Deck 2: The Meaning of Life

Question 1

The belief that the meaning of your life is a "calling" is one expression of the idea of "Life as a Mission."

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Religious believers like Saint Augustine and Martin Luther asked questions about the meaning of life less persistently than atheists.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Nihilism is the belief that life has no meaning.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

For the Greek heroes,honor was less important than other values,like compassion.

Question 5

Hamlet,Macbeth,Othello and Faust are comedies.

Question 6

Believing that the meaning of one's life is found in an afterlife implies that one views this life as the basis of one's significance.

Question 7

If life is a game,then like a game its significance is located entirely in the end or goal,which is winning.

Question 8

People who think that children are the basis for a meaningful life tend to project abstractly into the future,to a utopia,a place of total peace and happiness.

Question 9

Sometimes,the meaning of something (a sign,a word)is what it refers to.If the meaning of one's life refers to something,then what would give one's life meaning would be contextual,as in linguistic reference.

Question 10

German philosophers in the nineteenth century talked about life being a Bildungsroman,a story of personal development.

Question 11

The word "nirvana" is a Sanskrit word for "suffering."

Question 12

Someone who views life as a disease presupposes some conception of health.

Question 13

Someone who devotes his life to mountain-climbing,taking risks and even risking his life,is likely to see his life as an adventure.

Question 14

Living one's life as a work of art suggests that what counts is found more in the results than in the activities that produce it.

Question 15

Altruism is the acting for the benefit of oneself,even to the exclusion of others' benefit.

Question 16

Strictly speaking,the question of the meaning of life is purely theoretical,and there is no connection between your vision of the meaning of life and the life you will actually lead.

Question 17

The sixteenth century Dutch philosopher Erasmus wrote a book called In Praise of Folly,which was a celebration of human foolishness.

Question 18

The question about the meaning of life most typically arises during happy times,when we have the luxury of time to reflect.

Question 19

The question "What is the meaning of life?" is hard to answer because the word "meaning" is itself ambiguous.

Question 20

The images we use to talk about life define the meaning we find,or don't find,in it.

Question 21

To say that "life is a game" is to

A) say that life has a plot and characters in a story that unfolds in certain way.
B) put it into a certain perspective,in order not to take it too seriously.
C) put it into a certain perspective,in order to take very seriously.
D) say that life is absurd.

Question 22

German philosophers in the nineteenth century who embraced the idea that life is a Bildungsroman would be inclined to think that the meaning of life is learning.

Question 23

If life is art,then

A) a personal God probably does not exist.
B) life cannot be serious or consequential,since art is not serious or consequential.
C) it must have a tragic plot.
D) it can be evaluated as a work of art,as moving,inspiring,well designed,etc.

Question 24

If you think that believing in God by itself answers the question of the meaning of life then

A) God must exist.
B) you are probably a nihilist.
C) you've only pushed the question back one step further,and need to answer other questions like "Why did God create us?"
D) all of your questions about the meaning of life are answered.

Question 25

To say that "life is absurd" is to say

A) that you have to work to create meaning.
B) that the meaning of life is found in the context of our lives.
C) that it has no meaning.
D) that the meaning of life is like the meaning of a game.

Question 26

"Life as tragedy" and "Life as comedy" both share the assumption that

A) art imitates life.
B) neither art nor life can determine the shape of who we are.
C) that life is some kind of story.
D) life is an adventure.

Question 27

Someone who devotes her life to rock climbing,probably has a vision of life centered on

A) desire.
B) adventure.
C) the absurd.
D) nirvana.

Question 28

Your vision of the meaning of life

A) sets up expectations for how to live,determining in many ways the kind of life you will lead.
B) is a directly related to your temperament-pessimists always have pessimistic visions of meaning,while optimists have optimistic visions.
C) is something you are born with which gradually unfolds.
D) should be formulated precisely,in a mathematical formula.

Question 29

The vision of Sisyphus pushing his rock up the mountain only to have it fall back again is a good image for the conviction that life is suffering.

Question 30

Material acquisitions are a dependable test of success in life.

