If there is no objective purpose to life, how can there be a subjective one?

Many people, when asked about the meaning or purpose of life, answer something like -
There is no one purpose to living. One's purpose is personal and personally defined which, varies from person to person.


But if there is no objective purpose to life, how can there be a subjective one?

 

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Maybe we each and every one of us invents it for ourselves.
Maybe some people are too busy just living to think about "purpose".

 

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Preaching.
And doesn't answer the OP.
Fail.

 

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If there is any objective purpose it is simply to survive. It's in our genes. Remember Maslow's hierarchy of needs? Survival comes first, everything else comes later.

 

Like I said. Preaching and not addressing the OP.

 

Survive - for what, to what end?

 

That is the question that each person answers for themselves after their more basic survival needs are satisfied.

 

The OP question remains.

 

I guess I don't understand it then. If we exclude the basic need for survival then I can't identify a reason to continue to live other than those that I embrace for myself. Are you saying that there is indeed such a reason that while unknown to me forms the underpinnings of my own personal philosophy?

 

simple. because we don't know. we just know we have an instinct for survival.

beyond that, you have to make it up for yourself or find what interests you.

but the fact you raise the question means something, that we really don't know the answers to those big questions. we can only speculate.

 

It might be that our creation of "subjective" personally defined purpose is an evolutionary trait to help a life-form seek to stay alive, and that it only appears to be subjective when in fact is governed by the same objective laws as the rest of the universe.

 

yes and no. we know that what we do is to maintain a certain state. since we live in an environment as well as within a physical body that is precarious and is in flux, we adapt to it more or less. one moment we might crave sugar, next crave salt to maintain a balance or maintain a state of being. one who is an adrenaline junkie, may feel better by engaging in risky behavior. one that is a bookworm may find that unsettling and does not feel right. each may be trying to maintain their inherent state of being. a carrot and cabbage are the same and yet they are different. just as no two people are exactly the same. what interests one, doesn't interest the other. science doesn't understand everything.

but as far as why we desire or it seems so crucial to maintain that state is something we can't answer. the essence of life, so to speak.

 

My personal opinion is that overall life's goal is simply to reproduce. No other 'point'.
On an individual basis, people create their own purpose/mission for their life if they feel like it.

Why shouldn't there be?

 

or we could say that reproduction occurs because that's the only way this universe can maintain life because there is also death.

it's just more speculation.

 

yes. that too.

 

I don't understand why the latter would require the former. There is no objective "best flavor of ice cream," but surely there is a subjective one. The subjective taste can easily exist even without an objective benchmark.

In deed, if there is an objective purpose to life, then how can there be any subjective ones? In that case, there can be people who are wrong about the purpose of life, because they subjectively believe it to be Y when in reality it is objectively X.

 

besides, we tend to think that if something is 'logical' or we know the answer to something somehow it means it's alright. having the answer doesn't always necessarily mean it would make a difference either especially if one can't do anything to change it if they would like to. it may be a matter of it just is in some cases or this is where we find ourselves.

if a person is in prison and they know why they are in prison and they can clearly see they are in prison but they can't leave, does it make a difference if they can't change it? maybe or maybe not.

 

I don't see the correlation.
You're assuming that the subjective must be derived from the objective.

 

I think you can't separate the two, Objective and Subjective. By subjective we mean to say inside our heads, and objective we mean to say outside of the head, correct? If we accept these definitions then we must accept the fact that the subjective (Mind) exists in the Objective (Reality). Therefore, ones subjective purpose can exist objectively.

But maybe there is a flaw in my reasoning.

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Dwyddyr- settle down, Beavis.

Life is a video game you put a quarter in and play. When you die, you move on to the next game or something else.