Learning objective The Learning Objective of Week 4 is to study those moments in life when it seems that life has lost its meaning, or that a previous meaning to life has been taken away. Students are expected to develop their own model of why this happens, to consider the destructive and constructive consequences, and to be aware of the importance of values in restoring a sense that life has meaning

		Information on axiology International network of life studies A free man's worship by Bertrand Russell The Meaning of Life Frequently asked questions about the meaning of life How to understand the meaning of life

Week Four- Meaning Mill

• introduction to "meaning"
• meaning and ecstasy
• core values
• consequences
• references
• questions

Introduction

At certain times in their lives everyone we know has asked, "Where am I going? What is the purpose of my life? Does my life have any meaning? Am I just a machine in a bigger machine, or is there more to it?". Their resolution may result in substantial and long-term change in how people lead their life--or they may result in no change at all. These moments, and concerns, are of particular importance to all psychotherapists because they are potentially moments of change--change that might ultimately turn out to be destructive, or constructive. Despite this relevance it is only existentialists who have made these moments the centre of their theory.

These moments will be the topic of this week. We shall ask four questions about them:

• What happens?
• Why does it happen?
• What is called into question?
• What are the long-term consequences?

We will not be asking the question that we ask ourselves at these moments: "What should I do? What is the right way to lead my life?" This question can only be answered by each of us, for ourselves, on the basis of our own values and circumstances. We shall however end this week with a consideration of the values that have guided some people in finding meaning in their lives, and we invite each of you to consider what meaning guides your life.

What happens?

Shock, possession, speaking in tongues, dissociation, hysteria, derealization, berserk, amok, ecstasy, enthusiasm: there are many words to describe states of mind in which a person loses their awareness of themselves, their identity, their actions, or their sensations, including the sensation of pain. Some of them, like berserk or amok, are particularly applied to violence. Others, like enthusiasm, assume a particular cause: in this case divine possession. Some, but not all, of these states are euphoric. Some, like ecstasy, are particularly associated with abnormal brain states, attributable to mental illness or to drug intoxication.

What all of these states have in common is that they alter our relation to the everday. They lift us out of the world.

The 'moments' that we discuss this week are moments of vision in the Heidggerian sense: during them, there is an alteration of our relations with our world and we experience ourselves standing outside time and being able to see forward to our death. We often, as a result of this, ask ourselves how the world will be changed by our death. How much we have mattered, if at all. As always, Heidegger neglects the social dimension, but we can easily see that we also, at these moments, stand outside our social relationships. We do not just want to know whether we matter in some absolute sense, but whether we matter really to this or that person. We look intently and as if for the first time at our partner's face and think, "What does she/he really think of me?".

What we experience during a moment of vision is our potential existence, our ontology, and it is, as we saw in week 2, pregnant with existential anxiety.

	Before you go to the next page... Consider the following questions and post comments on them to your tutorial group on the discussion forum. How has your understanding of the meaning of life affected how you have dealt with a difficult experience? What is the purpose in your life that drives you on regardless of adversity? Do you frequently find yourself searching for the meaning in day-to-day events? Does it matter whether or not you have decided what the meaning of life is? Do you think your "meaning of life" and that of other people is the same? Does it matter? Do extreme events/circumstances make it easier or more difficult to find meaning? What was your meaning of life as a young child? What events have forced you to change how you view the meaning of life?