Sisyphus by Titian, 1549

(This essay by Ms. Sara Jane Wojcik clarifies her previous guest post. Her thoughtful ruminations remind me of E. D. Klemke’s profound essay, “Living Without Appeal.”)

The most basic form of integrity is to accept reality for what it is rather than how we would like it to be. I have always loved science fiction writer Phillip Dick on this when he says, “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” Continue reading Against Suicide: Coping with Reality →

What does it take for a person to persist from moment to moment—for the same person to exist at different moments? Continue reading Derek Parfit, Personal Identity, and Death →

Le Penseur in the Musée Rodin in Paris

(I recently summarized a few salient points from a philosophical essay by Ms. Sylvia Jane Wojcik. She has since made multiple revisions to the essay and I thought the revised version worthy of a separate post. Here is the entire essay from a deeply searching soul.) Continue reading What’s It All About? →

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25. What I Hope For

What then should we hope for? The objects of my hopes are vague and indeterminate. I hope that something better will emerge in the course of cosmic evolution, that things will work out for the best, that truth, goodness, beauty, justice, and love are real, that my life and universal life are meaningful, that somehow it all makes sense, that life is not in vain, and that things ultimately matter. These are my most fervent hopes and having them gives me a reason to live. Continue reading A Philosopher’s Lifelong Search for Meaning – Part 8 – Hope and Meaning →

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    22. Attitudinal Optimism

One response to the failure of our intellectual analysis to demonstrate that life is or is becoming fully meaningful is to adopt, to the extent it’s possible, certain attitudes to help us live in the face of the unknown. Let’s consider two potentially helpful attitudes—optimism and hope.  

Optimism is a tendency to expect the best possible outcome. Optimists believe that things will improve, while pessimists believe that things will worsen. I wholeheartedly reject such optimism because I don’t expect good outcomes or have faith that the future will be better. Continue reading A Philosopher’s Lifelong Search for Meaning – Part 7 – Optimism and Hope →