Introduction
The Meaning of Life is an essay written by Richard Taylor in 1970. Taylor discusses the formation of meaning in life and arrives at the position that life itself is simultaneously meaningless and meaningful. The meaning of life is a wholly subjective concept derived from a person’s perceptions of the processes and activities they undertake for something of their own.
For Taylor (1970), the meaning of life is comprehensible only to one person. For another, these cycles of activity are useless or bear no result. I agree with Taylor about what life is and what brings meaning. I assume that existence lacks purpose unless one chooses a satisfying activity.
Taylor’s Arguments
Taylor summarizes his position in three main blocks devoted to different aspects of life cycles. He introduces the concept of “meaninglessness.” He suggests that the myths of Sisyphus are fully capable of revealing the value of life (Taylor 1). According to Taylor, meaninglessness occurs when the actions performed are cyclical and therefore static–they are “without any meaning whatever” (Taylor 1).
Taylor argues that Sisyphus’s lack of results was meaningless because rolling the stone up the mountain had no effect. Although he notes the peculiarities of the myth’s interpretation, he dismisses them. He then leads the reader to his main argument. Taylor suggests that the eternal duration of Sisyphus’ labors is not the main reason for the meaninglessness. The most important one is “the implication of this: that they come to nothing,” so Taylor is convinced of the necessity of any results of activity (Taylor 2).
This interpretation of myth leads to Taylor’s following reasoning about meaningfulness. Meaningfulness can arise despite any living being’s prolonged, protracted activity. Taylor observes that an activity “has a meaning if it has some significant culmination” because life somehow tends to repeat itself for a million years (Taylor 4). In this sense, Taylor explores what life is like for ugly worms in caves, which can catch their prey so infrequently that their lives lack meaning.
Every living organism repeats hunting-birth-waiting cycles for thousands of years, which is why the meaning of life is “nothing but life itself” (Taylor 5). Behind life’s cyclicity, the original meaning of existence and the emergence of life as a whole are lost. Without cyclicity, however, no living being would exist at all. Hence, the meaning of life is “becoming the foundation” for others (Taylor 5). Taylor’s argument is the necessity of recognizing and accepting the infinite number of cycles a being undergoes to achieve a result and set itself a goal again.
In concluding his essay, Taylor revisits the myth of Sisyphus, which should now take on new colors for the reader. Taylor sees Sisyphus’ work as something akin to human existence and the eternal urge to perform acts after which life has no meaning. As long as one is not in the process of achieving something, one is not part of the cycle and, therefore, cannot be meaningful.
According to Taylor, life is known only from within existence itself, which is in perpetual striving and running to comprehend the new (Taylor 8). He points out that infinite activity is meaningful as long as it is a “will to pursue” (Taylor 8). Life means living as long as nature allows it and experiencing the eternal race and redefinition of the self.
Analysis
Richard Taylor’s view is based on several key aspects, including life as existence, nature’s design, and life as purpose. In his reference to life as existence, Taylor does not discount any activity but points to the value of its results. Nature’s design is that life should not end, and Taylor points to the need for the constant renewal of the cycles of life and their perpetuity. Life as purpose comes from man’s understanding of his role to “become the foundation” for future generations without losing focus on his work (Taylor 5). Man will see meaning in life when achieving goals becomes perceived as natural set points, without which the result, continuation, will not be possible.
Conclusion
The value of life to each of us is related to the extent to which we are aware of the roles and goals in life in the total mass of all existing substances. There is not much point in brushing my teeth in the morning, but life cycles would become shorter without it, and my work would not be enough to build a foundation. I agree with Taylor that life is a fantastic phenomenon, and nature has given existence meaning.
If we did not exist, meaningfulness would never arise because no one could look inside our existence. We are responsible for shaping the meaningfulness of life when we accept our differences and, drawing from them, find activity in pleasure. We find meaning in life by endlessly repeating our activities and reaching new goals.
Work Cited
Taylor, Richard. The Meaning of Life (1970). Web.