essay on life principles

101 Life Principles To Live By Daily

• by Celes     |    
• Filed in Self-Improvement

Do you have a personal manual of life principles to live by? What adages do you use to guide you in your everyday living?

Today, I’d like to share a list of 101 important life principles to live by in life. This list is a compilation of important life lessons I’ve learned at one point or another and it pertains to different areas of life from dealing with people, to our emotions, to life’s challenges, to achieving success, to handling failure. I’d say that this list is like a cheat sheet to many of the articles at Personal Excellence, because it embodies many of the principles and virtues I write about here.

Even though this list has 101 points, don’t overwhelm yourself by reading and applying all the points right away. These principles are meant to be read and reflected on over time, as opposed to being a checklist that you tick off. As you read each point, think about the truth behind this principle, how it applies to your life, and the actions you should take in accordance to this principle.

For example, with the first principle “ Ability is more of a function of the time you spend honing your craft, rather than a result of what you were born with,” think about the skills that are important in your work and life. Next, identify ways you can hone them. Then, commit to these steps with a deadline and act on them. :)

Another example: with the second principle on “ Abundance ,” think about whether you tend to act with a scarcity or an abundance mindset. Do you always fear that you can’t succeed, or that people are going to rip you off, or that you won’t get enough of something? This is a scarcity, fear-based mindset. How can you switch to an abundance mindset, which is a mindset that helps you focus on opportunities, love, and abundance, such that you can then create such an outcome for yourself?

I now present to you 101 life principles, written by yours truly:

• Abundance : We live in a world of abundance. There are unlimited wealth and unlimited opportunities for everyone. So don’t worry about whether you can succeed in something and focus on how to succeed in it.
• Action : is a necessary part of success.
• “And”, not “Or” : It’s not about choosing Option A or Option B. It’s about Option C – an option you create which has everything you want, and more.
• Anger : is the most volatile form of emotion you can ever burden yourself with. Every bit of anger you hold on to damages your soul. Whenever you feel angry, remember that the person you are hurting is yourself.
• Annoyances : Everything that annoys you mirrors something inside you. Rather than look outward for the solution, look inside to understand where that annoyance is coming from. Read: Day 22: Mirror an Annoyance,  Be a Better Me in 30 Days

• Awareness : is the first step to the resolution of any problem.
• Beauty : Physical beauty is great but it doesn’t last. Inner beauty, on the other hand, stands the test of time. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t improve our physical beauty – we should focus on being beautiful, both on the inside and out.
• Beauty, #2 : There is no one standard of beauty. Beauty comes in all shapes, all sizes, all forms, all colors. You are beautiful as you are. Stop trying to conform to the image of beauty constructed by the society and embrace the beauty that is you.
• Being yourself : It is better to be a first rate version of yourself than a second rate version of someone else. ( Judy Garland )
• Beliefs : Your beliefs affect your life more than you think they do. If you want to have the best life experience you can ever have, switch out your disempowering beliefs with empowering ones.
• Beliefs, #2 : Half the things you say are usually more to do with your internal beliefs and issues than to do with other people.
• Blame : Whenever you point a finger at someone else, there are three fingers pointing back at you.

• Change : Just because you have realized something doesn’t mean the world around you will change right away. It takes time for your thoughts to ripple out and effect the reality because the physical world is denser than the spiritual one. So don’t be hung up with what’s on the outside but stay true to what’s inside you. Be focused. (Refer to #33: Focus)
• Change that lasts : It’s better to create sustainable change than change that is quick but does not last. Stop going for the easy way out. Learn how to create lasting change instead.
• Changing people : You can’t change other people. You can only change yourself.
• Comparing : There is no need to compare because everyone is different. Your goal is not to be like others but to be yourself. Stop comparing with others and focus on being yourself instead. (See #11)
• Competition : The only competition you have is yourself.
• Conditional things : Something that is conditional can never stand the test of time. For example, if your partner wants to be with you  only  if you do X, Y and Z, whereby X, Y and Z are not things that you believe in. Or say, if a parent will only love his child if he aces his exams. These are relationships rooted in fear and not what you want to be a part of.

• Criticism : helps you to become better. Rather than reject it, celebrate it. Read:  How To Give Constructive Criticism: 6 Helpful Tips
• Criticism, #2 : Receiving criticism means what you are doing is worthwhile enough for people to critique on. One will not criticize unless he/she feels he/she has a stake in it. The more criticism you get, the better, because that means you are doing something of real value and worth.
• Cynics, Skeptics, and Pessimists : are not worth arguing with. They are negative time bombs waiting to go off. You will only end up (more) bitter, damaged, and upset at the end of the exchange. Read:  How To Deal With Energy Vampires: 8 Simple Tips  |  Manifesto version
• Death : is part and parcel of life. With every death comes a new birth; with every birth comes an eventual death. Don’t mourn the dead. Celebrate the fact that they lived.
• Death, #2 : There is nothing to fear about death for it happens to everyone. Rather than fear death, focus on living your best life instead. Read:  Do You Dread Growing Older?
• Doing everything alone : You can’t accomplish everything by yourself. Even if you do, you can never accomplish as much as compared to if you had the help of others. Involve others in your goals. Delegate, outsource, and hire where applicable. Ask for help when you need to.
• Escaping : has never solved any problem for anyone. The moment you decide to face your problems is the moment you gain power over your life. (See #78)
• Failure : is a necessary part of success. Every great success is almost always preceded by a great failure. It’s more important that you learn from your failure(s) and harness the lesson(s) so you can achieve your next success. Read:  How To Start When You Have Nothing

• Fear, #2 : No matter how much fear you have, your fear can be conquered with love. (By love, I’m referring to universal love, not specifically romantic love.)
• Focus : is what happens when you stop letting yourself get distracted by the unimportant things.
• Force : You can’t force things to happen if they are not meant to be. There is a time and place for everything. You can only do what you can and let the universe take care of the rest.
• Forgiveness : isn’t about forgiving other people. It’s really about forgiving yourself. To quote Lewis Smedes, “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” Read: Day 25: Forgive Someone,  Be a Better Me in 30 Days
• Friendships : A friendship is a bond between two like-minded souls. If there are friends you no longer feel an affinity for, perhaps it’s time to let the friendships go and work on building new friendships. Read: Why I Parted Ways With My Best Friend of 10 Years  and  How to Have More Best Friends: My Heartfelt Guide

• Fulfillment : You create a more fulfilling life by giving attention to the good things, not the bad things; by celebrating the good stuff, not whining about the bad stuff; by working on things that you love, not doing the things that you hate.
• Future : You can’t control the future, but you can affect the present moment. If you want to have a better future, create it.
• Generosity : Being generous doesn’t deprive you. When you are generous to others, you subsequently receive more into your life. Read:  Are You Emotionally Generous?
• Giving and Receiving : Rather than think about what you can receive (whether from people or from the universe), think about what you can give to others.
• Growth : Always challenge yourself to reach greater heights. There is always room to be better, regardless of who you are or what you have done. Be attached to the notion of growth, not an end state.
• Habits : Your habits make you who you are. Excellent habits give you an excellent life. Read:  Develop a Good Habit in 21 Days

• Haste : Sometimes, more haste leads to less speed. Being in a hurry can lead to more mistakes compared to if you were not.
• Humility : will earn you more respect, acknowledgment and recognition than arrogance ever will. There’s no need to be a show off. If you are really good at what you do, it will automatically show through your accomplishments.
• Ideals : are good but don’t let them stop you from living in the present. They are meant to inspire you and give you a direction to move towards so that you can maximize your present moment (not to take you away from living in it).
• Improving :  If you think you can’t improve any further in something, then you are just not aware of your areas for improvement.
• Individuality : Everyone is different. Accept that each and every person is unique. Stop imposing expectations on people.
• Inspiration : comes from being in the state of flow. If you’re not feeling inspired, you’re not in a state of flow.
• Intuition : When in doubt, follow your intuition. It will guide you to where you need to be.
• Intuition and Logic : Contrary to popular belief, intuition and logic are not at odds with each other – they go hand-in-hand. Hone your analytical mind through constant thinking. Cultivate your intuition by listening to your gut. They will be the biggest tools you have at your disposal.
• Jealousy : is what happens when you resent someone’s success. But you don’t have to, because you are capable of achieving that same level of success, and more.
• Judgment : Judging people doesn’t make you a better person. It only makes you an ugly one.
• Laughter : Perhaps a little cliche, but laughter is one of the best medicines for the soul. When’s the last time you had a good laugh? If you haven’t been laughing/smiling/grinning for a while, maybe you have been too stifled in your life. Go do something that makes you loosen up and laugh out loud.
• Let go : Sometimes you have to let go of what you have now in order to move forward. Check out Day 28: Let Go from Live a Better Life in 30 Days .

• Life : is an experience that you actively create, not something you wait around to “happen”.
• Limits : The only limit in life is yourself. No one’s stopping you from becoming better and achieving more except yourself. To reach greater heights, identify your limits and remove them accordingly.
• Love : isn’t something you deliberately seek out. It’s something that happens when you follow your life path, become the right person, and meet that right person along your life’s journey.

• Low consciousness people , #2 : Low consciousness people hold you back from reaching greater heights. These include energy vampires, critical people, dishonest characters, and people with temperament issues. Let them go from your life and send them love as you do that.
• Material objects : are just tools to help you enjoy your life. You do not carry them with you when you die. So, don’t invest yourself in them. Rather, invest yourself in the development of your consciousness. Read:  Materialism Breeds Unhappiness

• Mistakes : are there to help you learn more about yourself. Don’t be hung up about the mistakes you make. Don’t be afraid of making (more) mistakes either. Be hungry about the lessons they embody.
• Money : is a symbol of value exchange between people. The amount of money you earn is simply a representation of the value you are giving to others. To earn more money, simply create more value for others.
• Motivation : comes naturally when you do what you love.
• Nasty people : There is always something good in everyone – even in the nastiest of people. It’s up to you to recognize that.
• Nasty people, #2 : The nastiest of people are also the unhappiest of people. Be kind to them because they are the ones who need your love the most.
• Obstacles : The obstacles that lie between you and your goals are not there to stop you from reaching your goals. They are there to stop the people who don’t want them enough. (Original quote by Randy Pausch. Watch his commencement speech at Carnegie Mellon:  10 Powerful and Inspiring Graduation Speeches  (#3 on the list))
• Opportunities : don’t come knocking on your door just by virtue of you doing nothing. You can either passively wait for opportunities to fall onto your lap or actively create them yourself.

