Life
It is important to acquire goodness in order to understand the meaning and purpose of life.

Distressed and hopeless people do not consider or think about the meaning of life. For them, the meaning of life becomes inappropriate when their existence is at stake and when their life is a mixture of worries and perplexities. On the other hand, people who are not desperate mull over the meaning of life. It becomes a problem for such people to reflect on the meaning of life who count on endurance, relief, safety measures, and pleasure. For desperate people, life is to be lived one moment at a time. However, those who consider the meaning of life as important consider it every day and very well know that they should step back from the moment to see and observe life in a long-range context (Baumeister 3).

It is a fact that every time a…...

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References

"A Quick Introduction to the Islamic Faith."InspiredbyMuhammad.com. MakeMeBelieve, 2010. Web. 6 May 2012. .

Baumeister, R.F. Meanings of Life. New York: Guilford Press, 1991.Questia. Web. 5 May 2012. .

Besant, A. "The Life and Teachings of Muhammad." theosophique. Theosophical Publishing House, 1903. Web. 6 May 2012. .

Cook, M. Muhammad. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.Questia. Web. 5 May 2012. .

strong issue with the ideas of David Benatar and James Lenman (1997), which I regard as simply absurd, or more likely a case of academics striking a pose and writing in a sarcastic and cynical manner in hopes of getting a rise out of their readers. If the latter is true, they certainly succeeded with me, since I cannot accept the notion that non-existence is always preferable to existence or that it does not matter if the human species becomes extinct. In fact, I assert that such theories run contrary to the basic survival instinct and self-regard that most humans have, even under conditions of extreme suffering and brutality. For whatever reasons, even in the worst situations, something in the human species drives its powerful desire to survive. People may not always be loving and humane with themselves or others, but most of them do have a strong sense…...

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REFERENCES

Bauman, Z. (2003). Liquid Love: On the Frailty of Human Bonds. Polity Press.

Benatar, D. (2204). "Why It Is Better Never to Come into Existence" in D. Benatar (ed). Life, Death and Meaning. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Lenman, J. (2004). "On Becoming Extinct," in Benatar, pp. 135-54.

Pollak, R. (1997). The Creation of Dr. B.: A Biography of Bruno Bettleheim. Touchstone.

Life
Philosophers much older and wiser than I have wrestled with the thorny question of life's meaning, and risen from the mat covered with scratches and welts, but still without answers. The questions regarding life's meaning plague mankind at times. During times of prosperity and success, culture and man's conscious is understandably silent on the issue. There is no reason to struggle with the weighty matters of my purpose on this planet when my bank account is filled, and my family is healthy, and I can generally attain those things I want in my pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But often, society's prosperity gives birth to trouble. The economic prosperity of the 60's and 70's brought an increase in pollution, and families unexpectedly had to adjust to polluted groundwater, smog, and a general increase in pollution diseases.

These changed in our lives do not always come from…...

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Works Cited

Frankl, Victor E. Man's search for Meaning. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1984

Shakespeare, William. King Lear. New York: Penguin books, 1970.

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. New York: Penguin Books. 1987.

Book of Job. The Bible, Revised Standard Version. 1952

.....deathbed, Morrie reflects on his life, and relays several messages about the meaning or purpose of life. Ironically, one of the main messages of the story is that life does not necessarily have a greater or cosmic meaning. Meaning is found in what is immediately before us, in the day-to-day existence and especially in relationships with others. Life's meaning is found in accepting life for what it is rather than wishing it could be something else. The meaning of life can therefore be best understood by appreciating what we have now instead of wishing we were different or that things were different.
Second, and following from this, the meaning of life is located in the small details, things we can frequently overlook -- finding beauty and joy in every day, even on bad days and in situations that are painful or uncomfortable. Meaning is especially found in friendship, caring for others,…...

Life
A number of literary, philosophical, psychological, religious and other writers are of the view that the subject of 'the meaning of life' forms one among the most central issues experienced by people. Tolstoy (Rowlands) claims that science is unable to provide assistance in this regard. While it can describe what life is, it is incapable of describing its meaning. It is able to explain the things in this world and what's possible; however, it is unable to explain their meaning and importance. Tolstoy states that faith provides an answer to this question. Hence, he asserts that irrespective of the answers provided by faith, it accords the finiteness of humanity's existence a sense of infiniteness, which fails to get vanquished under conditions of death, afflictions, and hardship (Tolstoy). As a result, faith alone provides the possibility and meaning of life. One may describe faith as knowledge regarding life's meaning, as a…...

