The Meaning of Life

My opponent has provided arguments that are destructive to his entire case. He has also ignored what I have already argued, so I will merely reiderate my arguments in a clearer fashon as I point out the holes of his rebuttal. Irrational reason for life? He has provided the following argument: 1) By offering no rational meaning of life, the father can basically conduct himself in a suggestive manner and ultimately commit suicide. Lets put this father in the real world and say that he has dressed up as a woman and committed suicide. I will argue that there are greater factors that contribute to suicide than an irrational reason of life. Suicide Kevin Caruso, the founder, executive director and editor-in-chief of debate.org, writes that 90% of people who die by suicide have a mental illness at the time of their deaths. The most common among them is depression, which is usually triggered by several negative life experiences that are unaddresed rather than just one. Several of these negative life experiences include: The death of a loved one. A divorce, separation, or breakup of a relationship. Losing custody of children, or feeling that a child custody decision is not fair. A serious loss, such as a loss of a job, house, or money. A serious illness. A terminal illness. A serious accident. Chronic physical pain. Intense emotional pain. Loss of hope. Being victimized (domestic violence, rape, assault, etc). A loved one being victimized (child murder, child molestation, kidnapping, murder, rape, assault, etc.). Physical abuse. Verbal abuse. Sexual abuse. Unresolved abuse (of any kind) from the past. Feeling "trapped" in a situation perceived as negative. Feeling that things will never "get better." Feeling helpless. Serious legal problems, such as criminal prosecution or incarceration. Feeling "taken advantage of." Inability to deal with a perceived "humiliating" situation. Inability to deal with a perceived "failure." Alcohol abuse. Drug abuse. A feeling of not being accepted by family, friends, or society. A horrible disappointment. Feeling like one has not lived up to his or her high expectations or those of another. Bullying. (Adults, as well as children, can be bullied.) Low self-esteem. --Caruso, Kevin."Suicide Causes." <http://www.suicide.org...; As you can see, an "irrational meaning of life" is not a leading cause of suicide. Besides, a common thought that victims of depression have is "there is no reason for me to live" rather then "I am meant to die."The next argument he has made is one out of ignorance of what I have already said: "...I really didn't understand the rest of your argument because it all revolved around this idea that there is a benefit to deluding oneself to a meaning of life.What possible outcome can searching for a non-existent answer bring? Really?"(it also contradicts his argument: "By offering no rational meaning of life the father...(could kill himself)." The reiteration of my argument in a more understandable format People, I have argued that the meaning of life is unique to each person. The justifiation for this is simple: no two individuals (except perhaps conjoined twins who have never been separated) live exactly the same lives. Therefore, every person sees life differenty from one another, expecially in the case of a devout Christian and an atheist; a devout Christian sees life as either a test or as a service to God while an atheist sees life in ways that differ even from another atheist. The meaning of life is not an objective concept (how could it be?), but a subjective concept; some see life as a service, a test, or as nothing more than to experience the most out of it. The only way the meaning of life could be an objective concept is if we were all given the same value systems and conditions. The meaning of life is merely what people make of it. If we are to say that God gave us enough intelligence to question the reason for our existence, then it does not undermine the fact that a meaning for life exists.Searching for a meaning of life, as I have said before, yields beneficial results. It gives people a sense of direction (Christians who search for the meaning of their lives certainly have a strong sense of direction), a system with which people can use to measure their own progress (composers who feel that they are meant to write music can track where they are and where they must be at a given point in their lives) and it simplies the process of making decisions.Even my opponent claims that the best one can do with his or her own life is to be useful to others. Essentially, he argues that life has no meaning except to act as an aid to others: "The only purpose we have in life is what we do for other forms of life isn't it (see round 3)."There you have it; my opponent argues that the only meaning of life, which makes it THE meaning of life, is to help others. However, as I have said before, the meaning of life is subjective; I believe the reason of life is to serve God and write awesome music. You may have a different answer because you are not me and I am not you.