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Shelbie N. Tubbs Professor Lexow PHIL-1030-L April 11, 2022g Susan Wolf: Meaning in Li Summary Wolf begins by describing a meaningful life as one that can provide answers to the needs for meaning (Boden et al. 699). Such questions might include whether or not life is indeed worth living, or whether there is any reason to go on living. She also mentions that whether or not life is meaningful is a premise that has been indoctrinated into people by society. With this reasoning, Wolf proceeds to make her main point in the overall article: lives are deemed meaningful if individual are actively engaged in projects of worth (Wolf 207). In her understanding, Wolf describes active engagement as being involved in an activity to the point of being excited and enthralled by it. In her description, however, she mentions that active engagement does not necessarily imply that one derives pleasure from it, especially since most activities always involve some inherent danger and exertion. However, the mere fact that one is engaged in an activity or a project, no matter how dangerous or stressful it might be, is a source of great satisfaction. Conversely, upon the realization that the activities in which one engages might actually be shallow, individuals begin to experience meaninglessness. This does not reflect on the nature of the projects they were actively engaged in, but on the desire to add meaning to their lives.
Focusing on the concept of ‘projects of worth’, Wolf clarifies that this part might bring about controversies, especially because the meaningfulness or meaninglessness of life is subjective, while society has already more or less decided what can be legitimately deemed as a project of worth. She mentions that according to her, it is impossible to determine the meaningfulness of life without mentioning what an individual spends that life doing. Wolf expresses the need for an explanation behind the phrase ‘projects of worth’, which immediately implies that there are some projects that are not of worth. Active engagement without a project of worth Just as Wolf indicates, it is difficult to come up with a proper example for such a situation without raising different controversies. This is because what society has accepted as a project of worth might not necessarily be the case for an individual. Conversely, an individual might be actively engaged in a project that is not conventionally deemed to be worthwhile, but one from which he/she derives pleasure and purpose. For the purposes of this paper, consider the game of Dungeons & Dragons. Without delving into much detail about the game, it involves role- playing, with imagination being a major part of it. An individual might spend an incredible amount of time playing this game, and perhaps even derive pleasure from it. But from the perspective of society, much like how we might consider the story of Sisyphus from an external view, nothing is achieved even after completion of the game, which only necessitates the initiation of another one – and then another. This cyclic pattern is seen as the source of meaninglessness in such an individual’s life. No active engagement with a project of worth Since the only perspective that appears to matter when considering the meaningfulness of life is that of society (and not of the individual that is living the life), consider an individual that
First of all, it is important to understand that since this is a philosophical debate that is dependent upon subjective interpretation, there is no correct or incorrect view, hence the use of quotation marks above. Considering this, I believe that Wolf’s perspective might not be the best metric in describe the meaningfulness of life. As I mentioned earlier, whether or not a life is meaningful depends on how a person views their life. However, I do agree with her position that a meaningful life has both active engagement and projects of worth. My disagreement arises from the metrics used to define these two parameters. Further, I believe that meaningfulness of life comes from more than just these two parameters. Active engagement is strictly described as being excited by what one is doing. Allow me to rephrase Wolf’s proposal as best as I understand it – one needs to do something worthwhile, and like what they do, for one’s life to be deemed meaningful. This is a rather naive and decorated view, especially considering individuals in the lower or lower-middle classes. These are janitors, housemaids, security guards, etc. that do these jobs that would not otherwise be done by anyone else to make a living. No one can argue that such jobs are crucial to the very survival of mankind, but they are not pleasant jobs. However, these individuals wake up every day to go to these jobs, and they derive meaning in their life from the fact that they are providing for their families, and that they are not starving. Therefore, confining the meaning of life to just two parameters does not allow for consideration of other overarching factors. Nevertheless, projects of worth are defined from the perspective of society, and not from that of individuals actually engaged in these projects. Society might not agree with one’s choice of project, arguing that some might not be worthwhile, but this does not make it a suitable metric in the determination of meaningfulness of life. A life is only as meaningful as the individual
living it finds it to be. They might be chronic Dungeons & Dragons players, but are actively engaged in this activity, to the point of deriving meaning from it.
