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  • New Philosopher

    The purpose of life

    Aug 10, 2020 4 minutes
    by Massimo Pigliucci
    Illustration by Aida Novoa & Carlos Egan

    Is there a purpose to human life? Philosophers and theologians have argued the issue for millennia.The answer depends on what exactly one is asking. If the question is: “Is there an objective, universal purpose informing and directing human living?” then I am convinced the answer is a resounding no.

    I don’t believe in gods, so such a universal purpose cannot come from them. Nor do I believe that Nature endows us with purpose, as Aristotle famously did. Nature just is, and it doesn’t have any plans. It is in this sense that Existentialists like Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir say that we are “radically free”. Not because we can

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