Why don't you kill yourself? Albert Camus began his book The Myth of Sisyphus with the startling
assertion “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide.” A French
novelist and philosopher who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1957, Camus said that judging
whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. If
life is meaningless, there is no point to pursuing traditional philosophical questions about the nature
of reality, knowledge, and morality.
Why life is worth living is indeed an urgent question, but it is rarely the question of suicide. The
question of why you don't kill yourself arises only if you think that there are reasons why you would
kill yourself, and people's lives are rarely so miserable that such reasons become prominent. If
depression, disease, and despair were the overwhelming character of everyday life, then people
would have a daily struggle about whether to go on at all. Unfortunately, such a struggle is not rare
among young adults: an American survey of university students found that 10 percent said they had
seriously considered suicide during the preceding year.
Most of us face the much less drastic question of how to go on, of how to live our lives. Then the
question of the meaning of life is not the skeptical one of whether there is any meaning at all, but
rather the constructive one that can have informative answers concerning what aspects of life make it
worth living.
For most people today, religion provides a major source of answers to such questions about the
meaning of life. When I was a child in Catholic school in the 1950s, I learned from the Baltimore
Catechism that “God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be
happy with Him forever in the next.” From a religious perspective, meaning arises not from any
meager aspect of our daily lives, but from our profound connections with God, who brought us into
existence and who provides the possibility of eternal happiness. However, for Camus and others like
myself who have abandoned the beliefs produced by our religious upbringings, the theological
answer to the meaning of life is implausible. Does this imply that life is absurd, ridiculous, and
pointless, so utterly devoid of meaning that suicide should be a daily preoccupation of everyone?
Not at all. The eminent clinical psychologist Martin Seligman remarked that the three great realms
of life are love, work, and play. For most people, these realms provide ample reasons to live. If your
life is rich with love of family and friends, with work that is productive and pleasant, and with
varieties of pastimes and entertainments that bring you joy, then the general issue of the meaning of
life need rarely trouble you, eliminating Camus' extreme question of suicide. In Chapters 7 and 8, I
will use evidence from psychology and neuroscience to show how love, work, and play make life
meaningful for most people, whether or not they are religious.
In the absence of the threat of absurdity, narrower issues about the meaning of life arise when the
three realms conflict. For example, couples with young children often experience severe conflicts
between love and work, when the intense needs of children compete for time and energy with the
demands of career development. Young adults need to figure out how to render compatible the
delights of playful pastimes such as sports and music with the imperative to get a job and support
Why don't you kill yourself? Albert Camus began his book The Myth of Sisyphus with the startlingassertion “There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide.” A Frenchnovelist and philosopher who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1957, Camus said that judgingwhether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. Iflife is meaningless, there is no point to pursuing traditional philosophical questions about the natureof reality, knowledge, and morality.Why life is worth living is indeed an urgent question, but it is rarely the question of suicide. Thequestion of why you don't kill yourself arises only if you think that there are reasons why you wouldkill yourself, and people's lives are rarely so miserable that such reasons become prominent. Ifdepression, disease, and despair were the overwhelming character of everyday life, then peoplewould have a daily struggle about whether to go on at all. Unfortunately, such a struggle is not rareamong young adults: an American survey of university students found that 10 percent said they hadseriously considered suicide during the preceding year.Most of us face the much less drastic question of how to go on, of how to live our lives. Then thequestion of the meaning of life is not the skeptical one of whether there is any meaning at all, butrather the constructive one that can have informative answers concerning what aspects of life make itworth living.For most people today, religion provides a major source of answers to such questions about themeaning of life. When I was a child in Catholic school in the 1950s, I learned from the BaltimoreCatechism that “God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to behappy with Him forever in the next.” From a religious perspective, meaning arises not from anymeager aspect of our daily lives, but from our profound connections with God, who brought us intoexistence and who provides the possibility of eternal happiness. However, for Camus and others likemyself who have abandoned the beliefs produced by our religious upbringings, the theologicalanswer to the meaning of life is implausible. Does this imply that life is absurd, ridiculous, andpointless, so utterly devoid of meaning that suicide should be a daily preoccupation of everyone?Not at all. The eminent clinical psychologist Martin Seligman remarked that the three great realmsof life are love, work, and play. For most people, these realms provide ample reasons to live. If yourlife is rich with love of family and friends, with work that is productive and pleasant, and withvarieties of pastimes and entertainments that bring you joy, then the general issue of the meaning oflife need rarely trouble you, eliminating Camus' extreme question of suicide. In Chapters 7 and 8, Iwill use evidence from psychology and neuroscience to show how love, work, and play make lifemeaningful for most people, whether or not they are religious.In the absence of the threat of absurdity, narrower issues about the meaning of life arise when thethree realms conflict. For example, couples with young children often experience severe conflictsbetween love and work, when the intense needs of children compete for time and energy with thedemands of career development. Young adults need to figure out how to render compatible thedelights of playful pastimes such as sports and music with the imperative to get a job and support
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