• Past : You can’t change the past; it has happened and it is what it is. Fixating on it isn’t going to get you anywhere. You can only change the present to create a better future.
• People you dislike : Your life is limited, so spend it around people you like.
• Pleasing other people : When you live a life trying to please others, you end up not living a life at all. You are just living others’ lives under the facade of your life.
• Positivity : If you want to have more positivity in your life, start by being more positive yourself. Spot the silver lining behind every dark cloud. Recognize the strengths of the people you are with. See the good side of everything you have.
• Possibilities : We live in a world of possibilities. Anything you have ever dreamed of, imagined, or wished for, is possible, as long as you set your heart and soul to it.
• Power : You have all the power in you to do everything you ever want, and more. So start doing what you want and let the power in you emerge.
• Procrastination : is a sign of a bigger issue. Stop trying to fix your procrastination as a problem and start thinking about why you are procrastinating in the first place. Read:  How To Overcome Procrastination  (5-part series)
• Progress : Celebrate how far you’ve come, and not how much you have yet to achieve. The former will empower you to greatness, while the latter is rooted in fear and only serves to hold you back from greatness.
• Priorities : Know what matters to you and work on them. These are the things that will bring you the greatest happiness in life. Read:  Put First Things First
• Lead by example : If you want to initiate change, lead by example. Words can only do so much. A living example shows everything.
• Reality : Just like how the kind of fruit a tree bears is a result of the seed it is sown from, your external reality is merely a reflection of your internal beliefs. Change your beliefs and your reality will follow suit. (See #12)

• Relationships : A relationship is a bond between two dynamic individuals. It should be actively created between the parties involved, and not something you base off of norms and other relationships. Don’t impose expectations on your relationships; nurture them and let them come into their own. Read:  How to Improve Your Relationship With Your Parents  (series)
• Resistance : The more you resist something, the more it will persist.
• Respect : Everyone, no matter who, deserves respect. If you want others to respect you, it’s important you respect them first.

• Results : The results you get in life are a function of the actions you take. The more actions you take, the more results you will see.
• Root cause : Behind every occurrence is a root cause. Dig for the root cause and address that. Read:  Create Real Change In Life: Address Root Cause vs. Effects
• Seeking love : If you are desperately seeking love, perhaps there’s something inside you that’s blocking you from seeing it. Because love is everywhere, around you, and in you. There’s no need to seek love so much as you just need to be aware of its presence . You are the product of love. You are the biggest source of love. You live in a world of love. Read:  8 Tips on Attracting Authentic Love Into Your Life
• Settling : Settling is for losers. Don’t ever, ever, settle for something less than your ideal. Your ideal is yours to have. Fight for it.
• Spite : When you try to spite other people, you are really just hurting yourself. The people you are trying to spite may not care. In fact, they may not even know how hung up you are over them. All you are doing is just acting out a self-created story and script in your mind.
• Success : Success is the result of being great at what you do. Being great at what you do is the result of hard work. Hard work is the result of determination, persistence, and relentless focus.
• Success, #2 : There is no such thing as an overnight success. Every success you see, even if it seemingly quick, is the result of long periods of hard work that took place long before the point of success.

• Truth : It is always better to tell the truth because you stay clean that way. When you tell a lie, you live a lie forever. Not only that, you almost always have to cover it up with new lies. It is a cycle that never ends.
• Unhappiness : 100% of the unhappiness you experience in your life is a product of your thoughts. If you want to be happy, then make a conscious choice to be happy (see #44). Read:  10 Surefire Ways To Be Unhappy
• Vengeance : is an act of force/fear that doesn’t solve the problem. Look at the history of mankind and the wars that were waged. Go with the path of love, not fear/vengeance/force.
• What’s meant to be : If something is meant to be, it will happen (provided you do your part in making it happen). The more tightly you try to grab on to something, the more it will slip away. It’s just like trying to grab sand – it slips through the cracks of your fingers regardless how tightly you grab it.
• Yourself : Don’t do things for others; do them for yourself.

What principles above resonate with you? What can you start applying today?

This is part of the Inspiration & Motivation series. Check out the other articles in the series:

• 10 Powerful Graduation Speeches You Don’t Want To Miss
• 13 Meaningful Movies With Life Lessons To Learn
• 20 Amazing Commercials To Inspire the Greatness in You
• 56 Most Inspirational Songs of All Time
• 15 Beautiful Inspirational Wallpapers For Your Desktop
• 15 More Beautiful Wallpapers With Positive Affirmations
• 101 Inspiring Quotes of All Time
• 101 Things To Do Before You Die
• 101 Ways To Be a Better Person
• 101 Ways To Live Your Life To The Fullest
• 101 Important Questions To Ask Yourself in Life
• 101 Life Principles to Live By Daily

(Images: Sunrise , 10,000 Hours ,  Girl leaning on tree , Stacked coins , Confidence ,  Fearful girl , Broken egg ,  Girl with seashell ,  Meditation ,  Blue sky ,  Man walking ,  Spilt milk , Clock ,  CEO ,  Watch )

Hi, I’m Celes. Thanks for reading. Personal Excellence is where I write about how to live our best life as we tackle life’s challenges.  About Me »

• How To Deal With Disillusionment
• How To Deal With Uncertainty
• How To Overcome Anger
• How To Say No To Others
• How To Tackle Naysayers
• How To Stop Analysis Paralysis
• How To Deal With Critical People
• How To Handle Negative Criticism
• How To Give Constructive Criticism
• How To Deal With Unsupportive Friends & Family
• How To Improve Your Relationship With Your Parents
• How To Find Your Life Purpose
• How To Find Purpose After a Hard Fall in Life
• How To Move On From a Heartbreak
• How To Find Your Soulmate
• How To Stop Procrastinating
• How To Make Life’s Hardest Decisions
• How To Stay Focused & Not Get Distracted
• 101 Ways To Live Your Best Life
• 101 Questions To Ask Yourself

One Man’s Impact On The World

How To Choose Your Battles and Fight For What Matters

If you cannot do great things now, start by doing small things in a great way

101 Questions To Ask Yourself in Life

Top 5 Regrets of the Dying (And What To Do About Them)

Are You a Self-Help Junkie?

Copyright 2024 © Personal Excellence  |   Terms of Use   |   Privacy

Practical tips to tackle life’s challenges. Join my email list.

18 Life Principles For Greater Living

Life principles to guide you in this life.

1. Love More

Not just people or things, but yourself. Many of life’s problems result from a lack of self-love. To love more means to connect with the deeper intelligence that guides your being. You are the embodiment of love, irrespective of whether you’re hurt or betrayed. Set aside those feelings and know that you are the ocean swimming in a sea of love. Drown yourself in it.

2. Be Vigilant With Your Thoughts

Be mindful of your thoughts and don’t let them consume you. Do you think uplifting thoughts or are they filled with self-doubt and pessimism? Do you look for the silver lining in situations, or do you consider what could go wrong? Do you have a fixed or growth mindset? Despite people’s beliefs, our thoughts are not fixed. They’re shaped by being aware of them and not believing everything you think.

3. Practice Mindfulness

Bring your thoughts to the forefront of your mind and resist being a victim to unconscious behaviors. Mindfulness invites you to bring your attention to what’s taking place in your life instead of reliving past events. It means connecting with the present moment instead of being a victim to the past.

4. Regular Personal Development

Immerse yourself in inspiring material that encourages you to become someone of character. If we don’t shower, brush our teeth, or exercise, we fall victim to destructive habits and pay the price in illness. People claim since they can’t see the benefits of personal development, everything is fine.

5. Attitude Is Everything

Your attitude is more important than your outlook, because it influences how you show up in life. How is a positive attitude developed? By overcoming life’s obstacles rather than retreating from them. As you approach life with courage, you overcome your fears that once crippled you.

6. Be Of Service To Others

We all have a purpose, some discover it early in life while sadly, others die with a song in their heart. You can be of service to others in the smallest way through your thoughts, words, and actions. You needn’t lend your time to charities to be of service, although it’s helpful. Give of your time and resources by enriching other people’s lives. Even sending peaceful thoughts to another person is a step in the right direction.

7. Character Is More Important Than Reputation

Your reputation can be destroyed in moments, while character takes a lifetime to build. Consider celebrities involved in scandals who squander their character and reputation. Be mindful of whom you’re becoming. Don’t forsake this for a reputation that lasts a fraction of the time to build good character.

8. Let Go Of Worry, Fear, And Anxiety

Have you noticed that what you worry about rarely happens? We’re notorious for fabricating stories to protect us in case such events transpire. Yet if we continue down this path, we will attract these circumstances because of the energy devoted to it. Replace negativity with enriching thoughts that bring you closer to the life you wish to live.

9. Make Peace With The Past

To avoid excess baggage in the future, we need to heal the past. You’ve heard it said that the past is a figment of your imagination and no longer exists. Reliving the past derails a bright future because your mind is stuck dwelling on something no longer relevant.

10. Happiness Comes From Within

The biggest fraud sold to mankind is that happiness is attained via success, fame, wealth, or a suitable partner. Yet one need only look to people who have these things and are still unfulfilled, sometimes depressed. If you’re unhappy and gain wealth, you’ll continue to be unhappy because having more of these things amplifies what is lacking.

11. Surround Yourself With Great People

Especially those who bring out the best in you. If we lack self-esteem, we attract like-minded people. They are likely to notice the disowned parts within us we disapprove of. The other person will then reflect this through their interaction with us and we retaliate to prove them wrong. Surround yourself with people who see your greater qualities and don’t take you for granted.

12. Be Here And Now

Stop worrying about the future until it arrives. We worry about circumstances and miss out on the aliveness of the present moment. The future never arrives as we expect, so it’s pointless to worry about something that exists as thoughts. It’s wise to have goals, dreams, and ambitions. Yet if we’re not aligned with the motivation to accomplish these things, when they arrive it will not be as we expect. This is how a midlife crisis ensues because our vision of the future does not match reality.

