philo finals !!!!!!

• robert nozick


  discussed the different modes of meaning
• robert nozick


  claimed that knowing these modes will help people know which sense of meaning is relevant to the search of the meaning of life
• first five modes


  are intractable (hard to control) and may be used in understanding the other modes of meaning
• latter three modes


  obscure
• modes of meaningfulness


  understanding these and what they express will clarify any question on what meaningful means when referred to one's life
• 8 modes of meaningfulness


  1. meaning as external causal relationship

  2. meaning as external referential or semantic relation

  3. meaning as intention or purpose

  4. meaning as lesson

  5. meaning as personal significance, importance, or value

  6. meaning as objective meaningfulness

  7. meaning as intrinsic meaningfulness

  8. meaning as total resultant meaning
• meaning as external causal relationship


  meaning is dependent on the causal relationship that forms life
• meaning as external causal relationship


  each human life is meaningful through external causal relation
• meaning as external causal relationship


  life's meaning is anchored on the life that is causally connected with others either as antecedents or as consequent situations
• meaning as external causal relationship


  EX: we exist bc of the process of reproduction
• Meaning as external referential or semantic relation


  life becomes meaningful when one draws out a referential relation between life and some symbols that would represent life
• Meaning as external referential or semantic relation


  through what is called stipulative definition, one can form and stipulate what their life means, provided there is a clear notion of what these references are
• Meaning as external referential or semantic relation


  similar to when new words are assigned new meanings
• meaning as intention or purpose

  
  

  life has meaning through the purpose and intent of why one person is alive
• meaning as intention or purpose

  
  

  life will have meaning based on the goals or sets of intentions a person intends to do
• meaning as intention or purpose

  
  

  meaningfulness will actually be helped by establishing a life plan
• meaning as intention or purpose

  
  

  can also be the stipulated meaning, hence the semantic meaning of life
• life plan


  guides the person to actually achieve the goals they've set
• life plan


  the strongest intention about one's life
• life plan


  an individual's list of coherent, systematic purposes, and intentions for his life specifies the person's major goals
• meaning as lesson


  meaning as a lesson to be learned
• meaning as lesson


  people want that their life plans will have a positive lesson that others can learn from and directly exemplify the life that they live
• meaning as lesson


  simply put, one's actions must reflect his goal for him to achieve it — then from his life, a lesson can be drawn
• Meaning as personal significance, importance, or value


  it seems the reason humans would want to live a meaningful life is to leave a mark that after they die, they leave a legacy that will serve as a sign that they lived once upon a time
• robert nozick


  stated that "a significant life leaves a mark in the world. a significant life seems permanent: it makes a difference in the world—leaves traces. it seems it should not ever be that you had never existed at all."
• mark or trace


  a significant life leaves this
• importance of leaving traces


  1. it indicates that a person's life had a certain meaning or importance

  2. it might be an expression of something important about life

  3. it can be thought to be intrinsically important