Question 1

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.

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Question 2

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

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The answer of The ____________________ ____________________, such as Ayer and...

Question 3

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.

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Question 4

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

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Question 5

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

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Question 6

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

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Question 7

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

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Question 8

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.

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Question 9

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

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Question 10

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?

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Question 11

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

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Question 12

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?

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Question 13

Hegel called the modern nations the ____________________ nations.

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Question 14

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

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Question 15

Schopenhauer held that all good things are ____________________.

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Quiz 9: Postscript: the Meaning of Life