Paradoxes and Meaning in Life

Paradoxes can be said to be the quintessence of philosophy, combining as they typically do the argument form and the radical challenge to the seemingly obvious. Like reflection about paradoxes, reflection about meaning in life goes back a long way in philosophy. Yet oddly, at least in the Western tradition, the two have hardly been combined, and certainly not to the extent that one could have imagined. The author of this chapter explores some widely known apparent paradoxes, together with some lesser known ones, that bear upon meaning in life, and draw out their significance for this topic. He looks at what it means to live with paradoxes, and concludes with some general reflections. It becomes apparent that a sophisticated, more fully aware view of human life, its absurdities, and its meaning cannot avoid the salience of paradoxes.