Question 31

Aristotle argues that one need not have friendships to live a good life.

Question 32

Children,God,and afterlife

A) are all forms of meaning equated with "life as an investment."
B) are all forms of meaning created within ourselves,like stories.
C) are all meaningful because they create happiness.
D) are all forms of meaning located outside of ourselves,to which our lives refer.

Question 33

Which of the following would be an all-important question for someone who sees life as a disease?

A) "Can desire be extinguished?"
B) "Who on this earth can one help?"
C) "What would a healthy life look like?"
D) "What kind of story is being developed?"

Question 34

If the word "meaning" in the question "What is the meaning of life?" refers to something beyond ourselves,then

A) we are probably nihilists.
B) our lives,like words,make sense only in a context.
C) our lives,like words,will have set predetermined meanings,found in the dictionary.
D) our lives will probably be defined by a single goal.

Question 35

Much of our language of "relationships" conjures up a picture of two lonely souls trying to "get through" to one another.

Question 36

Believing that life's meaning lies in children has the odd consequence

A) that you never know how many children you might have.
B) that from the this perspective,the meaning of one's children's lives are found not in their lives but in their children's lives.
C) that one should oppose contraception.
D) that the meaning of one's life depends on your opinion about abortion.

Question 37

Camus expresses the view that life is a tragedy when one of his characters declares

A) "Life is suffering."
B) "Life imitates art."
C) "All men are brothers and the same end awaits them all-death."
D) "The character Polonius did not consider himself a minor character in Hamlet."

Question 38

The writer John Barth suggested that

A) only writers can make sense of their lives as stories.
B) life is a Bildungsroman.
C) "life imitates art."
D) each of us is the hero of his or her own story.

Question 39

According to Camus,"one must imagine Sisyphus happy" because

A) he will soon be executed in the morning,thus ending his suffering.
B) the struggle itself to live is enough to make his life meaningful.
C) a life of pure reason is impossible.
D) Sisyphus believes he is doing God's will.

Question 40

The author of Ecclesiastes writes that

A) "Live your life as a work of art."
B) "All is vanity and vexation of spirit."
C) "At any street corner,the feeling of absurdity can strike any man in the face."
D) "We are put on this earth to help others,but what the others are here for I cannot say."

Question 41

Tantalus,a Greek mythological hero,

A) was forced to push a rock up a mountain for eternity.
B) was condemned by the gods to be tied just out of reach of a bunch of grapes.
C) was condemned to live the same life over and over.
D) was a great biblical prophet who said "Life is vanity and vexation."

Question 42

What is the similarity between the question of the meaning of life and the question of the meaning of a word?

Question 43

Solomon says that some answers to the question of the meaning of life "only postpone the answer" by raising new questions.
Suppose a friend were to tell you,"The meaning of my life is God."
Give one example of a new question that this answer raises,that you could ask your friend.

Question 44

The ancient Greeks,in Homer's Iliad,who found the meaning of life in honor,

A) sought to live up to the expectations of the community,by proving themselves in battle and not disgracing themselves.
B) sought to pursue wisdom,as the greatest of goods.
C) sought to live a life of duty.
D) sought to free themselves from all desires.

Question 45

Bill wants to live his life to the fullest,so he's constantly trying new things,even if he does them only once.Bill probably interprets life's meaning as

A) relationships.
B) learning.
C) desire.
D) investment.

Question 46

Calvin Coolidge apparently embraced the view that life is an investment when he said

A) "Time is money."
B) "A penny saved is a penny earned."
C) "Buy low,sell high."
D) "The business of America is business."

Question 47

The concept of "relationship" commonly implies that

A) people are already deeply connected.
B) life is suffering.
C) there needs to be a union of two separate people.
D) life should be lived altruistically.

Question 48

Define altruism.

Question 49

What sort of story would you be likely to tell if you viewed your life as a Bildungsroman?

Question 50

Sisyphus is a good illustration of what image of the meaning of life?

Question 51

Define nihilism.