He believed strongly in the government's protection of civil rights and equal opportunities for all its citizens. If a government failed to do so, he called for civil disobedience. King (1986) stated that freedom must be taken from the oppressors (p. 292). His concept of meaning was formulated in the crucible of unjust laws and centered on the notion of social justice. This meant attaining freedom, dignity, and social equality for all, not just for the privileged. His advocacy of non-violent protest aligned him with Socrates, as did his subversive speech. He felt strongly that it was every person's ethical duty to stand up peacefully but powerfully against all forms of oppression, and like Socrates he was willing to face death bravely for his cause. As opposed to Aristotle and close to Socrates, he affirmed that one must work to change the material conditions of life as well as…...

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Bibliography

Aristotle. (2004). Nicomachean Ethics. (F. H. Peters, Trans). 5th Ed. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble. (Originally published in 1893).

Frankl, Viktor E. (1984). Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy. (Ilse Lasch, Trans.) 3rd Ed. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. (Reprinted from Death-Camp to Existentialism, 1963, Boston: Beacon).

King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1986). "Letter from Birmingham Jail." In James Melvin Washington (Ed.), a Testament of Hope: the Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. (pp. 289-302). New York, NY: HarperOne.

Plato. (1997). Complete Works. (John M. Cooper, Ed). Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company.

Life in a Godless orld
For as long as mankind has contemplated its own creation philosophers have pondered the meaning of life largely within the context of humanity's relationship to the divine, from Aristotle's metaphysical conception of God as all actuality to Descartes' systematic attempt to develop a proof of God's existence. The dominance of Christianity throughout much the civilized world invariably constrained the ability of great thinkers to challenge many of the religion's most fundamental precepts, from the concept of free will to the nature of good and evil, leaving much of the early philosophical canon regrettably limited by a reliance on unquestioned faith. After the European Renaissance validated the structural foundations of scientific inquiry, the glaring inability to empirically observe God in any conceivable form prompted many to privately question the dogmatic assertions of the Pope and his church. It wasn't until the momentous contribution of the German…...

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Works Cited

Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1955. Print.

"Nietzche - The Gay Science." Existentialism: Basic Writings. Charles Guignon and Derk Pereboom. 2nd. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2001. 129-171. Print. .

Nietzsche, Friedrich. On the Genealogy of Morals, I, II, III, 9. Translated by Walter Kaufmann and R.J. Hollingdale. New York: Viking, 1969. Print.

Nietzsche, Friedrich. Twilight of the Idols. Translated by Walter Kaufmann and R.J. Hollingdale. New York: Viking, 1969. Print.

Frankl, many people seek therapy because of the "feeling of the total and ultimate meaningless of their lives," (p. 62). Frankl mainly refers to the "super-meaning" or to the ultimate meaning of life from a general existential or cosmological perspective -- not the personalized meaning in one individual's purpose in life, which is a different question (p. 74). A state of meaninglessness is the inability to move forward and progress through pain, not just in spite of pain and suffering but because of it. Meaningless is a "feeling of emptiness," and an "existential vacuum," (p. 143). Meaninglessness is the inability to learn from suffering, and thereby transform suffering into something that is meaningful. According to Frankl, meaningfulness cannot be located in the propagation of the species because one must find meaning whether or not one procreates. Meaning comes from feeling useful, and feeling useful needs to arise independently of external…...

I am the founder and owner of a 25-year-old vocational school and still lecture daily. I have been married to the woman of my dreams for almost 40 years; have two children and two grandchildren. e are building a second home on a lakefront about an hour from the school with the plan that I will lecture for three days and spend four days per week at the lake. Certainly, the school and tangible income has allowed us to be comfortable and educate our children, as well as put away a bit for the future. However, when I reflect, what I really find as "meaning" is the way in which, in some small manner, we have helped transform the lives of so many students who are now successful businessmen and women, who have families, and who are continuing with some of the ethical and moral principles engrained at school.…...

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WORKS CITED and CONSULTED

Bittarello, M. (2008). "Re-Crafting the Past: The Complex Relationship Between Myth and Ritual." Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies 10.2 (2008): 214+.

