Why Do We Exist ?

Why Do We Exist ?

Transcript

00:00We are the result of natural processes, no more or less significant than the stars or the stones.

00:06But even if science explains how we came to exist, it does not answer the deeper question of why.

00:13Can we find meaning in a universe that seems to care nothing for us?

00:17Or are we left to grapple with the fact that our existence may be utterly without purpose?

00:22The philosophical perspective, searching for meaning in an infinite universe,

00:26philosophers have long wrestled with the question of existence,

00:30often seeking answers in metaphysics, ethics, and epistemology.

00:34Plato believed that the material world was a shadow of a higher, more perfect reality

00:39and that the purpose of human existence was to seek truth and knowledge.

00:44Aristotle, on the other hand, focused on the idea of telos, or purpose,

00:49arguing that everything in nature has an intrinsic goal and that the purpose of human life is to

00:54achieve eudaimonia a state of flourishing or well-being.