Question 52

When Nietzsche writes that Socrates and other Western philosophers have turned "reason into a tyrant," he

A) shares the author of Ecclesiastes' belief that "all is vanity."
B) agrees with the idea that the meaning of life should be based on the pursuit of wisdom.
C) thinks a life single-mindedly devoted to reason is a fanatical life.
D) agrees with Buddhists who look to nirvana as the extinction of all desires that lead to suffering.

Question 53

One of the main tenets of Buddhism says that

A) life is happiness.
B) live free or die.
C) virtue is knowledge.
D) desire can be eliminated.

Question 54

According to Camus,what is the only serious philosophical question?

Question 55

According to Camus,the only serious philosophical question is

A) What is the meaning of life?
B) How can we extinguish desire in order to be free of suffering?
C) Does God exist?
D) Should one commit suicide?

Question 56

When Friedrich Nietzsche wrote "Live your life as a work of art," what did he mean?

Question 57

What common thread do the images of "Life as Desire" and "Life as Nirvana" share?

Question 58

According to Nietzsche in "The Thought of 'Eternal Recurrence,'" what question would gain possession of you after you were visited by the demon?

Question 59

The thinker who argued that the clarity of self-knowledge may be an illusion because most of our ideas are the product of the unconscious was

A) Sigmund Freud.
B) Goethe.
C) Camus.
D) Socrates.

Question 60

The person who described his mission in life as the creation of poetry to give the German people a sense of identity was

A) Hegel.
B) Goethe.
C) Camus.
D) Nietzsche.

Question 61

Solomon says that the "question of the meaning of life is not just an act of discovery but also an important act of creation."
What does he mean by this?
Pick three of the images of meaning he discusses in the chapter (e.g.,Life as story,life as a game),and explain each image,focusing on at least two ways that each vision of meaning requires creativity.
Then step back and look for points of comparison between the acts of creativity required in each of the three visions of meaning.
Which image is the most compelling to you,and why?

Question 62

Solomon says that some answers to the question,"What is the meaning of life?," really assume that our lives have meaning only because they refer to someone or something outside ourselves.
Write an essay explaining this way of answering the question,and then develop three detailed concepts of meaning that illustrate it.
What are the shortcomings of this way of answering the question?

Question 63

Assume that your life is a story.
Who are the major characters,and how does the plot unfold?
How does the hero of the story (you!)personally develop and grow as the plot unfolds?
Is your story a tragedy,a comedy,or something else?
What are the major conflicts that the characters have to confront?
What do you anticipate the next chapter in the story will be?
How does viewing your life as a story alter your sense of your life's meaning?

Question 64

Write a dialogue in which two characters discuss their competing images of the meaning of life.
One of the characters can represent your preferences,and the other can represent a viewpoint on meaning that you do not prefer.
Your dialogue should bring out and explain each image in some detail; it should discuss the relative strengths and weaknesses of each.
Finally,it should provide a reasoned argument or explanation why,given their strengths and weaknesses,the images are compelling to the characters.
Be creative in writing your dialogue,and have fun,but stay focused on the issues.

Question 65

Social scientists tell us that people tend to be happiest when they have meaningful relationships in which they are actively engaged.This confirms the "Life as Relationships" viewpoint.
Aristotle writes that "friendship seems to be one of the features of the good life."Explain what Aristotle means by this,and then describe your own experience of friendships.
Be specific: focus on one or two examples.
What makes them important to your life?
How have friendships contributed to your sense of meaning?

Question 66

How do you answer the question "What is the meaning of life?"
Your essay can draw on any of the options in the text,but can also develop a different image.
In either case,be sure to explain the vision of meaning,and explain why this image is compelling to you.
Solomon says that the way one answers the question of the meaning of life indicates one's "general view of life.
" What does your answer reveal about your general view of life?

Question 67

Albert Camus says that the only serious philosophical question is "Should one commit suicide?"
What do you think Camus means by this?
Is suicide necessarily tied to finding life meaningless -- or can there be other motives for suicide?
Is Camus right?
Do you think Sisyphus considers this question?
If so,why does he choose to answer "No"?
What does your answering the question "No" imply about your sense of the meaning of life?