13. Practice Gratitude

Gratitude means to appreciate what you have in your life instead of what is lacking. We can focus on the negative or positive, and either way we’re right. One brings unfavorable circumstances, while the other carries positive aspects. Be grateful for the smallest things because somewhere, someone is longing for what you take for granted.

14. Forgive Yourself And Others

Forgiveness is a doorway to heal the past. Many people forgive others, yet they’re unable to forgive themselves. I invite you to start with yourself first. Forgive yourself completely and open the window for love to heal. Remember, forgiveness does not mean to forget; it means to see the past in a new light.

15. Practice Acceptance And Detachment

Acceptance means not resisting what’s taking place in your life. Irrespective whether it’s an unfortunate situation, it can pave the way for something wonderful to transpire. Detachment means to distance ourselves from a desired outcome and allow circumstances to play out until the complete picture has emerged. Only then do we realize everything that takes place unfolds as it should, for our greater purpose.

16. Honor Your Feelings

Medical doctors now realize the harmful effects of toxic emotions which can lead to illness. Perhaps you were told not to express your emotions, apparent in cultures where it’s viewed as a sign of weakness. To connect with your emotions invites you to honor your feelings and express them in a healthy way. This doesn’t mean acting on your feelings of anger. Rather, investigate what the anger is seeking to represent.

17. Discover And Live Your Purpose

People who live their purpose lead healthier and robust lives. They’re happy pursuing that which makes their spirit come alive. There’s a purpose within you waiting to reveal itself. Dependent on your age, you may have realized it or are still discovering it. The key is to experiment until you find a purpose that resonates with you. Your purpose will bring joy to your life and those you serve.

18. Be Kind To Everyone You Meet

Tony fahkry.

Self-empowerment author, expert speaker and coach.

Keep up with Tony on Instagram , Twitter , Amazon and tonyfahkry.com

More From Thought Catalog

The 12 Best Rom Coms On Max Right Now (May, 2024)

Why Women Are Deleting Bumble and Choosing Bears Over Men: Dating Apps and Their Great Fumble

Why Do We Love Enemies-To-Lovers Rom Coms So Much?

If You Notice These 6 Signs, You’re The Scapegoat of A Narcissist’s Pathological Envy

6 Bold Movies About Strong Mothers That Are A Must Watch for Mother’s Day

This Mandela Effect From ‘The Silence Of The Lambs’ Will Blow Your Mind

• Table of Contents
• Random Entry
• Chronological
• Editorial Information
• About the SEP
• Editorial Board
• How to Cite the SEP
• Special Characters
• Advanced Tools
• Support the SEP
• PDFs for SEP Friends
• Make a Donation
• SEPIA for Libraries
• Entry Contents

Bibliography

Academic tools.

• Friends PDF Preview
• Author and Citation Info
• Back to Top

The Meaning of Life

Many major historical figures in philosophy have provided an answer to the question of what, if anything, makes life meaningful, although they typically have not put it in these terms (with such talk having arisen only in the past 250 years or so, on which see Landau 1997). Consider, for instance, Aristotle on the human function, Aquinas on the beatific vision, and Kant on the highest good. Relatedly, think about Koheleth, the presumed author of the Biblical book Ecclesiastes, describing life as “futility” and akin to “the pursuit of wind,” Nietzsche on nihilism, as well as Schopenhauer when he remarks that whenever we reach a goal we have longed for we discover “how vain and empty it is.” While these concepts have some bearing on happiness and virtue (and their opposites), they are straightforwardly construed (roughly) as accounts of which highly ranked purposes a person ought to realize that would make her life significant (if any would).

Despite the venerable pedigree, it is only since the 1980s or so that a distinct field of the meaning of life has been established in Anglo-American-Australasian philosophy, on which this survey focuses, and it is only in the past 20 years that debate with real depth and intricacy has appeared. Two decades ago analytic reflection on life’s meaning was described as a “backwater” compared to that on well-being or good character, and it was possible to cite nearly all the literature in a given critical discussion of the field (Metz 2002). Neither is true any longer. Anglo-American-Australasian philosophy of life’s meaning has become vibrant, such that there is now way too much literature to be able to cite comprehensively in this survey. To obtain focus, it tends to discuss books, influential essays, and more recent works, and it leaves aside contributions from other philosophical traditions (such as the Continental or African) and from non-philosophical fields (e.g., psychology or literature). This survey’s central aim is to acquaint the reader with current analytic approaches to life’s meaning, sketching major debates and pointing out neglected topics that merit further consideration.

When the topic of the meaning of life comes up, people tend to pose one of three questions: “What are you talking about?”, “What is the meaning of life?”, and “Is life in fact meaningful?”. The literature on life's meaning composed by those working in the analytic tradition (on which this entry focuses) can be usefully organized according to which question it seeks to answer. This survey starts off with recent work that addresses the first, abstract (or “meta”) question regarding the sense of talk of “life’s meaning,” i.e., that aims to clarify what we have in mind when inquiring into the meaning of life (section 1). Afterward, it considers texts that provide answers to the more substantive question about the nature of meaningfulness (sections 2–3). There is in the making a sub-field of applied meaning that parallels applied ethics, in which meaningfulness is considered in the context of particular cases or specific themes. Examples include downshifting (Levy 2005), implementing genetic enhancements (Agar 2013), making achievements (Bradford 2015), getting an education (Schinkel et al. 2015), interacting with research participants (Olson 2016), automating labor (Danaher 2017), and creating children (Ferracioli 2018). In contrast, this survey focuses nearly exclusively on contemporary normative-theoretical approaches to life’s meanining, that is, attempts to capture in a single, general principle all the variegated conditions that could confer meaning on life. Finally, this survey examines fresh arguments for the nihilist view that the conditions necessary for a meaningful life do not obtain for any of us, i.e., that all our lives are meaningless (section 4).

1. The Meaning of “Meaning”

2.1. god-centered views, 2.2. soul-centered views, 3.1. subjectivism, 3.2. objectivism, 3.3. rejecting god and a soul, 4. nihilism, works cited, classic works, collections, books for the general reader, other internet resources, related entries.

One of the field's aims consists of the systematic attempt to identify what people (essentially or characteristically) have in mind when they think about the topic of life’s meaning. For many in the field, terms such as “importance” and “significance” are synonyms of “meaningfulness” and so are insufficiently revealing, but there are those who draw a distinction between meaningfulness and significance (Singer 1996, 112–18; Belliotti 2019, 145–50, 186). There is also debate about how the concept of a meaningless life relates to the ideas of a life that is absurd (Nagel 1970, 1986, 214–23; Feinberg 1980; Belliotti 2019), futile (Trisel 2002), and not worth living (Landau 2017, 12–15; Matheson 2017).

A useful way to begin to get clear about what thinking about life’s meaning involves is to specify the bearer. Which life does the inquirer have in mind? A standard distinction to draw is between the meaning “in” life, where a human person is what can exhibit meaning, and the meaning “of” life in a narrow sense, where the human species as a whole is what can be meaningful or not. There has also been a bit of recent consideration of whether animals or human infants can have meaning in their lives, with most rejecting that possibility (e.g., Wong 2008, 131, 147; Fischer 2019, 1–24), but a handful of others beginning to make a case for it (Purves and Delon 2018; Thomas 2018). Also under-explored is the issue of whether groups, such as a people or an organization, can be bearers of meaning, and, if so, under what conditions.

Most analytic philosophers have been interested in meaning in life, that is, in the meaningfulness that a person’s life could exhibit, with comparatively few these days addressing the meaning of life in the narrow sense. Even those who believe that God is or would be central to life’s meaning have lately addressed how an individual’s life might be meaningful in virtue of God more often than how the human race might be. Although some have argued that the meaningfulness of human life as such merits inquiry to no less a degree (if not more) than the meaning in a life (Seachris 2013; Tartaglia 2015; cf. Trisel 2016), a large majority of the field has instead been interested in whether their lives as individual persons (and the lives of those they care about) are meaningful and how they could become more so.

Focusing on meaning in life, it is quite common to maintain that it is conceptually something good for its own sake or, relatedly, something that provides a basic reason for action (on which see Visak 2017). There are a few who have recently suggested otherwise, maintaining that there can be neutral or even undesirable kinds of meaning in a person’s life (e.g., Mawson 2016, 90, 193; Thomas 2018, 291, 294). However, these are outliers, with most analytic philosophers, and presumably laypeople, instead wanting to know when an individual’s life exhibits a certain kind of final value (or non-instrumental reason for action).

Another claim about which there is substantial consensus is that meaningfulness is not all or nothing and instead comes in degrees, such that some periods of life are more meaningful than others and that some lives as a whole are more meaningful than others. Note that one can coherently hold the view that some people’s lives are less meaningful (or even in a certain sense less “important”) than others, or are even meaningless (unimportant), and still maintain that people have an equal standing from a moral point of view. Consider a consequentialist moral principle according to which each individual counts for one in virtue of having a capacity for a meaningful life, or a Kantian approach according to which all people have a dignity in virtue of their capacity for autonomous decision-making, where meaning is a function of the exercise of this capacity. For both moral outlooks, we could be required to help people with relatively meaningless lives.

Yet another relatively uncontroversial element of the concept of meaningfulness in respect of individual persons is that it is logically distinct from happiness or rightness (emphasized in Wolf 2010, 2016). First, to ask whether someone’s life is meaningful is not one and the same as asking whether her life is pleasant or she is subjectively well off. A life in an experience machine or virtual reality device would surely be a happy one, but very few take it to be a prima facie candidate for meaningfulness (Nozick 1974: 42–45). Indeed, a number would say that one’s life logically could become meaningful precisely by sacrificing one’s well-being, e.g., by helping others at the expense of one’s self-interest. Second, asking whether a person’s existence over time is meaningful is not identical to considering whether she has been morally upright; there are intuitively ways to enhance meaning that have nothing to do with right action or moral virtue, such as making a scientific discovery or becoming an excellent dancer. Now, one might argue that a life would be meaningless if, or even because, it were unhappy or immoral, but that would be to posit a synthetic, substantive relationship between the concepts, far from indicating that speaking of “meaningfulness” is analytically a matter of connoting ideas regarding happiness or rightness. The question of what (if anything) makes a person’s life meaningful is conceptually distinct from the questions of what makes a life happy or moral, although it could turn out that the best answer to the former question appeals to an answer to one of the latter questions.

