Human Extinction, Narrative Ending, and Meaning of Life
Journal of Philosophy of Life 6 (1):1-22 (2016)
Abstract
Some people think that the inevitability of human extinction renders life meaningless. Joshua Seachris has argued that naturalism can be conceptualized as a meta-narrative and that it narrates across important questions of human life, including what is the meaning of life and how life will end. How a narrative ends is important, Seachris argues. In the absence of God, and with knowledge that human extinction is a certainty, is there any way that humanity could be meaningful and have a good ending? I will distinguish between two conceptions of how humanity could be meaningful: the traditional view and an alternative view, which I will outline. I will argue that this alternative view provides a plausible explanation for how humanity could become meaningful. I will also argue
that coming to terms with our mortality and other limitations would add meaning to human life and provide humanity with a good ending.
Categories
PhilPapers/Archive ID
TRIHEN
Revision history
Archival date: 2016-04-25
View upload history
View upload history

Philosophical Explanations.Nozick, Robert
Death and the Afterlife.Scheffler, Samuel
Meaning in Life: An Analytic Study.Metz, Thaddeus
Our Cosmic Insignificance.Kahane, Guy
View all 15 references / Add more references

No citations found.
Added to PP index
2016-04-25
Total views
158 ( #15,796 of 37,210 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
8 ( #29,000 of 37,210 )
2016-04-25
Total views
158 ( #15,796 of 37,210 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
8 ( #29,000 of 37,210 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Monthly downloads since first upload
This graph includes both downloads from PhilArchive and clicks to external links.