ANSWERS: 34
  • In that case, there is none. "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we shall die."
  • to live the happiest most pleasurable life you can. might try reading into utilitarianism if you have time :)
  • If we are not looking to the afterlife for our reward, then we must make the most of what we have here and now. It means that since this is all there is, what you do with it matters not just to you, but others around you. It means that life is very precious and that we should treasure it in all its forms because when it's gone, it's gone forever.
  • The question is based on a confusion: Only messages have meaning. Life is not a message, and therefore it has no meaning.
  • Two different questions. Firstly atheism doesn't make any claim on either of these points. It just says there no gods (or PROBABLY no gods is better). It doesn't attempt to answer the two questions. However without gods an atheist may wish to attempt to answer these questions so they turn to alternative means. Atheism cannot answer the questions. So as an atheist here is my take on them. What is the purpose of life? From a biological perspective it would seem the purpose of life is simply to reproduce as much as possible and have those reproductions live as long as possible so that they can also reproduce. That's about it for that one. Seems a bit hollow but that is the "purpose". It is not really a purpose as such but more just what life does. There is no rule book saying that is life's purpose it is just that is the apparent behaviour of life. Now what is the meaning of life? Well if the above holds then there is no intrinsic meaning per se. The only meaning we can truly have is that which we give it and for this we turn to philosophy. My personal view is that the meaning of (human at least though this probably applies to other lifeforms as well, how far it goes I am not sure) life is essentially to have a good time. Have fun. Be happy. Enjoy it. PROVIDING you do not prevent another from enjoying their life. The old harm principle. This can be any number of things: learn about the universe, enjoy physical activity, art, music, literature etc. A personal one is also to try and leave the world a better place than one finds it. But essentially my ideals are: be happy; be good to to others and do no harm; maximise the time you have to do this.
  • The meaning of life is to live the path the Lord has made for you and the purpose of life is to find your way to heaven.
  • Why should life have a meaning or purpose? Like anything accidentally left around, it just is. Which means you are free to enjoy it or not, as you choose. Most people would find enjoying it preferable to the alternative.
  • There isn't one! We exist because we came into existence through accident. Your life is yours alone, you should try to live to the best whilst you can and make a positive influence on those around you.
  • I have a better question... If creationism is correct. What is the purpose of life? SOmetimes... None of it makes sense no matter the personal spin you put on it.
  • The meaning of life has nothing to do with what faith one follows or if one has no belief in any deity, and it's the same for everyone - our humanity is held in common. And it's not an intellectual meaning. If it were, it would simply be a description of something, not the thing itself.
  • Why should life's meaning be related to correctness or otherwise of Atheism?
  • The meaning of life is to life it. It is that simple.
  • If atheism is correct and there is no god, the sole purpose of life would be to preserve the species (humanity).
  • If you knew the real purpose of life you probably would not want to live it.
  • If that were the case the purpose of life would be to make the most of every moment. But, I don't believe that is correct.
  • i believe that jesus are much intelligent than me so i trust on his thoughts.jesus believe so i believe too.
  • What are the odds of life, in any form, existing in the universe? Of all the "known" life in the universe, what are the odds of being a human? Its like hitting the biological lotto on a universal scale. To me, its not so much why I'm here, just that I'm here. How incredibly random it is to be me. To have a mind that can ponder its very existence. What happens after I'm gone seems less important than celebrating the cosmic gift of being alive and sharing in a unique history with my fellow humans.
  • To live and die, as we are intended to.
  • Your life has whichever purpose you give it.
  • to be born, then to enjoy it, live it, make the most of it, dont have any regrets, and then die...
  • Erm, to enjoy it.
  • If atheism is correct, the meaning or purpose of human life is exactly the same as that of an roach, ant, pig, or dog: to exist and then die.
  • Whatever you deem it to be. Life is otherwise meaningless. You give it meaning, you shape it. You can like by your own moral code outside of anything religious.
  • One has nothing to do with the other. An atheist has no illusion that The Purpose of Life comes from a book or a guy in a dress (unless you're into that sort of thing). The purpose of your life is whatever you make of it. +5
  • To be altruistic and help other living things succeed and flourish because even if we manage to escape from being wiped out by an asteroid, gamma ray burst, the sun swallowing us when it turns into a red giant (which it will), or the collision of our galaxy with the Andomeda galaxy, we still cannot escape the eventual heat death of the universe. Therefore while we still exist, we need to make life for everything as pleasant as possible because time is not unlimited.
  • ironically, the same as the monotheistic religions - "BE"
  • If the was a God of the universe, then that God would probably have have some intention or pupose to be served by that creation. Just as a farmer have a purpose in mind when he builds a stable and starts raising cattle. Maybe the cattle have a religion too: "The farmer loves me, he gives me food every day, he build for me this wonderful warm stable, and if I am good I will go to the ultimate happy place some day. What does it say on the side of those wans ? 'Slaugherhouse 4 Chicago', whatever that means. Ah never mind, The farmer loves me, he gives me food every day." As I do not believe in any god, I do not see the universe that way, it just is, that is as all I know about it. But that do not mean that I cannot have purposes and intentions. and I do. I try to realize those meanings and purposes. That is called the pursuit of happiness. regards JakobA
  • If atheism is correct, our lives have no more meaning than a than that of a cockroach, and certainly no purpose other than to die.
  • Whatever one chooses. I choose to not be a slave to an invisible sky fairy.
  • The purpose of life is to make a life for ourselves no matter what creature we are. Although as humans we can be creative; applying our talents for the arts, medicine, construction, finance, law etc. and throw in a few ponzi scammer types as well; the criminal element. I guess one purpose that religion serves is a form of population control for all the masses of people killed because of religioun based conflicts.
  • Why does life have to have any meaning whatsoever? Why can't it be just what it is and that's it?
  • Life has whatever meaning and purpose you give it. It has no inherent purpose.
  • The meaning of life is to live it. Your purpose in life is to find your passion and incorporate it into your life.
  • Life is a beautiful, fascinating, challenging, temporary physical reality, a series of chance-events. “Good chance” of good consequence is called 'luck' or ‘fortune’. ‘Bad chance’ is often called 'fate'. * Everybody gets one life, nothing more, nothing less, nothing before, nor afterwards, nothing else. Consider [if you must,] every breath in THIS life as the ‘heavenly reward’ of your ‘karma’! So live & enjoy life as if every day is your last! * Discard the burden of faith & don't waste time on blind-belief, gods & prayers! [Prayer should open one's eyes, not closes them. The effect of prayer ought to open, …not close one's mind.] * Goodness & virtue are monopoly of no religion, …or faith. Piety* is naturally possible without either! Whatever good in the world mankind has today, is achieved through collaborative human endeavour; it is not because of any religion or faith; but despite religion & faith! * Child is father of man* is father of God, Wordsworth*, Feuerbach, Nietzsche, Freud, Darwin [The concept of 'God' exists because of man's absolute inability to predict or control future & fear of death. Need for god disappears when man knows his cosmic insignificance. * Ernest Renan: Man makes holy what he believes, as he makes beautiful that he loves! * Holiness & Beauty are relative. Truth is absolute. Time rules eternity.

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