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What is the meaning of life? Compare and contrast theories from at least two well known philosophers.
This was the question I was tasked to answer, and here is my essay submitted to based on the philosophy strand.
Almost everyone takes time to discuss what the meaning of life truly is; sometimes, this happens during an existential crisis, and other times, people meditate on the question out of curiosity. The first time the phrase ‘meaning of life’ was written in English comes from Thomas Carlyle’s Sartor Resartus, written in the 1800s. Everyone wants to know what the meaning of life is. There’s no fixed answer, and almost everyone could give you a different answer. Philosophers have been discussing this topic for their entire life; like a merry-go-round they debate the question, throwing different theories and ideas, never coming to one set conclusion.
The Stoics, with the likes of Marcus Aurelius and Seneca, would argue that the ultimate goal within life is to live as a good person, and therefore the meaning of life is to dedicate yourself entirely to goodwill and harmony. As a form of collective responsibility, we are all responsible for each other, and we are all ‘like bees in a hive’ as J.B Priestley would write within the morality play An Inspector Calls.
Marcus Aurelius wrote “Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be One.” He is demanding every single one of us to be good, to live and breathe goodwill. For the Stoic, there is no alternative — it is their duty to…
