Argument Essay, “The Meaning of Life”

 

"The Meaning of Life"

 

 

“What is the meaning of life?” There are many different ways to approach the ultimate goal of life. “Psychological Health,” by Albert Ellis & Windy Dryden, illustrates the several criteria for finding “the meaning of life,” from “Handling Special Problems,” updated 2 Nov. 1997. Here are three characters from 21 criteria that clarify how to analyze the ideal ways to find the answer. These are based upon the experts’ thesis, and the opposite concepts from various groups who represent this issue from different viewpoints.

<http://www.Halcyon.com/neiders/conquest/hsp.htm>

 

First, High frustration tolerance: Rational individuals give both themselves and others the right to be wrong. Even when they intensely dislike their own and others' behavior, they refrain from damning themselves or others, as persons, for unacceptable or obnoxious behavior. People who are not plagued with debilitating emotional distress go along with St. Francis and Reinhold Niebuhr by changing obnoxious conditions they can change, accepting those they cannot, and learning to tell the difference between the two.

As a case in point, St. Francis is one of the greatest theologians. “Power of the price of love: that can happen only when we give up control, and learn to love reality as it is, people as they are, situations as they arise, good and bad, useful and useless, the pleasure and the pain.” <http://www.stfrancismacon.com/PowerAsPrice.htm>

 

Moreover, Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971) is known for his study of relating the Christian faith to the reality of modern politics and diplomacy. “The Serenity Prayer” has been used in many variations. “Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time, Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, Taking, as Jesus did, This sinful world as it is, Not as I would have it, Trusting that You will make all things right, If I surrender to Your will, So that I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with You forever in the next.”

<http://quote.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhold_Niebuhr>

 

In contrast, Cliff Walker stated in “Philosophy of Positive Atheism” from his introduction to activistic atheism, “Nothing will be accomplished in this respect unless and until we stand up, assert our dignity, and demand respect and equal treatment. We must stop the lies told about us every week, from the pulpit and from the floor of Congress, and this will happen most quickly if we live a Satyagraha-like sense of integrity in our own lives and demand it from those around us. Madalyn Murray O'Hair made a very poignant remark: "Actually, I don't like Atheists very much -- at least most of them -- because they are not motivated to move into the community and attempt to correct the injustices which are everywhere apparent against them." It takes work to move into the community and attempt to correct these injustices. And if we don't do it, it won't get done. God is certainly not going to do it for us. Thus, if anyone is looking for a term to describe that brand of atheism which demands ethical behavior of oneself and of one's associates, we hereby encourage people to use "Positive Atheism" as that term. To us, "Positive Atheism" means all this and much more.”

<http://www.positiveatheism.org/faq/faq1111.htm#WHATISPOSATH>.

 

          Second, Commitment to creative pursuits: Most people tend to be healthier and happier when they are vitally absorbed in something outside themselves and preferably have at least one powerful creative interest, as well as some major human involvement, that they consider so important that they structure a good part of their life around it.

          However, “The Institute for Humanist Studies” promotes nonreligious perspectives on social, political, and ethical issues and serves as a resource for and about the humanist community. “Our primary task is to make human beings aware in the simplest terms of what Humanism can mean to them and what it commits them to. By utilizing free inquiry, the power of science, and creative imagination for the furtherance of peace and in the service of compassion, we have confidence that we have the means to solve the problems that confront us all. We call upon all who share this conviction to associate themselves with us in this endeavour.” (IHEU 50th Congress, Amsterdam, 2002)

<http://humaniststudies.org/humphil.html>

 

Finally, Risk-taking: Emotionally healthy people tend to take a pair amount of risk and to try to do what they want to do, even when there is a good chance that they my fail. They tend to be adventurous but not foolhardy.

On the contrary, Frank R. Zindler portrayed “Spirit, Soul and Mind,” in “The Probing Mind,” February 1985. “To wonder where the mind goes after the brain decays is as silly as asking where the 70-miles-per-hour have gone after a speeding auto has crashed into a tree. Just as the relative motion of an auto can be altered only within certain limits and still represent the process called "speeding," so too we can alter the functioning of the brain only so much before the process called "mind" or "thinking" becomes altered out of existence. As a result, whether or not we shall be any more responsible in the application of this new knowledge than we were in the application of fire, dynamite, and atomic energy remains to be seen. Even the un-average person plays ill the part of Prometheus. Unless we, collectively the new Prometheus, judge wisely what to do with our new psychobiological powers, like Prometheus we may find ourselves chained to rocks, our vitals torn by eagles. Or worse.”

<http://www.atheists.org/Atheism/mind.html>

 

In conclusion, indeed I appreciate the experts who studied the “meaning of life” from  their deepest hearts, not only for themselves, but for others. Especially, Peter B. Raabe said, “While the adage that the unexamined life is not worth living is somewhat of an exaggeration, it is certainly true that the examination of a life by means of philosophical counseling can lead to the living of a better life.” Also, Charles Robert Darwin said, “As for a future life, every man must judge for himself between conflicting vague probabilities.” As a consequence, I discovered the way of understanding the meaning of life. It makes me also defining the awareness of the value, endowment and fruitfulness for our lives. Life is persisting of the precious moments, constantly. Feel the pleasant moment and share it with others. It echoes to the world for the better place to live, and the world is filled with the grateful heart for the meaning of life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 26, 2004

S. Rhee

Argument Essay

[English AX 6680]