Meaningfulness as Sensefulness
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8091463 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joshua Lewis Thomas (0000-0003-0476-9848, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1555-1577 |
| Publication date | 2019-02-26 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | philoSOPHIA (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2155-0905 • E-ISSN: 2155-0891 |
| Publisher | Springer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11406-019-00063-x |
| OpenAlex | W2915935259 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 12 |
| References cited | 42 |
It is only in the last few decades that analytic philosophers in particular have begun to pay any serious attention to the topic of life’s meaning. Such philosophers, however, do not usually attempt to answer or analyse the traditional question ‘What is the meaning of life?’, but rather the subtly different question ‘What makes a life meaningful?’ and it is generally assumed that the latter can be discussed independently of the former. Nevertheless, this paper will argue that the two questions are indeed connected, and that identifying and expanding upon the most plausible analysis of the former will provide the resources necessary to determine the most plausible answer to the latter. Specifically, this paper will argue that the traditional question is simply a request for the information which constitutes a coherent answer to one or more of a certain set of questions regarding human existence that were salient to the asker. In simpler language, the meaning of life itself is the information a person needs to make sense of it. This analysis can then also be applied to individual lives, such that asking for the meaning of X’s life is an analogous request for the information necessary to make sense of that life in particular. Running with this concept of the ‘meaning’ of something as its ‘sense’, the paper then outlines an accompanying theory of ‘meaningfulness’ as ‘sensefulness’: a measure of the richness of certain aspects of the life, multiplied by their intelligibility
Epistemology · Intelligibility (philosophy · Meaning (existential · Meaning of life · Metaphysics · Philosophy of language · Philosophy of mind · Philosophy of science · Salient · Set (abstract data type · Sociology · Computer Science · Mental Health and Psychiatry · Philosophical Ethics and Theory · Psychology · Theology and Philosophy of Evil · Philosophy
The Hidden Values of Resisting Temptation
Temporal textures
What makes a life meaningful? Folk intuitions about the content and shape of meaningful lives
In Defence of Sense
Is Meaning in Life Constituted by Value or Intelligibility
Mental integrity, autonomy, and fundamental interests
Externalism, internalism, and meaningful lives
Competitive Value, Noncompetitive Value, and Life's Meaning
Why a Life in Virtual Reality has the Potential to be Just as Meaningful as a Life Outside of it or, in Some Cases, More so
The Good, the Bad, and the Meaningful
Is artificial intelligence a threat to meaningful work and living? Technological unemployment and the existential challenges of a transitional era
Recent work on the meaning of “life’s meaning
Meaning in Life
Against Narrativity
Meaning in Life as Comprehension, Purpose, and Mattering
(The Feeling of) Meaning-as-Information
The Meaning Maintenance Model
The Absurd
The three meanings of meaning in life
Meaningfulness and Identities
The Importance of What We Care About
Doing Valuable Time
Why has the Question of the Meaning of Life Arisen in the Last Two and a Half Centuries?
Narrative Explanation
Meaning
The Informed Will and the Meaning of Life
Meaningfulness and Time
Does It Matter that Nothing We Do Will Matter in a Million Years
The Meaning of Life
Meaning in Life
Intrinsic Value and Meaningful Life
Consequentialism about Meaning in Life
The Good Cause Account of the Meaning of Life
On the Meaning of Life
| Unique citing works | 12 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,71 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2026 (8) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 12 |