Dear Future Centenarian,
Last week, we talked about Purpose
of Life and why it is pertinent to a life extension newsletter. This issue, I’m
going to extend last week’s discussion.
Do you know most people don't have
any clear-cut goals, plans or purpose? Mostly, only scientists, business owners
and managers and individuals who work on challenges that might take decades to
solve, have a clear definition of life’s purpose and appreciate the need for
extended lifespans. The Japanese are more in tune with long-term thinking than
Americans and maybe the rest of the world as well. Therefore, I suspect they may
have a better appreciation for the purpose of life. But I don’t know. I spent a
lot of time in Japan many years ago and wish I would
have thought to explore it.
Nevertheless, if you are a long-term
thinker, you most likely have an opinion… no matter where you
live.
After last week’s letter, I
researched further and was surprised at how little I knew about various
cultures’ and philosophies’ purpose of life. There were a lot more than I
thought, too many for one newsletter. So I’m like to share some of what I
learned with you here and extend this topic one more week. I’ll wait until then
to disclose my personal opinion of what it is.
Platonic view.
For Plato the meaning of life was to
attain the highest form of knowledge.
Aristotelian
view. Aristotle
argued that a person had to study and practice in order to become “good”.
Cynic view.
The Cynics were a
Hellenistic
school of philosophy that argued that the purpose of life was to
live a life of Virtue in
agreement with Nature. This
meant rejecting all conventional desires for wealth, power, health, and
fame, and by
living a life free from all possessions.
Cyrenaic view.
They thought happiness is one of the
ends of moral action, and maintained that pleasure was the supreme good and
purpose, creating a hedonistic
view.
Epicurean view.
Epicurus
believed the greatest good was to seek modest pleasures in order to attain a
state of tranquility and freedom from fear through knowledge, friendship, and
living a virtuous and temperate life… abstaining from bodily desires, such as
sex and appetites, verging on asceticism.
Stoic view.
Stoicism
teaches that to live according to reason and virtue is to live in harmony with
the divine order of the universe, Stoicism's prime directives are virtue, reason, and
natural law,
and they seek the development of self-control and fortitude as a means of
overcoming destructive emotions.
Nihilist view.
Nihilism
rejects claims to knowledge and truth and declares that nothing is of value.
From a nihilist point of view, morals are valueless and only hold a place in
society as false ideals created by various forces.
Pragmatist view.
Pragmatic philosophers suggest that
rather than a truth about life, we should seek a useful understanding of life.
To a pragmatist, the meaning of an individual's life can be discovered only
through experience and the purposes which cause you to value it.
Existentialist
views. Existentialism
posits that individuals create the meaning and essence of their lives, as
opposed to deities or authorities creating it for them. Emphasizing action,
freedom, and decision as fundamental, existentialists oppose themselves to rationalism
and positivism
and instead look at where people find meaning.
Humanist views.
Humanists believe that human purpose
is determined by humans, completely without supernatural
influence. It is human personality that is the purpose of a human's life.
Humanism affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of
personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity. Posthumanism
and transhumanism
insist that the meaning of life is necessarily indefinite and ambiguous, and
should be left to the philosophical inclinations of the individual; however
there is a moral imperative common to all intelligent agents to improve their
lives.
Logical
positivist view. Things in a person's
life can have meaning, but a meaning of life itself, i.e., apart from those
things, cannot be discerned. In this context, a person's life is said to have
meaning in the form of the events throughout his life and the results of his
life in terms of achievements, a legacy, family, etc.
Jewish view.
Jews believe
the purpose of life is to serve God and to prepare for the world to
come.
That’s a dozen, with a
dozen more coming your way. Did any strike a chord with you? A few did with me.
But I think my favorite is the most elegant. To be continued…
David A. Kekich
Maximum Life
Foundation
714-641-0700/Fax
714-464-4135
www.MaxLife.org
"Where Biotech, Infotech and
Nanotech
Meet to
Reverse Aging by 2029"