Supposing, then, that talk of “meaning in life” connotes something good for its own sake that can come in degrees and that is not analytically equivalent to happiness or rightness, what else does it involve? What more can we say about this final value, by definition? Most contemporary analytic philosophers would say that the relevant value is absent from spending time in an experience machine (but see Goetz 2012 for a different view) or living akin to Sisyphus, the mythic figure doomed by the Greek gods to roll a stone up a hill for eternity (famously discussed by Albert Camus and Taylor 1970). In addition, many would say that the relevant value is typified by the classic triad of “the good, the true, and the beautiful” (or would be under certain conditions). These terms are not to be taken literally, but instead are rough catchwords for beneficent relationships (love, collegiality, morality), intellectual reflection (wisdom, education, discoveries), and creativity (particularly the arts, but also potentially things like humor or gardening).

Pressing further, is there something that the values of the good, the true, the beautiful, and any other logically possible sources of meaning involve? There is as yet no consensus in the field. One salient view is that the concept of meaning in life is a cluster or amalgam of overlapping ideas, such as fulfilling higher-order purposes, meriting substantial esteem or admiration, having a noteworthy impact, transcending one’s animal nature, making sense, or exhibiting a compelling life-story (Markus 2003; Thomson 2003; Metz 2013, 24–35; Seachris 2013, 3–4; Mawson 2016). However, there are philosophers who maintain that something much more monistic is true of the concept, so that (nearly) all thought about meaningfulness in a person’s life is essentially about a single property. Suggestions include being devoted to or in awe of qualitatively superior goods (Taylor 1989, 3–24), transcending one’s limits (Levy 2005), or making a contribution (Martela 2016).

Recently there has been something of an “interpretive turn” in the field, one instance of which is the strong view that meaning-talk is logically about whether and how a life is intelligible within a wider frame of reference (Goldman 2018, 116–29; Seachris 2019; Thomas 2019; cf. Repp 2018). According to this approach, inquiring into life’s meaning is nothing other than seeking out sense-making information, perhaps a narrative about life or an explanation of its source and destiny. This analysis has the advantage of promising to unify a wide array of uses of the term “meaning.” However, it has the disadvantages of being unable to capture the intuitions that meaning in life is essentially good for its own sake (Landau 2017, 12–15), that it is not logically contradictory to maintain that an ineffable condition is what confers meaning on life (as per Cooper 2003, 126–42; Bennett-Hunter 2014; Waghorn 2014), and that often human actions themselves (as distinct from an interpretation of them), such as rescuing a child from a burning building, are what bear meaning.

Some thinkers have suggested that a complete analysis of the concept of life’s meaning should include what has been called “anti-matter” (Metz 2002, 805–07, 2013, 63–65, 71–73) or “anti-meaning” (Campbell and Nyholm 2015; Egerstrom 2015), conditions that reduce the meaningfulness of a life. The thought is that meaning is well represented by a bipolar scale, where there is a dimension of not merely positive conditions, but also negative ones. Gratuitous cruelty or destructiveness are prima facie candidates for actions that not merely fail to add meaning, but also subtract from any meaning one’s life might have had.

Despite the ongoing debates about how to analyze the concept of life’s meaning (or articulate the definition of the phrase “meaning in life”), the field remains in a good position to make progress on the other key questions posed above, viz., of what would make a life meaningful and whether any lives are in fact meaningful. A certain amount of common ground is provided by the point that meaningfulness at least involves a gradient final value in a person’s life that is conceptually distinct from happiness and rightness, with exemplars of it potentially being the good, the true, and the beautiful. The rest of this discussion addresses philosophical attempts to capture the nature of this value theoretically and to ascertain whether it exists in at least some of our lives.

2. Supernaturalism

Most analytic philosophers writing on meaning in life have been trying to develop and evaluate theories, i.e., fundamental and general principles, that are meant to capture all the particular ways that a life could obtain meaning. As in moral philosophy, there are recognizable “anti-theorists,” i.e., those who maintain that there is too much pluralism among meaning conditions to be able to unify them in the form of a principle (e.g., Kekes 2000; Hosseini 2015). Arguably, though, the systematic search for unity is too nascent to be able to draw a firm conclusion about whether it is available.

The theories are standardly divided on a metaphysical basis, that is, in terms of which kinds of properties are held to constitute the meaning. Supernaturalist theories are views according to which a spiritual realm is central to meaning in life. Most Western philosophers have conceived of the spiritual in terms of God or a soul as commonly understood in the Abrahamic faiths (but see Mulgan 2015 for discussion of meaning in the context of a God uninterested in us). In contrast, naturalist theories are views that the physical world as known particularly well by the scientific method is central to life’s meaning.

There is logical space for a non-naturalist theory, according to which central to meaning is an abstract property that is neither spiritual nor physical. However, only scant attention has been paid to this possibility in the recent Anglo-American-Australasian literature (Audi 2005).

It is important to note that supernaturalism, a claim that God (or a soul) would confer meaning on a life, is logically distinct from theism, the claim that God (or a soul) exists. Although most who hold supernaturalism also hold theism, one could accept the former without the latter (as Camus more or less did), committing one to the view that life is meaningless or at least lacks substantial meaning. Similarly, while most naturalists are atheists, it is not contradictory to maintain that God exists but has nothing to do with meaning in life or perhaps even detracts from it. Although these combinations of positions are logically possible, some of them might be substantively implausible. The field could benefit from discussion of the comparative attractiveness of various combinations of evaluative claims about what would make life meaningful and metaphysical claims about whether spiritual conditions exist.

Over the past 15 years or so, two different types of supernaturalism have become distinguished on a regular basis (Metz 2019). That is true not only in the literature on life’s meaning, but also in that on the related pro-theism/anti-theism debate, about whether it would be desirable for God or a soul to exist (e.g., Kahane 2011; Kraay 2018; Lougheed 2020). On the one hand, there is extreme supernaturalism, according to which spiritual conditions are necessary for any meaning in life. If neither God nor a soul exists, then, by this view, everyone’s life is meaningless. On the other hand, there is moderate supernaturalism, according to which spiritual conditions are necessary for a great or ultimate meaning in life, although not meaning in life as such. If neither God nor a soul exists, then, by this view, everyone’s life could have some meaning, or even be meaningful, but no one’s life could exhibit the most desirable meaning. For a moderate supernaturalist, God or a soul would substantially enhance meaningfulness or be a major contributory condition for it.

There are a variety of ways that great or ultimate meaning has been described, sometimes quantitatively as “infinite” (Mawson 2016), qualitatively as “deeper” (Swinburne 2016), relationally as “unlimited” (Nozick 1981, 618–19; cf. Waghorn 2014), temporally as “eternal” (Cottingham 2016), and perspectivally as “from the point of view of the universe” (Benatar 2017). There has been no reflection as yet on the crucial question of how these distinctions might bear on each another, for instance, on whether some are more basic than others or some are more valuable than others.

Cross-cutting the extreme/moderate distinction is one between God-centered theories and soul-centered ones. According to the former, some kind of connection with God (understood to be a spiritual person who is all-knowing, all-good, and all-powerful and who is the ground of the physical universe) constitutes meaning in life, even if one lacks a soul (construed as an immortal, spiritual substance that contains one’s identity). In contrast, by the latter, having a soul and putting it into a certain state is what makes life meaningful, even if God does not exist. Many supernaturalists of course believe that God and a soul are jointly necessary for a (greatly) meaningful existence. However, the simpler view, that only one of them is necessary, is common, and sometimes arguments proffered for the complex view fail to support it any more than the simpler one.

The most influential God-based account of meaning in life has been the extreme view that one’s existence is significant if and only if one fulfills a purpose God has assigned. The familiar idea is that God has a plan for the universe and that one’s life is meaningful just to the degree that one helps God realize this plan, perhaps in a particular way that God wants one to do so. If a person failed to do what God intends her to do with her life (or if God does not even exist), then, on the current view, her life would be meaningless.

Thinkers differ over what it is about God’s purpose that might make it uniquely able to confer meaning on human lives, but the most influential argument has been that only God’s purpose could be the source of invariant moral rules (Davis 1987, 296, 304–05; Moreland 1987, 124–29; Craig 1994/2013, 161–67) or of objective values more generally (Cottingham 2005, 37–57), where a lack of such would render our lives nonsensical. According to this argument, lower goods such as animal pleasure or desire satisfaction could exist without God, but higher ones pertaining to meaning in life, particularly moral virtue, could not. However, critics point to many non-moral sources of meaning in life (e.g., Kekes 2000; Wolf 2010), with one arguing that a universal moral code is not necessary for meaning in life, even if, say, beneficent actions are (Ellin 1995, 327). In addition, there are a variety of naturalist and non-naturalist accounts of objective morality––and of value more generally––on offer these days, so that it is not clear that it must have a supernatural source in God’s will.

One recurrent objection to the idea that God’s purpose could make life meaningful is that if God had created us with a purpose in mind, then God would have degraded us and thereby undercut the possibility of us obtaining meaning from fulfilling the purpose. The objection harks back to Jean-Paul Sartre, but in the analytic literature it appears that Kurt Baier was the first to articulate it (1957/2000, 118–20; see also Murphy 1982, 14–15; Singer 1996, 29; Kahane 2011; Lougheed 2020, 121–41). Sometimes the concern is the threat of punishment God would make so that we do God’s bidding, while other times it is that the source of meaning would be constrictive and not up to us, and still other times it is that our dignity would be maligned simply by having been created with a certain end in mind (for some replies to such concerns, see Hanfling 1987, 45–46; Cottingham 2005, 37–57; Lougheed 2020, 111–21).

