Crying

 AGENDA

• Weinberg, ultimate meaning
• Next Friday: guest lecturer (job candidate)
• Monday May 4: review
• Tuesday May 5: exam 3

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Rivka Weinberg, "Ultimate Meaning: We Don't Have It, We Can't Get It, and We Should Be Very Very Sad" (2021)

The Meaning of It All (2026)

Watch first 5 minutes:

 

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Basic terms and concepts

• Meaning means purpose
• "What is the meaning of life?" = "What is the point of life?"

Everyday meaning (what others call "meaning in life")-- What is the point parts of parts of our lives like having a career, having a family, etc?

Ultimate meaning -(she also calls this "meaning of life") - Take the entire enterprise of leading your life ... what's the point?

Cosmic meaning (discussed in book, not article) -- What is our role in the cosmos as a whole?

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Main claims 

1. There is lots of everyday meaning -- lots of things you do have a point
2.  But there is no ultimate meaning -- leading your life has no point
3. And that's sad!

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Leading your life is your biggest pursuit

Each little diamond is one of your projects
The whole arrow represents the project of leading your life

 My projects/pursuits/enterprises today

1. Getting ready to teach
2. Getting ready to give a talk tomorrow
3. Finishing a book I'm reading
4. Making dinner
5. Etc.
6. Leading my life

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Pursuits and points

Pursuit: Building a hut

• The point of a pursuit is a valued end that is separate and outside of the pursuit itself (call this sthe "externality principle")
• It may be achieved at the same time as the pursuit or after the pursuit is finished.

Possible points of building a hut

• valued end: having fun 
• valued end: having shelter 
• both of these points are separate from and outside of the pursuit itself

Not a possible point of building a hut

• building the walls
• adding the roof
• digging the foundation
• a PART of the pursuit can't be the point of the WHOLE pursuit

Other violations of the externality principle

• what is the point of eating dinner? eating dessert
• what is the point of going to the fair? going on the rides

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Lots of pursuits do have points

Note that some of the pursuits are "telic"and some of them are "atelic."
Atelic pursuits do have a point, they just don't have an ENDpoint.

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But the project of living your life doesn't have a point

"The point of building a hut, like all points, will lie outside the hut, as we have noted. But there’s nothing external to your life to serve as the point of leading and living it because your life includes your whole damn life. Human life includes its entirety, leaving nowhere for us to reach for a valued end to serve as a point for leading and living it." ("Ultimate Meaning" p. 4)

"Because your life includes your entire life, there is nothing external to it to serve as a valued end toward which it is directed. This doesn’t mean that your life is worthless or insignificant or not valuable in other ways. It just means that it’s pointless." ("Ultimate Meaning" p. 4)

"The problem of Ultimate Meaning—its metaphysical impossibility—results from the nature of points (i.e., that they are separate from the activities, pursuits, projects, and efforts toward which they’re aimed) and the nature of a human life (i.e., that it includes its entirety). We can see that problem from right here, from right inside our lives and the effort we put into running them." ("Ultimate Meaning" p. 6)

"We can have many valued ends within our lives, and they may provide points for many of our efforts within our lives but they can’t provide a point to or for leading our lives at all. Our lives may be full, even meaningful, overflowing with purposeful projects and enterprises but conducting life itself isn’t one of them. It can’t be. There is nothing that lies separate from it to serve as its valued end." ("Ultimate Meaning" p. 7)

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Next section of her article --attempted solutions (we will discuss Monday)

Brainstorm objections

WORKBOOK