Philosophy

ANSWER

Do you agree with Edwards that the length of one’s life does not by itself determine whether life is meaningful?

Different people have different perspectives and ideas on what the meaning of life and what a life that is meaningful entails. While some people consider a life characterized by having wealth and property as a meaningful and successful life, others look at a meaningful life as a life spent doing activities that are considered helpful to society. Meaning in life is mostly associated with the ability to achieve success, a sense of accomplishment, and doing activities that contribute to a good afterlife. While some people associate the length of one’s life with a sense of meaningfulness, Edwards disagrees with such a notion (Vaughn, 2018). I agree with Edwards that the length of an individual’s life does not exclusively determine whether their life is meaningful. An individual who has lived a short life may be or may feel “more accomplished” than one who has lived for more years.

Finding meaning in life is somewhat dependent on what one does during their life – what they spend their time alive doing. One may feel accomplished and that their life is meaningful because of what they do daily, even if they have only lived for twenty years. Another individual may feel that their life is meaningless since they have lived for sixty years but have not done anything that they would consider “meaningful”. The length of a person’s life is not by itself a determinant of the meaningfulness of their life. However, when considered together with other factors such as the years spent working or the “amount of impact” that they have had over the years, then it becomes a factor in the determination of a meaningful life.

References

Vaughn, L. (2018). Philosophy Here and Now: Powerful Ideas in Everyday Life. Oxford University Press.