Cosgrove, M. (2006). Foundations of Christian Thought. Kregel.

Jordan, P. (2001). Neanderthal: Neanderthal Man and the Story of Human Origins. The History Press.

O'Neill, M. And C. Mahoney, eds. (2007). Romantic Poetry: An Annotated Anthology,

Virginia Woolf, the author focuses her attention on a number of scenes to bring home a central idea to her reader. Through her considerations of people, insects, and a variety of other elements Ms. Woolf considers the deeper meanings of life and the various meanings it might have for individuals and the collective of humanity. By a variety of essays that range from the death of a simple moth at a window to the complex writings of Horace Walpole, Virginia Woolf appears to contemplate the many ways in which life might make itself meaningful via death, perpetual pain, and creativity.
Virginia Woolf's interpretation of death as life's ultimate purpose in its simplest form is provided in "The Death of the Moth." The author describes a moth that flies "by day," which is caught at a window. She also describes night moths as somewhat pleasantly exciting a sense of darkness, which…...

Life Is Worth Living
People are living longer than ever before. With the advances of medical science, longer and higher quality of lives are more possible than they were a few decades ago. With the ability to live longer than previously enjoyed how does one decide a life is worth living? I believe it has to do with the heart and the mind.

I have a friend who recently lost the ability to walk. Before this happened to my friend I had a much different idea about what makes life worthwhile. Watching my friend rise above the challenge and find many things to live for made me think about the true value and meaning of life. I realize now it is not what one cannot accomplish, but what one can accomplish that defines the value of a life.

I believe that a life is worth living if a person can still choose…...

oer, ranklin. Attention is the Beginning of Devotion. The Atlantic, May, 2019.The most important line in oers article is this quote from the poet Mary Oliver: Doesnt anybody in the world anymore want to get up in the / middle of the night and / sing? This quote gets to the essence of her poetry and to the inner heart of oers piece: life is about more than daytripping ones way through existence: it is about paying attention, as Oliver pointed outbut more than that: it is about realizing the beauty and majesty of being alive, and rousing oneself from ones slumber to celebrate and sing out ones thanksgivingthe way monks and religious used to do with their midnight orations.The title of the piece is Attention is the beginning of devotion, which is a line from a Mary Oliver poemand it, too, gets to the heart of what oer is…...

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Foer, Franklin. “‘Attention is the Beginning of Devotion.’” The Atlantic, 9 May, 2019.The most important line in Foer’s article is this quote from the poet Mary Oliver: “Doesn’t anybody in the world anymore want to get up in the / middle of the night and / sing?” This quote gets to the essence of her poetry and to the inner heart of Foer’s piece: life is about more than daytripping one’s way through existence: it is about paying attention, as Oliver pointed out—but more than that: it is about realizing the beauty and majesty of being alive, and rousing oneself from one’s slumber to celebrate and sing out one’s thanksgiving—the way monks and religious used to do with their midnight orations.The title of the piece is “Attention is the beginning of devotion,” which is a line from a Mary Oliver poem—and it, too, gets to the heart of what Foer is saying: in a world that is desperately trying to get everyone’s attention: a world of surveillance capitalism that is as interested in paying attention to us as we are to not paying attention to anything in particular. Yet Oliver extols the reader to pay strict and close attention to life itself—for life itself is limited by time and will surrender itself to death in the end. This is significant. This is something to consider. This is important. That is what Oliver says. That is what Foer seems to understand at the end: he has been sleeping; he has been remiss. Oliver is now dead: he should try to remember and incorporate her words into his life—while there is still time.The piece is as much about understanding that one’s own time is limited as it is about appreciating the beauty and grace and Oliver touched upon with her art. The author talks about her books sitting on her bookshelf and how he thinks of her every day—and yet he does not read her works every day or sing her poems the way the monks of old used to do with the scriptures in the middle of the night. The sense he gives off is that maybe he should. The article ends with the author wishing he could pay attention to life and have the kind of devotion to beauty and truth that Oliver has urged him to have.

Women identified their hrist Jesus who was food during mass as the redemption of humanity. The women believed reaching spirituality was through food, since naturally they were food from their ability to breastfeed. The Medieval women associated the breast as seen in Holy mother, Mary's own breastfeeding as a Eucharistic feeding of the soul.

