What Makes a Life Significant?

 

    In his lecture on “What Makes a Life Significant”, James talked about a lot of things that could have an impact on the significance of a life, evidences if you will, and I am going to go over the few main contenders.

 

According to James, ideals are something intellectually conceived, and it must have a novelty to it according to the person who holds that ideal. James describes an ideal as something subjective, as they are “relative to the lives that entertain them” (James). Anyone can have as many ideals as they want, but the amount should be simplified and
easy to follow, otherwise this person risks being contemptible.

 

The first definition of ideal is, “a conception of something in its perfection,” or the way something should be. This is reminiscent of the World of Forms, Plato’s philosophy. There can be a standard of perfection for anything: the ideal school, government, life, pet, house, job, etc. There are general societal standards for perfection and there are personal standards for perfection. Ideals are similar to values in the way that they can be personal or impersonal. Groups have values and people have values, often a revised version of the values around them or lack thereof. James describes ideals as relative to the person, which implies the more personal definition of ideals, ideals that are unique to each individual based on their experience.

 

James says that education enlarges our horizons and multiplies our perspectives, which in turn multiplies our ideals and brings new ones to our attention. This reminds me of the presentation I just heard on James’ Pragmatism Lecture 7. It seems he is equating ideals to truths in saying that education multiplies our ideals and brings new ones to our attention, similar to how he stated that we can have an ever-adapting understanding of truth.

 

In reality, as we all have experienced, things are not perfect. Instead, they are ever changing, and that change and imperfection adds depth, meaning, and significance to our lives.

 

Change is not inherently bad, but it makes adaptation necessary. Simply put, it keeps things interesting. When James talks about Chautauqua Lake, a seemingly perfect community, he concludes that the perfection of Chautauqua lead to a “flatness and lack of zest” (James). Quite a paradox, that we strive for such perfection and calmness and yet it is ultimately unsatisfying. James states that, “Even now, in our own country, correctness, fairness, and compromise for every small advantage are crowding out all other qualities. The higher heroisms and the old rare flavors are passing out of life,” (James).

 

Struggle is an inevitable part of life. One must have the values of courage and endurance to sustain oneself amid struggles. James states this as he moves on from ideals, recognizing that they are not the sole giver of significance to a life, “The more ideals a man has, the more contemptible, on the whole, do you continue to deem him, if the matter ends there for him, and if none of the laboring man's virtues are called into action on his part,—no courage shown, no privations undergone, no dirt or scars contracted in the attempt to get them realized. It is quite obvious that something more than the mere possession of ideals is required to make a life significant in any sense that claims the spectator's admiration,” (James) (emphasis added). 

 

One must be courageous through struggle and endure, and this endurance gives life significance because it is a testament to the effort that has gone on that the average passerby is unable to see. James wants us to look beyond the surface and think about other people’s lives and realize that they are just as complex as ours. This pluralistic view is very prevalent in his work, the idea that one should be as aware and accepting of other’s experiences as they are able.

 

Common toil is described as the hard work of those who have no other option. Those who must sell their strength for money, and not enough at that. The particular instance in which he uses this phrase is less applicable in our world now. Of course, construction work still exists, but in the modernity of our technological society, the majority of jobs offered are less labor intensive. Work also has more of a fair pay since the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was introduced, after James’ death. Nevertheless, the concept that hard work has value is still important and observable today. 

 

An immediate example of this concept is visible in the work it takes to obtain a degree. One must put several years of work towards graded courses to get a degree that states that you are qualified to enter the workforce and what kind of education you have been given. Other examples could be cooking, reading, playing an organized sport, or dedicating you time to improving in an artistic discipline. Anything that we put our time towards is valuable and rewarding. With only so much time to spend, time itself is valuable and worth putting towards bettering oneself because that action and result will consequently have value. We give things value by working at them and choosing to believe this very action makes them valuable. 

 

In conclusion, James’ answer to “What makes a life significant?” is not precise or simple. There are many things that make a life significant, it must be a fusion of all the above reasons, because no single one can make a life significant. James says that we must employ sympathy, insight, and good will towards others because of the ideals that others have, and the toil, struggle, and change that they go through. James wants us to recognize that other people around us have a life just as complicated, demanding, and wonderful as we do, no matter how difficult it is for us to recognize and remember that. This argument reminds me of a word I heard about:

 

Sonder: noun. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own — populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness — an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you'll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.

 

James was a defender of individual experience, and therefore a defender of the significance of life, as all the evidences he listed are things that come from an individual’s experience. 

 

In my own experience, I have been taught that my significance is intrinsic and given to me by God. I was taught that all humans are made in God’s image, and that He loves His creation. I have always had a hard time believing that I could do anything to make myself matter but knowing that God made me and loves me and has a purpose for me gave me new hope and strength to operate in this world where struggle and change are inevitable. It is my hope that you would not rely purely on your own experiences and strength to give yourself value but would accept the value that was given to you before time began, because there is so much peace in letting go and having faith in a God who loves you. A God who is omniscient, omnipresent, perfect, and always faithful. I believe that because our value is given to us by God, that only God’s standards define it. That nothing man says can take away the fact that we are made in God’s image.

 

“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” John 3:17 ESV

 

“-but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 ESV

 

God sent His Son Jesus to die and be resurrected to conquer our sins and redeem us if we choose to believe in Him. I am not naïve enough to think that this blog post will change your mind, but I am always open to conversations about this topic. I also recognize that you might be determined to find your significance elsewhere. I just want to bring to your attention another option, a source of hope and worth that will never fail because it is from the Lord and Savior of the world, not from the broken and hurting world that we live in.

 

Thank you.

Sydney Boyce