I often teach a course titled “God, Death, and the Meaning of Life.” It is kind of like an intro to Existentialist philosophy course, but with a focus on what it means to understand philosophy as a way of life.
For example, we read Nietzsche, but also read John Kaag’s Hiking with Nietzsche. We read Sartre, but then work through Aaron James’s Surfing with Sartre. We do read Kierkegaard, but then we sit around campfires (literally) and read my Camping with Kierkegaard.
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I roughly divide that class up into the three sections announced by the title.
First, we think through the human condition as defined by mortality, limits, fragility, and vulnerability. Specifically, we look at the role that death plays in living well and intentionally. In order to anchor our discussions, we read Seneca's stoic collection How to Die. Then, for a more contemporary take, we look at Todd May’s moving book, Death. As May’s subtitle so rightly explains, an existential consideration of death is actually a focus on “the art of living.”
Second, we turn to the way that conceptions of value and ultimacy inform our lived existence and focus on the concept of “God” as a name for such gestures.
Finally, we consider the importance of seeing agency and investment as crucial aspects of lives defined by joy despite reasons to despair. In other words, thinking about the “meaning(s) of life” requires that we take careful account of the ways that meaningful existence is not some objective quality, but a matter of risky hope.
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