Exam 10: Epicurus in Waking or in Dream

Wolf says, "I am suggesting that we can have a reason to do something or to care about something that is grounded not in our own psychologies, nor specifically in our own desires, but in a ..."

Taylor says, "The meaning of life is from within us, it is not bestowed from without, and it far exceeds in both its beauty and permanence any heaven of which men have ever dreamed or yearned for."

According to Nagel, "There does not appear to be any conceivable world (containing us) about which unsettlable doubts could not arise. Consequently the absurdity of our situation derives not from a collision between our expectations and the world, but from a collision within ..."

Explain what Schopenhauer means when he says, "On looking a little closer, we find that inorganic matter presents a constant conflict between chemical forces, which eventually annihilates it; and on the other hand, that organic life is impossible without continual change of matter, and cannot exist if it does not receive perpetual help from without. This is the realm of finite existence, and its opposite would be an infinite existence, exposed to no attack from without, and needing nothing to support it."

Explain in detail Wolf's statement that "We should be careful, however, not to equate objective goodness with moral goodness." Do you agree with Wolf?