Re: A reasonable criteria for determining meaningless
Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2019 12:58 pm
Although I do not think my reply will give any direct answer, I think probably analytical philosophy will give you kind of a methodology to look for meaningless. here's what I mean
I am personally both Skeptic and Nihlist : Skeptic, so that I think that it is IMPOSSIBLE to know the ultimate meaning or purpose of everything, and I am a Nihilist in that I think that such meaning does not exist. Here is my analytical argument.
Let us consider a premise : "Everything has meaning" and see what implications implications are, analytically , this is what the statement means :
"for all x, there exists some y, so that y contributes to the meaning of x AND x does not contribute to the meaning of y"
For example : if C is the purpose or meaning of B , and B is the purpose or meaning of A , then it cannot be the case that A contributes to the meaning of B and C.
From our premise (everything has purpose) , it follows that if all things that exist are in a set S : S={a, b, c, d, e .....z} , then it must be that all elements have purpose and meaning, so that z is the meaning of y , y is the meaning and purpose of x , x the meaning of w.... b the meaning of a
But what is the meaning of z ? it cannot be any element in the set S (since z contributes to all their meanings and purposes), so we have to add another element to the set S , so that it accounts for the purpose of z , thus : S={a, b, c, d, e .....z, a1} , and a1 also has to get its meaning from something else which is not in the set , that is b1 ... ad infinitum.
So we conclude that if everything has meaning/purpose, then meanings and purposes (and entities that contribute them) are infinite.
My conclusion :
- Either everything has meaning in this case : Nihilism is false (since everything has meaning and purpose)
- Or everything has meaning, except the ultimate reality itself (z in our example) : Nihilism is true.
I am a Nihilist because I think probably things are not infinite ( I mean levels... the thing that constitutes everything : energy, quantum fields or whatever physicists may call it... has no meaning or purpose). And if God exists, then God himself cannot get his/her meaning from another entity or from himself, so Nihilism still holds if God has no purpose or meaning for his existence.
But as I said, Nihilism maybe false (if everything is infinite and everything has meaning).
Back to skepticism :
Surprisingly enough, skepticism, unlike nihilism, always holds true :
- Either everything has meaning, therefore everything is infinite, therefore meanings and purposes are infinite, therefore it is impossible to know all these infinite meanings and purposes , therefore skepticism is true.
- Or everything has meaning, except ultimate reality (or God, or quantum fields) , therefore it is possible to know the meaning of everything, BUT it is not possible to know the meaning and purpose of the Ultimate reality , therefore knowledge is still impossible here : therefore Skepticism is true.
That's it.
I am personally both Skeptic and Nihlist : Skeptic, so that I think that it is IMPOSSIBLE to know the ultimate meaning or purpose of everything, and I am a Nihilist in that I think that such meaning does not exist. Here is my analytical argument.
Let us consider a premise : "Everything has meaning" and see what implications implications are, analytically , this is what the statement means :
"for all x, there exists some y, so that y contributes to the meaning of x AND x does not contribute to the meaning of y"
For example : if C is the purpose or meaning of B , and B is the purpose or meaning of A , then it cannot be the case that A contributes to the meaning of B and C.
From our premise (everything has purpose) , it follows that if all things that exist are in a set S : S={a, b, c, d, e .....z} , then it must be that all elements have purpose and meaning, so that z is the meaning of y , y is the meaning and purpose of x , x the meaning of w.... b the meaning of a
But what is the meaning of z ? it cannot be any element in the set S (since z contributes to all their meanings and purposes), so we have to add another element to the set S , so that it accounts for the purpose of z , thus : S={a, b, c, d, e .....z, a1} , and a1 also has to get its meaning from something else which is not in the set , that is b1 ... ad infinitum.
So we conclude that if everything has meaning/purpose, then meanings and purposes (and entities that contribute them) are infinite.
My conclusion :
- Either everything has meaning in this case : Nihilism is false (since everything has meaning and purpose)
- Or everything has meaning, except the ultimate reality itself (z in our example) : Nihilism is true.
I am a Nihilist because I think probably things are not infinite ( I mean levels... the thing that constitutes everything : energy, quantum fields or whatever physicists may call it... has no meaning or purpose). And if God exists, then God himself cannot get his/her meaning from another entity or from himself, so Nihilism still holds if God has no purpose or meaning for his existence.
But as I said, Nihilism maybe false (if everything is infinite and everything has meaning).
Back to skepticism :
Surprisingly enough, skepticism, unlike nihilism, always holds true :
- Either everything has meaning, therefore everything is infinite, therefore meanings and purposes are infinite, therefore it is impossible to know all these infinite meanings and purposes , therefore skepticism is true.
- Or everything has meaning, except ultimate reality (or God, or quantum fields) , therefore it is possible to know the meaning of everything, BUT it is not possible to know the meaning and purpose of the Ultimate reality , therefore knowledge is still impossible here : therefore Skepticism is true.
That's it.