"The only absolute knowledge that is attainable by man is that life is meaningless." Tolstoy.
Yea or nay? Elaborate?
by 
philosopher-saint
ANSWERS: 13
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nay. life would be so much easier if it was meaningless.
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Nay, but go and ask someone living in a mud hut if electricity is meaningless.
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You take care of the little ones while your here. That's all you can do. Yes everything's meaningless. I never read Tolstoy though.
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/smirk Are we doing your homework? Knowledge is not meaningless...it is gradable.
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Nay, The more you learn the more you realize you don't know. The mystery is too great to be understood in a lifetime. To come to the conclusion that life is meaningless would arrogant...how could anyone know that?
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Yea and nay, and neither: Yea: To say something is 'meaningful' literally means it's referring to something outside of itself (it "has meaning or indicative / referential significance"). Since life is everything there is already, it can't possibly point to anything outside of itself, and therefore cannot mean anything. Nay: Notwithstanding the previous position, when we say 'life is meaningful' we're not using the word 'meaningful' in a literal way, we mean that life has inherent value and purpose for human beings. Its a statement that is human-centric. In that sense, it's a matter of viewpoint: there are various viewpoints one can take and make a coherent argument. My preferred viewpoint is "life doesn't have any meaning until you give it one" -- favored because it emphasizes personal responsibility.
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Tolstoy was having a hissy fit it seems that day. How stupid to make such a blanket statement as that one. Did a girlfriend leave him or what? Man's every second is jam packed with meaning and lessons to carry with you forever.
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We can deduce that Tolstoy was feeling depressed when he said that. ;)
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I think he's right, except for one thing; trying to find a meaning to one's life. Other than sex and food, that's pretty much what keeps us going. I mean if it wasn't meaningless, we wouldn't have wars or anything. It's like, we need to justify our existences, our actions and that which makes us feel negative things, because nobody wants to accept that all we do revolves solely around the survival instinct, and that whatever that is doesn't care how we feel, as long as we're maintaining the human race. All that emotional and grandiose shit, like Fox News and Jesus, means nothing in the end. Half of what most of anyone does or says makes no sense, including me, so I don't see why it's so hard to understand that we live to kill and fuck and nothing else.
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Nay, there is no absolute knowledge. Life is only meaningful if you give it meaning. next question please.
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Tolstoy's philosophies changed with age, so I don't know that this can be a definitive "Tolstoyan" statement. Tolstoy became very spiritually obsessed in his later years. If this is a quote from his later years, I suspect he may have meant that man, left to his own reasoning, could only see meaninglessness in life, but that with spiritual enlightenment, he can perceive a "divine" purpose.
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I don't even know what Tolstoy means by that. :)
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Tolstoy!!! Mensch of the century past! If it is *your* life, then it's meaning is suspect. If you give life meaning, then you have overstepped it a bit. If life gives you meaning, then you really should get out more - where it is less familiar. If you want to "get a life", then maybe bingo is as good as Seminary. If you haven't a clue what the T is talking about, then likely you both are right in your own way. So, yeah, I agree with Tolstoy. Or, as the Shrub is reported to have said: "Whatever...."
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