| Re: The Meaning of Life - what is it? How about using some of our linguistic skills to explore this perennial question.
"The meaning of life--what is it?" presupposes that there is only one meaning, but that is not necessarily the case. The question also uses a very large scope, someone's entire life, including all the things that person has been and done from birth to death.
But more important, there are several enormous deletions.
For instance, the verb "sell" is a "four-place" verb, requiring a buyer, a seller, something to be sold, and a price. If I say, "I sold something," that leaves out the buyer and the price (and is pretty vague about what was sold).
The word "meaning" also needs additional elements in order to have any substance. Meaning for whom? Using what criteria? In what context? For what outcome?
Asking "What is the meaning of Life" is like asking, "What is the meaning of apple?" or "What is the meaning of car?" Unless you fill in the deletions, it is as meaningless as, "I sold it." But if (and only if) you reduce the scope and you fill in the deletions, you can easily find meanings. |