Quiz 9: Postscript: the Meaning of Life

Who claimed that "the one serious question in philosophy" is that of whether life has meaning? A) Camus B) Sartre C) Heidegger D) Plato

Rudolf Carnap endorsed: A) Pragmatism B) Idealism C) Antirealism D) Logical positivism

One proponent of the theistic response to the question of whether life has meaning is A) Sartre B) Heidegger C) Aquinas D) Aristotle

Kai Nielsen claims that A) The theistic response makes an illogical jump. B) The theistic response is correct C) The theistic responses affirms the consequent D) The theistic response needs modification only

What did Hegel argue? A) That history was bunk B) That history was irrelevant to philosophy C) That history shows progress D) That those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it.

Marx held that progress was A) Illusory B) Necessary C) Economic D) Social

For Francis Fukuyama, A) History of progressing more rapidly B) The price if progress has risen C) History is no longer progressing D) The end of the world is near

Richard Taylor argues for the view that A) Life has no meaning B) History is progressing C) History is over D) Life has meaning

The view that there is no larger whole or part to which we can contribute is A) Communism B) Virtue ethics C) Socialism D) Nihilism

Sartre was A) A theist B) An agnostic C) An atheist D) A monotheist

Hegel believed that history showed progress.

Karl Marx denied that history showed progress.

Oswald Spengler believed that the West was in decline.

Schopenhauer believed that everything passes away.

Richard Taylor believes that life has no meaning.

R.M. Hare argues that nihilism is mistaken.

Kierkegaard described three lifestyles.

For Kierkegaard, the meaning of life is objective.

Sartre was a theist.

Kierkegaard held that life could only have meaning if we commit ourselves to a cause or ideal that we know is worth pursuing.

Aquinas's view can be called the ____________________ response to the question of meaning.

Hegel called the modern nations the ____________________ nations.

For Marx, the perfect future world would be a(n) ____________________ society.

____________________ has argued that history is no longer progressing towards any goal.

Schopenhauer held that all good things are ____________________.

R. M. Hare has argued that the ____________________ response to the question of whether life has meaning is mistaken.

Kierkegaard described three lifestyles, which he called ethical, religious, and ____________________.

For Kierkegaard, the move to the religious stage requires a(n) ____________________ ____________________ ____________________.

The ____________________ ____________________, such as Ayer and Carnap, held that the question of whether life has any meaning was itself meaningless.

The ____________________ response to the question of what the meaning of life is led Tolstoy out of his depression.

How can we understand the question "What is the meaning of life?"? Which way of understanding this question do you think is the most defensible, and why?

Should we endorse the nihilist response to the question of whether life has any meaning? If we should, does this undercut any reason that we might have for living? Explain your answer here. If we should not, explain why.

Do you believe that we can find the meaning of life in human progress? What does your answer to this question tell you about (a) your views on the question of whether morality is objective or subjective, or (b) your views on the question of whether we can know anything about the external world.

Do you believe that there are limits on subjective meaning? Are there certain activities that are objectively pointless, even if someone values them highly? If you believe that there are such limits on subjective meaning, explain how we can determine them. If you believe that there are not, would you say that a person who was delusional could have a meaningful life?

Do you believe that the question of whether our lives have meaning can be settled merely by appealing to events that occur during them¾or could events that occur after our lives affect their meaning? For example, suppose that a person spent her life writing a novel that her friend promised to publish posthumously, but as soon as she died her friend destroyed it. Would the posthumous destruction of her work affect the meaning of the novelist's life in any way? Argue for your view here.