Showing papers on "Meaning of life published in 1992"

Making Sense of It All: Pascal and the Meaning of Life

Abstract: An instructive and entertaining book that addresses basic life questions. Relating numerous personal anecdotes, incorporating, intriguing material from the films of Woody Allen and the journals of Leo Tolstoy, and using the writings of the seventeenth-century genius Blaise Pascal as a central guide, Morris explores the nature of faith, reason, and the meaning of life. His lucid reflections provide fresh, fertile insights and perspectives for any thoughtful person journeying through life.

The Meaning of Life in Old Age

Abstract: I approach the question of meaning in old age as a philosopher, yet not exclusively from a philosophical point of view. Alasdair Maclntyre has suggested that every philosophy presupposes a sociology, so it is just as well to be explicit about how social structure is related to ideas. If Maclntyre is right, then the examination of a seemingly remote or metaphysical question—“What is the meaning of life?”—may have extraordinary implications for how we think about the social system, about ethics and politics, and even about the daily activities of our lives. It may prove to be the key to how we can think about the problem of meaning in the last stage of life. I begin my inquiry by trying to make clear how we can succeed in thinking about the meaning of life and I conclude that we inevitably invoke some image of life as a whole, of the unity of a human life. Contemporary psychological systems appeal to some such idea, but it is rarely made explicit. We live in a culture dominated by the therapeutic outlook, a world that looks to psychology rather than to traditional disciplines of religion or philosophy to find meaning in life. In practice, the perspective of psychological humans tends to reinforce a separation between the public and private worlds, a separation that is a dominant feature of our society.

Aging and Ethics: Philosophical Problems in Gerontology

Abstract: It is hard to dislike a book that begins with a chapter entitled "Meaning of Life" (didn't Monty Python cover that?) and ends 20 authors and 17 chapters later with "if... there is no reason to believe that anything matters, then that does not matter either, and we can approach our absurd lives with irony instead of heroism or despair." In fact, I don't dislike it. Between the oddball beginning and end, this work deals seriously with urgent questions related to health care for elderly persons. The section titles give a sense of where the book is going: "The Aging Individual," "Aging and Filial Responsibility," "Distributive Justice in an Aging Society," and "Philosophical Reflections on Aging and Death." Most authors are philosophers; a few represent the health sciences. The introductory chapters are interesting but long and somewhat tangential. However, a piece by Sally Gadow on the meaning of frailty stands

Social change and citizen action : a philosophical exploration for modern social group work

Abstract: This paper explores the import of two selected philosophical/ theological perspectives, feminist theory and liberation theology, for social group work practice with citizen groups. Its purposes are to focus on the power of social beliefs and theoretical perspectives to shape the meaning of life circumstances and situations for populations, and either to provide support for group action, or engender resignation or cynical indifference. Social group work's philosophy of democratic participation and religious commitment to social justice produced a unity of purpose for practitioners. The identification and incorporation of facets of liberation theology and feminist theory offer more current and perhaps sophisticated frames for integrated practice. Both perspectives highlight the centrality of the participant's thinking, knowing and doing both for personal becoming and community renewal.

Becoming Bamboo: Western and Eastern Explorations of the Meaning of Life

Abstract: The many problems we face in today's world -- among them war, environmental destruction, religious and racial intolerance, and inappropriate technologies -- demand that we carefully re-evaluate such issues as our relation to the environment, the nature of progress, ultimate purposes, and human values. These are all issues, Robert Carter explains, that are intimately linked to our perception of life's meaning. While many books discuss life's meaning either analytically or prescriptively, Carter addresses values and ways of meaningful living from a broader perspective, using Japanese philosophy to augment his investigation. He examines Martin Heidegger's distinction between "dwelling" and existing in the world, Lawrence Kohlberg's "stage seven" of human moral development, and the works of Viktor Frankl, Carol Gilligan, and Nel Noddings. He applies hermeneutic and deconstructionist theory to the question of meaning, and explores the feminist contribution to ethics and its relation to the interconnectedness of things celebrated in Zen and Shinto thought. Bridging various dichotomies such as East/West, reason/emotion, male/female, and caring/justice, Carter shows that ethics, environmental concern, caring, and joy in living are dependent on the growth and transformation of the self. Only by becoming aware of the interrelatedness of things, Carter reveals, can we become as supple and as strong as the bamboo tree, long the symbol of longevity and constancy.

Muslims in dialogue : the evolution of a dialogue

Abstract: This volume presents in "empirical" fashion the development of the entrance of Islam into dialogue. "Dialogue" is defined as the approach to encounters with other religions and ideologies not primarily in the teaching mode - as holding alone the secret of life - but primarily in the learning mode - seeking to find more of the secret of the meaning of life. Gathered here are almost all the articles dealing with Islam that appeared in the Journal of Ecumenical Studies or books spun off it from over the past generation, tracing Islam's slow, painful, and at times quite reluctant move to dialogue.

W. Somerset Maugham and a philosophy of life

Abstract: 'Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself'. This, which is the first principle of Existentialism, is the starting point of the present study on Maugham's production. The heroes and heroines of the works analyzed here are people who, at a certain time in their lives and due to different circumstances, wonder about the meaning of life. They reach the conclusion that life has no meaning and that it is each person who has to create his own pattern and thus make of life something bearable. Starting from the idea that life has no meaning, it is clear that these characters are not going to find a blissful happiness; first, because we know that 'happiness is something you must under no circumstances seek, it just comes if you interest yourself in absorbing pursuit'; and second, because this kind of happiness can never exist in a meaningless world. Thus, what they are looking for is a kind of life to which they can resign themselves with a certain degree of contentment, and in which they feel fulfilled. All this, of course, without having any great expectations from life. Maugham proposes in his works three different ways by means of which his characters can reach this state of satisfaction: through Love, Art, and Truth. Although this writer also reminds us that the only other way open for those who cannot come to terms with life is suicide, he seems also to suggest that the best thing one can do is resign oneself to the fact that life is meaningless and try to make the most of it.

The meaning of life at the edge of the third millennium

Abstract: Asks some basic questions about what religion is; looks at the relationship among the various religions; and asks what Christianity has to offer a world at this critical juncture.

Contemporary Work (1980–1988)

Abstract: In the chapter entitled ‘Philosophy and the Meaning of Life’ in Robert Nozick’s Philosophical Explanations there is an admonitory passage with many applications. ‘It is a puzzle’, says Nozick, ‘how so many people, including intellectuals and academics, devote enormous energy to work in which nothing of themselves or their important goals shines forth, not even in the way their work is presented. If they were struck down, their children upon growing up and examining their work would never know why they had done it, would never know who it was that did it. They work that way and sometimes live that way, too’.1