There is a different argument for an extreme God-based view that focuses less on God as purposive and more on God as infinite, unlimited, or ineffable, which Robert Nozick first articulated with care (Nozick 1981, 594–618; see also Bennett-Hunter 2014; Waghorn 2014). The core idea is that for a finite condition to be meaningful, it must obtain its meaning from another condition that has meaning. So, if one’s life is meaningful, it might be so in virtue of being married to a person, who is important. Being finite, the spouse must obtain his or her importance from elsewhere, perhaps from the sort of work he or she does. This work also must obtain its meaning by being related to something else that is meaningful, and so on. A regress on meaningful conditions is present, and the suggestion is that the regress can terminate only in something so all-encompassing that it need not (indeed, cannot) go beyond itself to obtain meaning from anything else. And that is God. The standard objection to this relational rationale is that a finite condition could be meaningful without obtaining its meaning from another meaningful condition. Perhaps it could be meaningful in itself, without being connected to something beyond it, or maybe it could obtain its meaning by being related to something else that is beautiful or otherwise valuable for its own sake but not meaningful (Nozick 1989, 167–68; Thomson 2003, 25–26, 48).

A serious concern for any extreme God-based view is the existence of apparent counterexamples. If we think of the stereotypical lives of Albert Einstein, Mother Teresa, and Pablo Picasso, they seem meaningful even if we suppose there is no all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-good spiritual person who is the ground of the physical world (e.g., Wielenberg 2005, 31–37, 49–50; Landau 2017). Even religiously inclined philosophers have found this hard to deny these days (Quinn 2000, 58; Audi 2005; Mawson 2016, 5; Williams 2020, 132–34).

Largely for that reason, contemporary supernaturalists have tended to opt for moderation, that is, to maintain that God would greatly enhance the meaning in our lives, even if some meaning would be possible in a world without God. One approach is to invoke the relational argument to show that God is necessary, not for any meaning whatsoever, but rather for an ultimate meaning. “Limited transcendence, the transcending of our limits so as to connect with a wider context of value which itself is limited, does give our lives meaning––but a limited one. We may thirst for more” (Nozick 1981, 618). Another angle is to appeal to playing a role in God’s plan, again to claim, not that it is essential for meaning as such, but rather for “a cosmic significance....intead of a significance very limited in time and space” (Swinburne 2016, 154; see also Quinn 2000; Cottingham 2016, 131). Another rationale is that by fulfilling God’s purpose, we would meaningfully please God, a perfect person, as well as be remembered favorably by God forever (Cottingham 2016, 135; Williams 2020, 21–22, 29, 101, 108). Still another argument is that only with God could the deepest desires of human nature be satisfied (e.g., Goetz 2012; Seachris 2013, 20; Cottingham 2016, 127, 136), even if more surface desires could be satisfied without God.

In reply to such rationales for a moderate supernaturalism, there has been the suggestion that it is precisely by virtue of being alone in the universe that our lives would be particularly significant; otherwise, God’s greatness would overshadow us (Kahane 2014). There has also been the response that, with the opportunity for greater meaning from God would also come that for greater anti-meaning, so that it is not clear that a world with God would offer a net gain in respect of meaning (Metz 2019, 34–35). For example, if pleasing God would greatly enhance meaning in our lives, then presumably displeasing God would greatly reduce it and to a comparable degree. In addition, there are arguments for extreme naturalism (or its “anti-theist” cousin) mentioned below (sub-section 3.3).

Notice that none of the above arguments for supernaturalism appeals to the prospect of eternal life (at least not explicitly). Arguments that do make such an appeal are soul-centered, holding that meaning in life mainly comes from having an immortal, spiritual substance that is contiguous with one’s body when it is alive and that will forever outlive its death. Some think of the afterlife in terms of one’s soul entering a transcendent, spiritual realm (Heaven), while others conceive of one’s soul getting reincarnated into another body on Earth. According to the extreme version, if one has a soul but fails to put it in the right state (or if one lacks a soul altogether), then one’s life is meaningless.

There are three prominent arguments for an extreme soul-based perspective. One argument, made famous by Leo Tolstoy, is the suggestion that for life to be meaningful something must be worth doing, that something is worth doing only if it will make a permanent difference to the world, and that making a permanent difference requires being immortal (see also Hanfling 1987, 22–24; Morris 1992, 26; Craig 1994). Critics most often appeal to counterexamples, suggesting for instance that it is surely worth your time and effort to help prevent people from suffering, even if you and they are mortal. Indeed, some have gone on the offensive and argued that helping people is worth the sacrifice only if and because they are mortal, for otherwise they could invariably be compensated in an afterlife (e.g., Wielenberg 2005, 91–94). Another recent and interesting criticism is that the major motivations for the claim that nothing matters now if one day it will end are incoherent (Greene 2021).

A second argument for the view that life would be meaningless without a soul is that it is necessary for justice to be done, which, in turn, is necessary for a meaningful life. Life seems nonsensical when the wicked flourish and the righteous suffer, at least supposing there is no other world in which these injustices will be rectified, whether by God or a Karmic force. Something like this argument can be found in Ecclesiastes, and it continues to be defended (e.g., Davis 1987; Craig 1994). However, even granting that an afterlife is required for perfectly just outcomes, it is far from obvious that an eternal afterlife is necessary for them, and, then, there is the suggestion that some lives, such as Mandela’s, have been meaningful precisely in virtue of encountering injustice and fighting it.

A third argument for thinking that having a soul is essential for any meaning is that it is required to have the sort of free will without which our lives would be meaningless. Immanuel Kant is known for having maintained that if we were merely physical beings, subjected to the laws of nature like everything else in the material world, then we could not act for moral reasons and hence would be unimportant. More recently, one theologian has eloquently put the point in religious terms: “The moral spirit finds the meaning of life in choice. It finds it in that which proceeds from man and remains with him as his inner essence rather than in the accidents of circumstances turns of external fortune....(W)henever a human being rubs the lamp of his moral conscience, a Spirit does appear. This Spirit is God....It is in the ‘Thou must’ of God and man’s ‘I can’ that the divine image of God in human life is contained” (Swenson 1949/2000, 27–28). Notice that, even if moral norms did not spring from God’s commands, the logic of the argument entails that one’s life could be meaningful, so long as one had the inherent ability to make the morally correct choice in any situation. That, in turn, arguably requires something non-physical about one’s self, so as to be able to overcome whichever physical laws and forces one might confront. The standard objection to this reasoning is to advance a compatibilism about having a determined physical nature and being able to act for moral reasons (e.g., Arpaly 2006; Fischer 2009, 145–77). It is also worth wondering whether, if one had to have a spiritual essence in order to make free choices, it would have to be one that never perished.

Like God-centered theorists, many soul-centered theorists these days advance a moderate view, accepting that some meaning in life would be possible without immortality, but arguing that a much greater meaning would be possible with it. Granting that Einstein, Mandela, and Picasso had somewhat meaningful lives despite not having survived the deaths of their bodies (as per, e.g., Trisel 2004; Wolf 2015, 89–140; Landau 2017), there remains a powerful thought: more is better. If a finite life with the good, the true, and the beautiful has meaning in it to some degree, then surely it would have all the more meaning if it exhibited such higher values––including a relationship with God––for an eternity (Cottingham 2016, 132–35; Mawson 2016, 2019, 52–53; Williams 2020, 112–34; cf. Benatar 2017, 35–63). One objection to this reasoning is that the infinity of meaning that would be possible with a soul would be “too big,” rendering it difficult for the moderate supernaturalist to make sense of the intution that a finite life such as Einstein’s can indeed count as meaningful by comparison (Metz 2019, 30–31; cf. Mawson 2019, 53–54). More common, though, is the objection that an eternal life would include anti-meaning of various kinds, such as boredom and repetition, discussed below in the context of extreme naturalism (sub-section 3.3).

3. Naturalism

Recall that naturalism is the view that a physical life is central to life’s meaning, that even if there is no spiritual realm, a substantially meaningful life is possible. Like supernaturalism, contemporary naturalism admits of two distinguishable variants, moderate and extreme (Metz 2019). The moderate version is that, while a genuinely meaningful life could be had in a purely physical universe as known well by science, a somewhat more meaningful life would be possible if a spiritual realm also existed. God or a soul could enhance meaning in life, although they would not be major contributors. The extreme version of naturalism is the view that it would be better in respect of life’s meaning if there were no spiritual realm. From this perspective, God or a soul would be anti-matter, i.e., would detract from the meaning available to us, making a purely physical world (even if not this particular one) preferable.

Cross-cutting the moderate/extreme distinction is that between subjectivism and objectivism, which are theoretical accounts of the nature of meaningfulness insofar as it is physical. They differ in terms of the extent to which the human mind constitutes meaning and whether there are conditions of meaning that are invariant among human beings. Subjectivists believe that there are no invariant standards of meaning because meaning is relative to the subject, i.e., depends on an individual’s pro-attitudes such as her particular desires or ends, which are not shared by everyone. Roughly, something is meaningful for a person if she strongly wants it or intends to seek it out and she gets it. Objectivists maintain, in contrast, that there are some invariant standards for meaning because meaning is at least partly mind-independent, i.e., obtains not merely in virtue of being the object of anyone’s mental states. Here, something is meaningful (partially) because of its intrinsic nature, in the sense of being independent of whether it is wanted or intended; meaning is instead (to some extent) the sort of thing that merits these reactions.

There is logical space for an orthogonal view, according to which there are invariant standards of meaningfulness constituted by what all human beings would converge on from a certain standpoint. However, it has not been much of a player in the field (Darwall 1983, 164–66).

According to this version of naturalism, meaning in life varies from person to person, depending on each one’s variable pro-attitudes. Common instances are views that one’s life is more meaningful, the more one gets what one happens to want strongly, achieves one’s highly ranked goals, or does what one believes to be really important (Trisel 2002; Hooker 2008). One influential subjectivist has recently maintained that the relevant mental state is caring or loving, so that life is meaningful just to the extent that one cares about or loves something (Frankfurt 1988, 80–94, 2004). Another recent proposal is that meaningfulness consists of “an active engagement and affirmation that vivifies the person who has freely created or accepted and now promotes and nurtures the projects of her highest concern” (Belliotti 2019, 183).

