What does the cynic mean when he says that everything is meaningless? What is he getting at? Most of us identify with his indignance at hurricanes and Hitler, we simply see that the conclusion he has drawn from this is rather overreaching. What conclusion might better fit the evidence? Well, we might simply say that the world is not as meaningful as it could be. Meaningful things are always being snatched away from us in the wrong ways and at the wrong times: our families, our friends, our faith, our innocence, and many times even our lives.
On this point, we are quite in agreement with the cynic. But our view has far different practical implications. The opinion of meaningless, of itself, can only ever lead to inaction. Why do this or that if all is meaningless? What would you do in a meaningless world, and, perhaps more importantly, why? With the conclusion that meaning is under attack, however, the call to action changes entirely. It naturally leads us to two very central questions. First, what is meaningful? Second, how can these meaningful things be restored to us? To answer such questions is quite outside the scope of this single essay. I pass that duty on to my reader.
No comments:
Post a Comment