Wolf’s account: a meaningful life is
one that is actively and at least somewhat successfully engaged in a project (or projects) of positive value
. – She asks us to consider the cases of people whose lives are useless due to a lack of activity: The Blob and the idle rich.
What Does Wolf take the relation to be between the moral life and the meaningful one?
Wolf thought that for one’s life to be meaningful,
that individual had to be actively engaged in a somewhat successful project of positive value
. She used these three parts of her definition to rule out lives that she defined as not meaningful.
Why does Wolf believe a meaningful life requires active engagement?
Wolf’s account: a meaningful life is
one that is actively and at least somewhat successfully engaged in a project (or projects) of positive value
. – She asks us to consider the cases of people whose lives are useless due to a lack of activity: The Blob and the idle rich.
Does Wolf believe that happy lives are always meaningful lives?
Wolf argues that
to live a meaningful life
, one must be actively engaged in projects that one is passionately involved in. The opposite of active engagement would be boredom. A happy life may not always be a meaningful life. Any activity that you enjoy can be a “project of worth” according to Wolf.
What does Wolf mean when she says living a life that is engaged with and so at least partially focused on projects whose value has a non subjective source is a way of acknowledging?
Living a life that is engaged with and so at least partially focussed on projects whose value has a nonsubjective source is a
way of acknowledging one’s non-privileged position
. … Here, Wolf says that in some regards, it makes sense to care only about activities that have value for oneself.
What does a wolf symbolize spiritually?
Wolf symbolism and meaning includes
loyalty
, family and friendship, teamwork, protection, wildness, freedom, instincts, playfulness, and other noble traits. … In addition, the wolf spirit animal is a sacred figure to many people who feel a kinship with these special animals.
What are the three criteria that Wolf gives for a meaningful life?
- Active engagement (highly interested in our pursuits)
- Long-term value (projects having value)
- Successful (in our pursuits)
- Has objective value (actual value or emotionally satisfying)
What is the image of a meaningless life for Wolf?
Wolf believes that that idea of a meaningless life is can be clearly and effectively embodied in the image of
a person who spends day after day in front of a television set, drinking beer and watching situation comedies
. This person is also known as the Blob.
What are the two main components that Susan Wolf outlines as necessary for a meaningful life?
According to Wolf, all meaningful lives have
both a ‘subjective’ and an ‘objective’ element to them
. These elements can make lives meaningful only together.
What does Susan Wolf mean by active engagement?
Active engagement relates to
being passionate rather than alienated
about something, whereas being engaged is not always pleasant since it may involve hard work. Projects of worth suggest that some objective value exists, and Wolf argues that meaning and objective value are linked.
What is a moral saint according to Wolf?
Wolf defines a moral saint as “
a person whose every action is as morally good as possible, a person, that is, who is as morally worthy as can be
.”
Why does Wolf think that enjoyment alone is not enough to make a life meaningful?
doing something morally good. Why does Wolf think that enjoyment alone is not enough to make a life meaningful? …
It is impossible to be actively engaged unless you are doing something morally good
.
What does Wolf mean by practical solipsism?
She thinks that someone who believes his/her own experience is all that matters is living in
practical solipsism (acting as thought he is the most important thing in the universe)
What are projects of worth according to Susan Wolf?
Susan Wolf maintains that
meaningful lives are lives
of active engagement in projects of worth—those that are “worthwhile,” a term Wolf recognizes as suggesting “a commitment to some sort of objective value.” She offers numerous examples of activities she believes are sources of meaning and ones that are not.
How does Wolf respond to the view that life can’t be meaningful without God and an afterlife?
Wolf admits that her account of self-interest fails… the distinction between worthwhile and worthless projects is incoherent. How does Wolf respond to the view that life can’t be meaningful without God and an afterlife? …
the person’s life lacks meaning.
What is the meaning of life according to Taylor?
As Taylor memorably concludes, “The meaning of life is
from within us, it is not bestowed from without, and it far exceeds in both its beauty and permanence any heaven of which men have ever dreamed or yearned for.
”
