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Sunday, December 4, 2022

What Makes a Life Significant Matthew Zipp #7

 What Makes a Life Significant?

William James often pondered the questions of whether or not life was worth living as well as what makes a life significant. Due to these questions that James proposed, he ended up publishing an article called “What Makes a Life Significant.”

William James was born in 1842 and eventually grew into a leading spokesperson for pragmatism. James was one of the most influential philosophers in the United States during the late nineteenth century. He would eventually become known as the “Father of American Psychology.” William James also spoke out for and promoted individualism.

As far as what makes a life significant, there is no one true answer. Most people have a different perception of the meaning or purpose of life than that of their peers. Some perceive the purpose of life as doing well and finding purpose. Some people also perceive the purpose of life as contributing to their community or seeking knowledge. While there is no specific answer to the purpose of life, many take it at face value and view the purpose of life solely as procreation. Clearly, procreation is not all that there is to human life as I’m sure many would agree.

In William James’ writing, “What Makes a Life Significant,” he lays out criteria for the components of a “significant life.” Among these components are consciously chosen ideals, bold energetic activity, and using our minds and bodies in the ways they were intended to be used. When James mentions consciously chosen ideals, he means carefully chosen ideas that can be pursued. A large part of James’ thought on significant life is that one must pursue significant ideals with determination. James uses two criteria to determine whether an ideal is considered significant or not. William James focuses on the intellectual conception and novelty of ideals. When he speaks about intellectual conception James is mainly referring to someone consciously pursuing something rather than remaining “unconscious.” James says “if we have it; and it must carry with it that sort of outlook, uplift, and brightness that go with all intellectual facts.” He is basically saying that an ideal is significant if it is something that you can carry with you as a part of you and be proud of it.

                        


When James speaks about the novelty of ideals he dives fairly deep. He makes a key point that the ideal itself does not need to possess novelty, but rather, the ideal needs to be novel “at least for him whom the ideal grasps.” However, he goes on to mention that “ideas are relative to the lives that entertain them.” Personally, I agree with James’ statement here. James is explaining that while not all ideals are significant, all lives require significant ideals in order to achieve significance. In the section of What Makes a Life Significant I have been referring to James also states that education is simply a matter of multiplying our ideals or introducing new ones. This made me think about teachers or professors a bit differently because I had never thought of them as people meant to multiply my ideals. Their ideals are to spread knowledge and inform the following generations. This makes my ideals feel minuscule and selfish and makes me question if I am living a significant life in contrast to them.

While reading much of William James’ work, I find myself questioning ideas such as the meaning of life, if life’s worth living, and many other recurring themes in his writing. In recent years, I have begun to perceive the true meaning of life as simply to live it to the fullest or make the absolute most out of it. You are only here for as long as you’re alive, so why waste any of your time? It is going to be quite some time before we witness the development of consciousness transfer technology so time for everyone on Earth is limited. There is no time to waste in creating a significant life for yourself and potentially those around you.

                      


I feel like William James looked at life similarly. As far as how he describes a life’s significance, I feel like, in layman’s terms, he is saying to not waste the moment, find something you care about, stick with it, and contribute to your community. Some of William James’ philosophy is rooted in cosmopolitanism due to the education he received between America and Europe. Cosmopolitanism, in political theory, is the belief that all people are entitled to equal respect and consideration no matter what. Therefore, James was a large advocate for being well-rooted within your community. I do enjoy the idea of cosmopolitanism. All of us humans are in this life thing together. Everyone should be entitled to respect and consideration, today, we see so much disrespect, hate, and intolerance. Inequality is the largest issue in this modern age. I along with James believe that it is important to contribute to the strength of your community.

Towards the end of James’ essay, he speaks about how people are often blind to the significance of their peers and remain envious and greedy rather than taking action. I feel like this is an issue that is still present today. Today so many people are full of greed only looking to make a benefit or a profit for themselves. This is extremely common among record labels and managers trying to steal money from artists or producers. I believe that some people are mistaken about what makes life significant. The significance of a life is not related to how much money you make. Your life is defined by your actions.

In conclusion, a significant life is defined by one's ideals and how one pursues them. While everyone has ideals they are not always significant or pursued with diligence. It is extremely common nowadays for people to not chase their dreams and settle for less. In order to live a significant life you must chase your ambitions, be active in your community, and be proud of that.   

 

 

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