Posted August 15, 2013
The meaning of one life only exists relative to other lives, otherwise it'd be life itself or rather existence that would be observed. So it seems pointless to argue from a sole subjective standpoint of what one certain life matters to me, because it would rather reflect personal needs and values than the relativity to other lives, I barely know anything of.
The meaning of one life is a social construct and demands for social context. Thus the meaning of one life can be described as a society's concept of interpreting the life of one individual.This is further to be differentiated by any single life and a certain single life. Depending on the chosen society, a lot concepts come to mind.
Take any single life, for example, I've seen construction sites of really high multi-leveled buildings scaffolded only by bamboo poles. The life of one worker apparently doesn't matter much in this society. It's actually common there for a few workers to die during a big building project and only kin and friends care. Workers dying at a German construction site leads to a big fuss including news reports, public memorial service, minute's silence, investigation for responsibilities etc. The social meaning of any single life, is tied to the extend life is valued by a society or even by the extend death is rejected or considered uncommon. The meaning of a certain single life is hardly to determine. Society can act like an individual by simple accumulating individual reactions, mass mourning of prominent people for example. In extreme, it could be a solely media driven hype, without any persistent meaning. Society's reaction isn't a good scale for the meaning of a certain life at all, thinking of of all people whose impact only became public years after they died, let alone all people who never provoked a deliberate social reaction, but surely mattered in terms of society.
This leaves us in a situation, even after relinquishing subjective opinions about what one life matters to oneself, in which we can't make a conclusion of what one life objectively matters in terms of society. Let alone, that there are many societies with vastly differing values, which in addition aren't steady over time nor homogeneously distributed within these societies. To still give a general answer, the social context has to be further abstracted from society's values and reactions.
Though, there isn't much left, it's common ground for all societies, that they depend on their existence. In the end, it doesn't matter which values or reactions are present, when the society stops to exist. (Daring, to claim that values don't matter, but on this level of abstraction they simply don't). The primacy of existence comes in handy now, as society can't exist without individuals. Hence every life has meaning in incarnating, reproducing and sustaining society.
Of course one life can't significantly reproduce society, although I'm tempted to call this the most general meaning of life from an individual perspective, but still exceptionally representing or sustaining it and therefore exceptionally matter. Representing and sustaining, doesn't say anything about being good or changing things for the better, but about the meaning of one life in the context of society's existence. The beauty of this abstract point of view is, that every life can be measured, regardless of individual needs or social values.
Phew, that's not what I'm used to write in English everyday ;-)
Please count me in,
cheers!
(In my humble subjective view, one life matters a lot ... if you're playing Don't Starve)
The meaning of one life is a social construct and demands for social context. Thus the meaning of one life can be described as a society's concept of interpreting the life of one individual.This is further to be differentiated by any single life and a certain single life. Depending on the chosen society, a lot concepts come to mind.
Take any single life, for example, I've seen construction sites of really high multi-leveled buildings scaffolded only by bamboo poles. The life of one worker apparently doesn't matter much in this society. It's actually common there for a few workers to die during a big building project and only kin and friends care. Workers dying at a German construction site leads to a big fuss including news reports, public memorial service, minute's silence, investigation for responsibilities etc. The social meaning of any single life, is tied to the extend life is valued by a society or even by the extend death is rejected or considered uncommon. The meaning of a certain single life is hardly to determine. Society can act like an individual by simple accumulating individual reactions, mass mourning of prominent people for example. In extreme, it could be a solely media driven hype, without any persistent meaning. Society's reaction isn't a good scale for the meaning of a certain life at all, thinking of of all people whose impact only became public years after they died, let alone all people who never provoked a deliberate social reaction, but surely mattered in terms of society.
This leaves us in a situation, even after relinquishing subjective opinions about what one life matters to oneself, in which we can't make a conclusion of what one life objectively matters in terms of society. Let alone, that there are many societies with vastly differing values, which in addition aren't steady over time nor homogeneously distributed within these societies. To still give a general answer, the social context has to be further abstracted from society's values and reactions.
Though, there isn't much left, it's common ground for all societies, that they depend on their existence. In the end, it doesn't matter which values or reactions are present, when the society stops to exist. (Daring, to claim that values don't matter, but on this level of abstraction they simply don't). The primacy of existence comes in handy now, as society can't exist without individuals. Hence every life has meaning in incarnating, reproducing and sustaining society.
Of course one life can't significantly reproduce society, although I'm tempted to call this the most general meaning of life from an individual perspective, but still exceptionally representing or sustaining it and therefore exceptionally matter. Representing and sustaining, doesn't say anything about being good or changing things for the better, but about the meaning of one life in the context of society's existence. The beauty of this abstract point of view is, that every life can be measured, regardless of individual needs or social values.
Phew, that's not what I'm used to write in English everyday ;-)
Please count me in,
cheers!
(In my humble subjective view, one life matters a lot ... if you're playing Don't Starve)
Post edited August 15, 2013 by DeMignon
