'Frail worms of the earth': philosophical reflections on the meaning of life. Issue 1 (21st December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: HAMILTON, CHRISTOPHER
• Is Part Of: Religious studies. Volume 54:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 55
• Page End: 71
• Publication Date: 2016-12-21
• Subjects: Religion -- Periodicals; Theology -- Periodicals; 200
• DOI: 10.1017/S0034412516000391
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0034-4125

Abstract

Abstract: Many philosophers in the analytic tradition have recently sought to explore the question of the meaning of life. In the first part of this article I subject two important approaches from this tradition – those of John Cottingham and Susan Wolf – to criticism. I then suggest that Cottingham and Wolf articulate certain assumptions about the meaning of life that are widely shared amongst analytic philosophers. I go on to subject those assumptions to criticism and seek to develop an alternative approach to the question, one that is largely overlooked in the contemporary literature.