The painting also indicates that to the Female saints of the Middle Ages, prayer was an important element in their connection to God. In the "The life and Miracles of Saint Godelieve," Godelieve makes prayer requests and offerings of food to God, that are answered by angels who bring delicacies for the poor.

Annotated Bibliography

Amy Hollywood. "Sensible Ecstasy: Mysticism, Sexual Difference, and the Demands of History (Religion and Postmodernism)," University of hicago Press, (2002).

This article carries out an analysis of anthropological studies of the medieval times, and looks into the connection of the body, the soul and physical…...

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Counihan Carole, M. "The Anthropology of Food and Body: Gender, Meaning and Power," Routledge, (1999), p.98.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, Maryann Ainsworth A., & Keith, Christiansen. "From Van Eyck to Bruegel," (1998), p.127.

Counihan Carole, M. "The Anthropology of Food," Routledge, (1999), p.98.

Life of the Buddha:
What was the Buddha's name? How else do Buddhists refer to him?

His name is Siddhartha Gautama and he is often referred to as the 'awakened' or 'enlightened' one.

What are the circumstances in which the Buddha grew up?

Siddhartha was born in 563 B.C. He lived in a place called Lumbini and then was raised in Kapilavashtha, Sakya Kingdom's capital. During this time, Northern India was made up of various small and independent states. It is during this period, people came to challenge and question Vedic philosophy through a number of new religious and philosophical schools. There was a strong moral vacuum present.

What are the "four passing sights"?

The first is an old man that reminded Buddha of aging. The second was a sick person that reminded Buddha of pain and disease. The third was a corpse that reminded Buddha of suffering. The fourth was an ascetic…...

The entire look and feel of Kunming was different because of the way factories were developed and houses were built. People had fewer options and opportunities.
In spite of the hardships that communism posed for Chan and her family, she remained strong. She never lost hope that one day she would start a new business. It was years before her dream came true, and it was not easy. The move to the United States was challenging because it made Chan feel "like a baby, starting again." She had no friends and only a few family members to help her. Gradually, though, she put together the financing for the business. She viewed it as a matter of personal pride but also as a way to leave something to her grandchildren. Chan illustrates how women can balance family and career and not succumb to the social pressures that suggest that business is…...

The very best thing about writing an essay about the meaning of life is that it is very difficult to be wrong.  The meaning of life is a very personal topic and also very subjective, so you have room to be very creative in your response.  In fact, one of the most famous popular works to discuss the meaning of life, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, concluded that the meaning of life was the number 42.  So, please feel free to be creative.  However, while being creative, keep in mind that....

1. Exploring the concept of life's purpose: Is there a predetermined meaning to life or do we create our own purpose?

2. The role of spirituality and religion in understanding the meaning of life.

3. Examining the connection between happiness and the meaning of life.

4. How do different cultures and societies define the meaning of life?

5. The impact of existentialism on our understanding of the purpose of life.

6. The importance of relationships and connections in finding meaning in life.

7. How do personal values and beliefs shape our perception of the meaning of life?

8. Is the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom essential in....

1. The Absurdist Perspective and the Meaning of Life: Explore the philosophical viewpoint of Albert Camus and other existentialists who assert that life's inherent meaninglessness is a source of freedom and personal responsibility. Discuss how this perspective can shape one's approach to life, decision-making, and the search for meaning.

2. Religion and the Divine Purpose: Examine the role of religion and spirituality in providing a sense of meaning to life. Discuss how religious beliefs, rituals, and practices can shape an individual's values, provide a framework for understanding the world, and offer hope and purpose beyond the confines of everyday existence.

3. The....

Part I: The Duality of Human Nature

1. The Eternal Struggle: Good vs. Evil in the Human Heart
2. The Battle Within: The Psyche's Warring Sides
3. Between Light and Shadow: Exploring the Dichotomy of Human Nature
4. The Yin and Yang of Humanity: The Interplay of Virtue and Vice

Part II: The Genesis of Good and Evil

5. Nature vs. Nurture: The Origins of Moral Behavior
6. The Role of Socialization in Shaping Moral Development
7. Environmental Influences and the Impact on Goodness and Evil
8. The Influence of Biology on Moral Disposition

Part III: The Consequences of Good and Evil

9. The Power of Choice: The Impact of Moral....