Subjectivism was dominant in the middle of the twentieth century, when positivism, noncognitivism, existentialism, and Humeanism were influential (Ayer 1947; Hare 1957; Barnes 1967; Taylor 1970; Williams 1976). However, in the last quarter of the twentieth century, inference to the best explanation and reflective equilibrium became accepted forms of normative argumentation and were frequently used to defend claims about the existence and nature of objective value (or of “external reasons,” ones obtaining independently of one’s extant attitudes). As a result, subjectivism about meaning lost its dominance. Those who continue to hold subjectivism often remain suspicious of attempts to justify beliefs about objective value (e.g., Trisel 2002, 73, 79, 2004, 378–79; Frankfurt 2004, 47–48, 55–57; Wong 2008, 138–39; Evers 2017, 32, 36; Svensson 2017, 54). Theorists are moved to accept subjectivism typically because the alternatives are unpalatable; they are reasonably sure that meaning in life obtains for some people, but do not see how it could be grounded on something independent of the mind, whether it be the natural or the supernatural (or the non-natural). In contrast to these possibilities, it appears straightforward to account for what is meaningful in terms of what people find meaningful or what people want out of their lives. Wide-ranging meta-ethical debates in epistemology, metaphysics, and the philosophy of language are necessary to address this rationale for subjectivism.

There is a cluster of other, more circumscribed arguments for subjectivism, according to which this theory best explains certain intuitive features of meaning in life. For one, subjectivism seems plausible since it is reasonable to think that a meaningful life is an authentic one (Frankfurt 1988, 80–94). If a person’s life is significant insofar as she is true to herself or her deepest nature, then we have some reason to believe that meaning simply is a function of those matters for which the person cares. For another, it is uncontroversial that often meaning comes from losing oneself, i.e., in becoming absorbed in an activity or experience, as opposed to being bored by it or finding it frustrating (Frankfurt 1988, 80–94; Belliotti 2019, 162–70). Work that concentrates the mind and relationships that are engrossing seem central to meaning and to be so because of the subjective elements involved. For a third, meaning is often taken to be something that makes life worth continuing for a specific person, i.e., that gives her a reason to get out of bed in the morning, which subjectivism is thought to account for best (Williams 1976; Svensson 2017; Calhoun 2018).

Critics maintain that these arguments are vulnerable to a common objection: they neglect the role of objective value (or an external reason) in realizing oneself, losing oneself, and having a reason to live (Taylor 1989, 1992; Wolf 2010, 2015, 89–140). One is not really being true to oneself, losing oneself in a meaningful way, or having a genuine reason to live insofar as one, say, successfully maintains 3,732 hairs on one’s head (Taylor 1992, 36), cultivates one’s prowess at long-distance spitting (Wolf 2010, 104), collects a big ball of string (Wolf 2010, 104), or, well, eats one’s own excrement (Wielenberg 2005, 22). The counterexamples suggest that subjective conditions are insufficient to ground meaning in life; there seem to be certain actions, relationships, and states that are objectively valuable (but see Evers 2017, 30–32) and toward which one’s pro-attitudes ought to be oriented, if meaning is to accrue.

So say objectivists, but subjectivists feel the pull of the point and usually seek to avoid the counterexamples, lest they have to bite the bullet by accepting the meaningfulness of maintaining 3,732 hairs on one’s head and all the rest (for some who do, see Svensson 2017, 54–55; Belliotti 2019, 181–83). One important strategy is to suggest that subjectivists can avoid the counterexamples by appealing to the right sort of pro-attitude. Instead of whatever an individual happens to want, perhaps the relevant mental state is an emotional-perceptual one of seeing-as (Alexis 2011; cf. Hosseini 2015, 47–66), a “categorical” desire, that is, an intrinsic desire constitutive of one’s identity that one takes to make life worth continuing (Svensson 2017), or a judgment that one has a good reason to value something highly for its own sake (Calhoun 2018). Even here, though, objectivists will argue that it might “appear that whatever the will chooses to treat as a good reason to engage itself is, for the will, a good reason. But the will itself....craves objective reasons; and often it could not go forward unless it thought it had them” (Wiggins 1988, 136). And without any appeal to objectivity, it is perhaps likely that counterexamples would resurface.

Another subjectivist strategy by which to deal with the counterexamples is the attempt to ground meaningfulness, not on the pro-attitudes of an individual valuer, but on those of a group (Darwall 1983, 164–66; Brogaard and Smith 2005; Wong 2008). Does such an intersubjective move avoid (more of) the counterexamples? If so, does it do so more plausibly than an objective theory?

Objective naturalists believe that meaning in life is constituted at least in part by something physical beyond merely the fact that it is the object of a pro-attitude. Obtaining the object of some emotion, desire, or judgment is not sufficient for meaningfulness, on this view. Instead, there are certain conditions of the material world that could confer meaning on anyone’s life, not merely because they are viewed as meaningful, wanted for their own sake, or believed to be choiceworthy, but instead (at least partially) because they are inherently worthwhile or valuable in themselves.

Morality (the good), enquiry (the true), and creativity (the beautiful) are widely held instances of activities that confer meaning on life, while trimming toenails and eating snow––along with the counterexamples to subjectivism above––are not. Objectivism is widely thought to be a powerful general explanation of these particular judgments: the former are meaningful not merely because some agent (whether it is an individual, her society, or even God) cares about them or judges them to be worth doing, while the latter simply lack significance and cannot obtain it even if some agent does care about them or judge them to be worth doing. From an objective perspective, it is possible for an individual to care about the wrong thing or to be mistaken that something is worthwhile, and not merely because of something she cares about all the more or judges to be still more choiceworthy. Of course, meta-ethical debates about the existence and nature of value are again relevant to appraising this rationale.

Some objectivists think that being the object of a person’s mental states plays no constitutive role in making that person’s life meaningful, although they of course contend that it often plays an instrumental role––liking a certain activity, after all, is likely to motivate one to do it. Relatively few objectivists are “pure” in that way, although consequentialists do stand out as clear instances (e.g., Singer 1995; Smuts 2018, 75–99). Most objectivists instead try to account for the above intuitions driving subjectivism by holding that a life is more meaningful, not merely because of objective factors, but also in part because of propositional attitudes such as cognition, conation, and emotion. Particularly influential has been Susan Wolf’s hybrid view, captured by this pithy slogan: “Meaning arises when subjective attraction meets objective attractiveness” (Wolf 2015, 112; see also Kekes 1986, 2000; Wiggins 1988; Raz 2001, 10–40; Mintoff 2008; Wolf 2010, 2016; Fischer 2019, 9–23; Belshaw 2021, 160–81). This theory implies that no meaning accrues to one’s life if one believes in, is satisfied by, or cares about a project that is not truly worthwhile, or if one takes up a truly worthwhile project but fails to judge it important, be satisfied by it, or care about it. A related approach is that, while subjective attraction is not necessary for meaning, it could enhance it (e.g., Audi 2005, 344; Metz 2013, 183–84, 196–98, 220–25). For instance, a stereotypical Mother Teresa who is bored by and alienated from her substantial charity work might have a somewhat significant existence because of it, even if she would have an even more significant existence if she felt pride in it or identified with it.

There have been several attempts to capture theoretically what all objectively attractive, inherently worthwhile, or finally valuable conditions have in common insofar as they bear on meaning in a person’s life. Over the past few decades, one encounters the proposals that objectively meaningful conditions are just those that involve: positively connecting with organic unity beyond oneself (Nozick 1981, 594–619); being creative (Taylor 1987; Matheson 2018); living an emotional life (Solomon 1993; cf. Williams 2020, 56–78); promoting good consequences, such as improving the quality of life of oneself and others (Singer 1995; Audi 2005; Smuts 2018, 75–99); exercising or fostering rational nature in exceptional ways (Smith 1997, 179–221; Gewirth 1998, 177–82; Metz 2013, 222–36); progressing toward ends that can never be fully realized because one’s knowledge of them changes as one approaches them (Levy 2005); realizing goals that are transcendent for being long-lasting in duration and broad in scope (Mintoff 2008); living virtuously (May 2015, 61–138; McPherson 2020); and loving what is worth loving (Wolf 2016). There is as yet no convergence in the field on one, or even a small cluster, of these accounts.

One feature of a large majority of the above naturalist theories is that they are aggregative or additive, objectionably treating a life as a mere “container” of bits of life that are meaningful considered in isolation from other bits (Brännmark 2003, 330). It has become increasingly common for philosophers of life’s meaning, especially objectivists, to hold that life as a whole, or at least long stretches of it, can substantially affect its meaningfulness beyond the amount of meaning (if any) in its parts.

For instance, a life that has lots of beneficence and otherwise intuitively meaning-conferring conditions but that is also extremely repetitive (à la the movie Groundhog Day ) is less than maximally meaningful (Taylor 1987; Blumenfeld 2009). Furthermore, a life that not only avoids repetition but also ends with a substantial amount of meaningful (or otherwise desirable) parts seems to have more meaning overall than one that has the same amount of meaningful (desirable) parts but ends with few or none of them (Kamm 2013, 18–22; Dorsey 2015). Still more, a life in which its meaningless (or otherwise undesirable parts) cause its meaningful (desirable) parts to come about through a process of personal growth seems meaningful in virtue of this redemptive pattern, “good life-story,” or narrative self-expression (Taylor 1989, 48–51; Wong 2008; Fischer 2009, 145–77; Kauppinen 2012; May 2015, 61–138; Velleman 2015, 141–73). These three cases suggest that meaning can inhere in life as a whole, that is, in the relationships between its parts, and not merely in the parts considered in isolation. However, some would maintain that it is, strictly speaking, the story that is or could be told of a life that matters, not so much the life-story qua relations between events themselves (de Bres 2018).

