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| Who What When Where Why About |
The
meaning of life constitutes a philosophical question concerning the
purpose and significance of human existence. The concept can be
expressed through a variety of related questions, such as Why are we
here?, What's life all about? and What is the meaning of it all?. It
has been the central subject in most philosophical, scientific, and
theological
speculation throughout history and there have been a large number of
answers from many different cultural and ideological backgrounds. This
suggests the meaning of life is different for most. The meaning of life is deeply mixed with the philosophical and religious conceptions of existence, consciousness, and happiness, and touches on many other issues, such as symbolic meaning, ontology, value, purpose, ethics, good and evil, free will, conceptions of God, the existence of God, the soul and the afterlife. Scientific contributions are more indirect; by describing the empirical facts about the universe, science provides some context and sets parameters for conversations on related topics. An alternative, human-centric, and not a cosmic/religious approach is the question "What is the meaning of my life?" The value of the question pertaining to the purpose of life may be considered to be coincidal with the achievement of ultimate reality, if that is believed by one to exist. |