For Atheists There Is No Meaning Of Life

"I am not debating the human's life cycle, rather the reason for the human's life. " Me too and as I said survival and reproduction are reasons for the continuation of human life. Organisms exist so that cells can duplicate themselves more effectively. This is a reason for life. "Pleasure is a temporary experience, and is forgotten almost instantly, and when one dies what did his pleasures matter? " Pleasure is not purely temporary. Recalling pleasurable experiences can bring renewed pleasure. Long lasting pleasure can be achieved through a loving relationship, through childbirth as discussed previously and also through less tangible means like the satisfaction of past achievements. People often talk about one's life 'flashing before your eyes' when you face death. In this instance a life filled with pleasure would surely give more satisfaction and meaning than a life filled with self-denial and declined opportunities. "According to my opponent's arguments, a sterile person has no meaning to his life. " Childbirth was only one of several ways I suggested that a person could find meaning in life. While a sterile person's life may have no biological purpose, it can still be filled with meaning. Also by adopting or otherwise raising a child as your own a person can experience all the emotional life-affirming benefits of having children of their own, not least the satisfaction of nurturing and caring for an individual who may go on to have kids themselves. "TEMPORARY desires are meaningless" No, permanent desires are meaningless because they can never be attained. "The words of King Solomon are complex to the extreme-there are many opinions as to what he is trying to say. I will go by the view that says as follows. .. " As my opponent accepts that his interpretation of 'The Philosopher's' words is only one of many and I have provided a perfectly valid alternative interpretation, I don't think he can build much of a case around Ecclesiastes. Negated. ---------------------- The meaning of life is of course totally subjective and I think arguing that any one thing is the only true meaning of life is intrinsically flawed as well as impossible to prove. One's life has meaning only to the extent that one applies meaning to it. My opponent has not explicitly stated what he believes the meaning of life to be, but as he states that it precludes atheism and everything temporary, I can only assume that it is something along the lines of 'serve God so you can go to Heaven'. The problem with this is that a life lived for this purpose only has meaning if your beliefs are in fact true. Imagine there's no heaven (RIP J. L. ) If this is the case then a life devoted to reaching Heaven is entirely meaningless. All people of faith must experience doubt at some point and I would have thought that these doubts would become most acute when death is immediately anticipated. If you hold the conviction that there is no afterlife then a life of duty, devotion and sacrifice to religion is pointless and without meaning, as I argued regarding Ecclesiastes. To conclude this debate, I will draw on the work of some of the many philosophers who have considered this age old question and come to conclusions that are completely at odds with my opponent. These are all from Wikipedia (lazy I know) but can easily be backed up elsewhere. "In Platonism, the meaning of life is in attaining the highest form of knowledge, which is the Idea (Form) of the Good, from which all good and just things derive utility and value. Human beings are duty-bound to pursue the good, but no one can succeed in that pursuit without philosophical reasoning, which allows for true knowledge. " . http://en.wikipedia.org... "Camus made a significant contribution to a viewpoint of the Absurd, and always rejected nihilism as a valid response. 'If nothing had any meaning, you would be right. But there is something that still has a meaning. ' Second Letter to a German Friend, December 1943. What still had meaning for Camus is that despite humans being subjects in an indifferent and "absurd" universe, in which meaning is challenged by the fact that we all die, meaning can be created, however provisionally and unstably, by our own decisions and interpretations. " . http://en.wikipedia.org... "the Cynic philosophers said that the purpose of life is living a life of Virtue that agrees with Nature" . http://en.wikipedia.org... I believe that if the whole meaning of your life is to ensure survival in the afterlife, then your life itself has no meaning. It exists only to reach that end. If you think you've led a good life up to now and your only reason for living is to serve God and enter Heaven, then presumably you would not object to your otherwise meaningless life ending right now. For most theists this is not actually the case. However meaning can be found in life through many things, from reproduction to artistic achievement and from altruism to hedonism. We give life meaning by giving it value. "I urge the voters to vote not for what they believe, but for who made more respectable arguments. " I enthusiastically second this proposal, although unfortunately it is seldom the case in religious debates on this site. Thankyou. . http://www.youtube.com... . http://www.youtube.com... (My opponent is not Christian but I hope the second video does not offend any Christians reading the debate, the intention is levity not mockery. )