There are pure or extreme versions of holism present in the literature, according to which the only possible bearer of meaning in life is a person’s life as a whole, and not any isolated activities, relationships, or states (Taylor 1989, 48–51; Tabensky 2003; Levinson 2004). A salient argument for this position is that judgments of the meaningfulness of a part of someone’s life are merely provisional, open to revision upon considering how they fit into a wider perspective. So, for example, it would initially appear that taking an ax away from a madman and thereby protecting innocent parties confers some meaning on one’s life, but one might well revise that judgment upon learning that the intention behind it was merely to steal an ax, not to save lives, or that the madman then took out a machine gun, causing much more harm than his ax would have. It is worth considering how far this sort of case is generalizable, and, if it can be to a substantial extent, whether that provides strong evidence that only life as a whole can exhibit meaningfulness.

Perhaps most objectivists would, at least upon reflection, accept that both the parts of a life and the whole-life relationships among the parts can exhibit meaning. Supposing there are two bearers of meaning in a life, important questions arise. One is whether a certain narrative can be meaningful even if its parts are not, while a second is whether the meaningfulness of a part increases if it is an aspect of a meaningful whole (on which see Brännmark 2003), and a third is whether there is anything revealing to say about how to make tradeoffs between the parts and whole in cases where one must choose between them (Blumenfeld 2009 appears to assign lexical priority to the whole).

Naturalists until recently had been largely concerned to show that meaning in life is possible without God or a soul; they have not spent much time considering how such spiritual conditions might enhance meaning, but have, in moderate fashion, tended to leave that possibility open (an exception is Hooker 2008). Lately, however, an extreme form of naturalism has arisen, according to which our lives would probably, if not unavoidably, have less meaning in a world with God or a soul than in one without. Although such an approach was voiced early on by Baier (1957), it is really in the past decade or so that this “anti-theist” position has become widely and intricately discussed.

One rationale, mentioned above as an objection to the view that God’s purpose constitutes meaning in life, has also been deployed to argue that the existence of God as such would necessarily reduce meaning, that is, would consist of anti-matter. It is the idea that master/servant and parent/child analogies so prominent in the monotheist religious traditions reveal something about our status in a world where there is a qualitatively higher being who has created us with certain ends in mind: our independence or dignity as adult persons would be violated (e.g., Baier 1957/2000, 118–20; Kahane 2011, 681–85; Lougheed 2020, 121–41). One interesting objection to this reasoning has been to accept that God’s existence is necessarily incompatible with the sort of meaning that would come (roughly stated) from being one’s own boss, but to argue that God would also make greater sorts of meaning available, offering a net gain to us (Mawson 2016, 110–58).

Another salient argument for thinking that God would detract from meaning in life appeals to the value of privacy (Kahane 2011, 681–85; Lougheed 2020, 55–110). God’s omniscience would unavoidably make it impossible for us to control another person’s access to the most intimate details about ourselves, which, for some, amounts to a less meaningful life than one with such control. Beyond questioning the value of our privacy in relation to God, one thought-provoking criticism has been to suggest that, if a lack of privacy really would substantially reduce meaning in our lives, then God, qua morally perfect person, would simply avoid knowing everything about us (Tooley 2018). Lacking complete knowledge of our mental states would be compatible with describing God as “omniscient,” so the criticism goes, insofar as that is plausibly understood as having as much knowledge as is morally permissible.

Turn, now, to major arguments for thinking that having a soul would reduce life’s meaning, so that if one wants a maximally meaningful life, one should prefer a purely physical world, or at least one in which people are mortal. First and foremost, there has been the argument that an immortal life could not avoid becoming boring (Williams 1973), rendering life pointless according to many subjective and objective theories. The literature on this topic has become enormous, with the central reply being that immortality need not get boring (for more recent discussions, see Fischer 2009, 79–101, 2019, 117–42; Mawson 2019, 51–52; Williams 2020, 30–41, 123–29; Belshaw 2021, 182–97). However, it might also be worth questioning whether boredom is sufficient for meaninglessness. Suppose, for instance, that one volunteers to be bored so that many others will not be bored; perhaps this would be a meaningful sacrifice to make. Being bored for an eternity would not be blissful or even satisfying, to be sure, but if it served the function of preventing others from being bored for an eternity, would it be meaningful (at least to some degree)? If, as is commonly held, sacrificing one’s life could be meaningful, why not also sacrificing one’s liveliness?

Another reason given to reject eternal life is that it would become repetitive, which would substantially drain it of meaning (Scarre 2007, 54–55; May 2009, 46–47, 64–65, 71; Smuts 2011, 142–44; cf. Blumenfeld 2009). If, as it appears, there are only a finite number of actions one could perform, relationships one could have, and states one could be in during an eternity, one would have to end up doing the same things again. Even though one’s activities might be more valuable than rolling a stone up a hill forever à la Sisyphus, the prospect of doing them over and over again forever is disheartening for many. To be sure, one might not remember having done them before and hence could avoid boredom, but for some philosophers that would make it all the worse, akin to having dementia and forgetting that one has told the same stories. Others, however, still find meaning in such a life (e.g., Belshaw 2021, 197, 205n41).

A third meaning-based argument against immortality invokes considerations of narrative. If the pattern of one’s life as a whole substantially matters, and if a proper pattern would include a beginning, a middle, and an end, it appears that a life that never ends would lack the relevant narrative structure. “Because it would drag on endlessly, it would, sooner or later, just be a string of events lacking all form....With immortality, the novel never ends....How meaningful can such a novel be?” (May 2009, 68, 72; see also Scarre 2007, 58–60). Notice that this objection is distinct from considerations of boredom and repetition (which concern novelty ); even if one were stimulated and active, and even if one found a way not to repeat one’s life in the course of eternity, an immortal life would appear to lack shape. In reply, some reject the idea that a meaningful life must be akin to a novel, and intead opt for narrativity in the form of something like a string of short stories that build on each other (Fischer 2009, 145–77, 2019, 101–16). Others, though, have sought to show that eternity could still be novel-like, deeming the sort of ending that matters to be a function of what the content is and how it relates to the content that came before (e.g., Seachris 2011; Williams 2020, 112–19).

There have been additional objections to immortality as undercutting meaningfulness, but they are prima facie less powerful than the previous three in that, if sound, they arguably show that an eternal life would have a cost, but probably not one that would utterly occlude the prospect of meaning in it. For example, there have been the suggestions that eternal lives would lack a sense of preciousness and urgency (Nussbaum 1989, 339; Kass 2002, 266–67), could not exemplify virtues such as courageously risking one’s life for others (Kass 2002, 267–68; Wielenberg 2005, 91–94), and could not obtain meaning from sustaining or saving others’ lives (Nussbaum 1989, 338; Wielenberg 2005, 91–94). Note that at least the first two rationales turn substantially on the belief in immortality, not quite immortality itself: if one were immortal but forgot that one is or did not know that at all, then one could appreciate life and obtain much of the virtue of courage (and, conversely, if one were not immortal, but thought that one is, then, by the logic of these arguments, one would fail to appreciate limits and be unable to exemplify courage).

The previous two sections addressed theoretical accounts of what would confer meaning on a human person’s life. Although these theories do not imply that some people’s lives are in fact meaningful, that has been the presumption of a very large majority of those who have advanced them. Much of the procedure has been to suppose that many lives have had meaning in them and then to consider in virtue of what they have or otherwise could. However, there are nihilist (or pessimist) perspectives that question this supposition. According to nihilism (pessimism), what would make a life meaningful in principle cannot obtain for any of us.

One straightforward rationale for nihilism is the combination of extreme supernaturalism about what makes life meaningful and atheism about whether a spiritual realm exists. If you believe that God or a soul is necessary for meaning in life, and if you believe that neither is real, then you are committed to nihilism, to the denial that life can have any meaning. Athough this rationale for nihilism was prominent in the modern era (and was more or less Camus’ position), it has been on the wane in analytic philosophical circles, as extreme supernaturalism has been eclipsed by the moderate variety.

The most common rationales for nihilism these days do not appeal to supernaturalism, or at least not explicitly. One cluster of ideas appeals to what meta-ethicists call “error theory,” the view that evaluative claims (in this case about meaning in life, or about morality qua necessary for meaning) characteristically posit objectively real or universally justified values, but that such values do not exist. According to one version, value judgments often analytically include a claim to objectivity but there is no reason to think that objective values exist, as they “would be entities or qualities or relations of a very strange sort, utterly different from anything else in the universe” (Mackie 1977/1990, 38). According to a second version, life would be meaningless if there were no set of moral standards that could be fully justified to all rational enquirers, but it so happens that such standards cannot exist for persons who can always reasonably question a given claim (Murphy 1982, 12–17). According to a third, we hold certain beliefs about the objectivity and universality of morality and related values such as meaning because they were evolutionarily advantageous to our ancestors, not because they are true. Humans have been “deceived by their genes into thinking that there is a distinterested, objective morality binding upon them, which all should obey” (Ruse and Wilson 1986, 179; cf. Street 2015). One must draw on the intricate work in meta-ethics that has been underway for the past several decades in order to appraise these arguments.

In contrast to error-theoretic arguments for nihilism, there are rationales for it accepting that objective values exist but denying that our lives can ever exhibit or promote them so as to obtain meaning. One version of this approach maintains that, for our lives to matter, we must be in a position to add objective value to the world, which we are not since the objective value of the world is already infinite (Smith 2003). The key premises for this view are that every bit of space-time (or at least the stars in the physical universe) have some positive value, that these values can be added up, and that space is infinite. If the physical world at present contains an infinite degree of value, nothing we do can make a difference in terms of meaning, for infinity plus any amount of value remains infinity. One way to question this argument, beyond doubting the value of space-time or stars, is to suggest that, even if one cannot add to the value of the universe, meaning plausibly comes from being the source of certain values.

A second rationale for nihilism that accepts the existence of objective value is David Benatar’s (2006, 18–59) intriguing “asymmetry argument” for anti-natalism, the view that it is immoral to bring new people into existence because doing so would always be on balance bad for them. For Benatar, the bads of existing (e.g., pains) are real disadvantages relative to not existing, while the goods of existing (pleasures) are not real advantages relative to not existing, since there is in the latter state no one to be deprived of them. If indeed the state of not existing is no worse than that of experiencing the benefits of existence, then, since existing invariably brings harm in its wake, it follows that existing is always worse compared to not existing. Although this argument is illustrated with experiential goods and bads, it seems generalizable to non-experiential ones, including meaning in life and anti-matter. The literature on this argument has become large (for a recent collection, see Hauskeller and Hallich 2022).

