and has sufficient intrinsic value, it gives meaning to all the issues related it. The main points of this article are: separation of the theological considerations on the question of meaning of life from the philosophical ones, religious theories from non- religious ones , analysis and separation of objective views from subjective ones, and finally, the relation of the meaning of life to matters such as God, the immortality of the soul, the ethical nature of the world, and so on.
Keywords
the meaning of life
death
purpose
value
intrinsic value
God
immortality of the soul
ethical nature of the world
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