Susan Wolf Meaning In Life Summary

Susan Wolf, a professor at The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, wrote Meaning in Life and Why It Matters to try to figure out why one’s life has meaning. She presents three different views to address the question of whether or not someone exhibits a meaningful life. Wolf presents what is called the fulfillment view, the larger-than-oneself view, and the bipartite view, however each view raises a problem that is sufficient enough to say that it does not answer the question presented before. As a result, she creates her own view on the meaning of life and it is called the fitting fulfillment view. It is a fairly sound argument; however, many people have tried to present an argument against it. I will also present my argument against …show more content…
One of the main flaw is that not all pleasurable things are meaningful. For example, eating ice cream is a pleasurable experience for most people. It is delicious, but it is not a fulfilling activity. If you eat the ice cream, your life does not simply become more meaningful, and in fact, it probably makes your life less meaningful because it is unhealthy. Another flaw would just be the reverse of the initial flaw. Just because an activity provides meaning, does not mean that it is pleasurable. To expound upon that, if your family member is sick, we can all agree that it is your duty to take care of them, and that is a fulfilling experience because you are making them feel better. However, helping a sick person feel better is not pleasurable. No one has ever said that they enjoy running to the store to pick up medicine and tissues, but they do it anyway because that person’s well-being is meaningful to them. Because the fulfillment view says that only pleasurable experiences are what contribute to a meaningful life, but there are countless examples to prove that premise false, Susan Wolf decides that the fulfillment view is not a proper way to answer the meaning of life