Benatar (2006, 60–92, 2017, 35–63) has advanced an additional argument for nihilism, one that appeals to Thomas Nagel’s (1986, 208–32) widely discussed analysis of the extremely external standpoint that human persons can take on their lives. There exists, to use Henry Sidgwick’s influential phrase, the “point of view of the universe,” that is, the standpoint that considers a human being’s life in relation to all times and all places. When one takes up this most external standpoint and views one’s puny impact on the world, little of one’s life appears to matter. What one does in a certain society on Earth over 75 years or so just does not amount to much, when considering the billions of temporal years and billions of light-years that make up space-time. Although this reasoning grants limited kinds of meaning to human beings, from a personal, social, or human perspective, Benatar both denies that the greatest sort of meaning––a cosmic one––is available to them and contends that this makes their lives bad, hence the “nihilist” tag. Some have objected that our lives could in fact have a cosmic significance, say, if they played a role in God’s plan (Quinn 2000, 65–66; Swinburne 2016, 154), were the sole ones with a dignity in the universe (Kahane 2014), or engaged in valuable activities that could be appreciated by anyone anywhere anytime (Wolf 2016, 261–62). Others naturally maintain that cosmic significance is irrelevant to appraising a human life, with some denying that it would be a genuine source of meaning (Landau 2017, 93–99), and others accepting that it would be but maintaining that the absence of this good would not count as a bad or merit regret (discussed in Benatar 2017, 56–62; Williams 2020, 108–11).

Finally, a distinguishable source of nihilism concerns the ontological, as distinct from axiological, preconditions for meaning in life. Perhaps most radically, there are those who deny that we have selves. Do we indeed lack selves, and, if we do, is a meaningful life impossible for us (see essays in Caruso and Flanagan 2018; Le Bihan 2019)? Somewhat less radically, there are those who grant that we have selves, but deny that they are in charge in the relevant way. That is, some have argued that we lack self-governance or free will of the sort that is essential for meaning in life, at least if determinism is true (Pisciotta 2013; essays in Caruso and Flanagan 2018). Non-quantum events, including human decisions, appear to be necessited by a prior state of the world, such that none could have been otherwise, and many of our decisions are a product of unconscious neurological mechanisms (while quantum events are of course utterly beyond our control). If none of our conscious choices could have been avoided and all were ultimately necessited by something external to them, perhaps they are insufficient to merit pride or admiration or to constitute narrative authorship of a life. In reply, some maintain that a compatibilism between determinism and moral responsibility applies with comparable force to meaning in life (e.g., Arpaly 2006; Fischer 2009, 145–77), while others contend that incompatibilism is true of moral responsibility but not of meaning (Pereboom 2014).

• Agar, N., 2013, Humanity’s End: Why We Should Reject Radical Enhancement , Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
• Alexis., A., 2011, The Meaning of Life: A Modern Secular Answer to the Age-Old Fundamental Question , CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
• Arpaly, N., 2006, Merit, Meaning, and Human Bondage , Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Audi, R., 2005, “Intrinsic Value and Meaningful Life”, Philosophical Papers , 34: 331–55.
• Ayer, A. J., 1947, “The Claims of Philosophy”, repr. in The Meaning of Life, 2 nd Ed. , E. D. Klemke (ed.), New York: Oxford University Press, 2000: 219–32.
• Baier, K., 1957, “The Meaning of Life”, repr. in The Meaning of Life, 2 nd Ed. , E. D. Klemke (ed.), New York: Oxford University Press, 2000: 101–32.
• Barnes, H., 1967, An Existentialist Ethics , New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
• Belliotti, R., 2019, Is Human Life Absurd? A Philosophical Inquiry into Finitude, Value, and Meaning . Leiden: Brill.
• Belshaw, C., 2021, The Value and Meaning of Life , London: Routledge.
• Benatar, D., 2006, Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence , New York: Oxford University Press.
• –––, 2017, The Human Predicament , New York: Oxford University Press.
• Bennett-Hunter, G., 2014, Ineffability and Religious Experience , Oxford: Routledge.
• Blumenfeld, D., 2009, “Living Life over Again”, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research , 79: 357–86.
• Bradford, G., 2015, Achievement , New York: Oxford University Press.
• Brännmark, J., 2003, “Leading Lives”, Philosophical Papers , 32: 321–43.
• Brogaard, B. and Smith, B., 2005, “On Luck, Responsibility, and the Meaning of Life”, Philosophical Papers , 34: 443–58.
• Calhoun, C., 2018, Doing Valuable Time: The Present, the Future, and Meaningful Living , New York: Oxford University Press.
• Campbell, S., and Nyholm, S., 2015, “Anti-Meaning and Why It Matters”, Journal of the American Philosophical Association , 1: 694–711.
• Caruso, G. and Flanagan, O. (eds.), 2018, Neuroexistentialism: Meaning, Morals, and Purpose in an Age of Neuroscience , New York: Oxford University Press.
• Cooper, D., 2003, Meaning . Durham: Acumen Publishing.
• Cottingham, J., 2005, The Spiritual Dimension: Religion, Philosophy and Human Value , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• –––, 2016, “Meaningfulness, Eternity, and Theism”, in God and Meaning , J. Seachris and S. Goetz (eds.), New York: Bloomsbury Academic: 123–36.
• Craig, W., 1994, “The Absurdity of Life Without God”, repr. in Exploring the Meaning of Life: An Anthology and Guide , J. Seachris (ed.), Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013: 153–72.
• Danaher, J., 2017, “Will Life Be Worth Living in a World Without Work? Technological Unemployment and the Meaning of Life”, Science and Engineering Ethics , 23: 41–64.
• Darwall, S., 1983, Impartial Reason , Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
• Davis, W., 1987, “The Meaning of Life”, Metaphilosophy , 18: 288–305.
• de Bres, H., 2018, “Narrative and Meaning in Life”, Journal of Moral Philosophy , 15: 545–71.
• Dorsey, D., 2015, “The Significance of a Life’s Shape”, Ethics , 125: 303–30.
• Egerstrom, K., 2015, “ Practical Identity and Meaninglessness ”, PhD Dissertation, Syracuse University.
• Ellin, J., 1995, Morality and the Meaning of Life , Ft. Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace.
• Evers, D., 2017, “Meaning in Life and the Metaphysics of Value”, De Ethica , 4: 27–44.
• Feinberg, J., 1980, “Absurd Self-Fulfillment,” repr. in Freedom and Fulfillment: Philosophical Essays , Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992: 297–330.
• Ferracioli, L., 2018, “Procreative-parenting, Love’s Reasons, and the Demands of Morality”, The Philosophical Quarterly , 68: 77–97.
• Fischer, J. M., 2009, Our Stories: Essays on Life, Death, and Free Will , New York: Oxford University Press.
• –––, 2019, Death, Immortality, and Meaning in Life , New York: Oxford University Press.
• Frankfurt, H., 1988, The Importance of What We Care About , New York: Cambridge University Press.
• –––, 2004, The Reasons of Love , Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Gewirth, A., 1998, Self-Fulfillment , Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Goetz, S., 2012, The Purpose of Life: A Theistic Perspective , New York: Continuum.
• Goldman, A., 2018, Life’s Values: Pleasure, Happiness, Well-Being, and Meaning , Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Greene, P., 2021, “It Doesn’t Matter Because One Day It Will End”, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice , 24: 165–82.
• Hanfling, O., 1987, The Quest for Meaning , New York: Basil Blackwell Inc.
• Hare, R. M., 1957, “Nothing Matters”, repr. in Applications of Moral Philosophy , London: Macmillan, 1972: 32–47.
• Hauskeller, M. and Hallich, O. (eds.), 2022, “Would It Be Better if We Had Never Existed? David Benatar's Anti-Natalism”, special issue of The Journal of Value Inquiry , 56: 1–151.
• Hooker, B., 2008, “The Meaning of Life: Subjectivism, Objectivism, and Divine Support”, in The Moral Life: Essays in Honour of John Cottingham , N. Athanassoulis and S. Vice (eds.), New York: Palgrave Macmillan: 184–200.
• Hosseini, R., 2015, Wittgenstein and Meaning in Life: In Search of the Human Voice , New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Kahane, G., 2011, “Should We Want God to Exist?”, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research , 82: 674–96.
• –––, 2014, “Our Cosmic Insignificance”, Noûs , 48: 745–72.
• Kamm, F. M., 2013, Bioethical Prescriptions: To Create, End, Choose, and Improve Lives , New York: Oxford University Press.
• Kass, L., 2002, Life, Liberty, and the Defense of Dignity: The Challenge for Bioethics , San Francisco: Encounter Books.
• Kauppinen, A., 2012, “Meaningfulness and Time”, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research , 82: 345–77.
• Kekes, J., 1986, “The Informed Will and the Meaning of Life”, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research , 47: 75–90.
• –––, 2000, “The Meaning of Life”, in Midwest Studies in Philosophy, Volume 24; Life and Death: Metaphysics and Ethics , P. French and H. Wettstein (eds.), Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers: 17–34.
• Kraay, K. (ed.), 2018, Does God Matter? Essays on the Axiological Consequences of Theism , New York: Routledge.
• Landau, I., 1997, “Why Has the Question of the Meaning of Life Arisen in the Last Two and a Half Centuries?”, Philosophy Today , 41: 263–70.
• –––, 2017, Finding Meaning in an Imperfect World , New York: Oxford University Press.
• Le Bihan, B., 2019, “The No-Self View and the Meaning of Life”, Philosophy East and West , 69: 419–38.
• Levinson, J., 2004, “Intrinsic Value and the Notion of a Life”, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism , 62: 319–29.
• Levy, N., 2005, “Downshifting and Meaning in Life”, Ratio , 18: 176–89.
• Lougheed, K., 2020, The Axiological Status of Theism and Other Worldviews , New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Mackie, J. L., 1977, Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong , repr. London: Penguin Books, 1990.
• Markus, A., 2003, “Assessing Views of Life, A Subjective Affair?”, Religious Studies , 39: 125–43.
• Martela, F., 2017, “Meaningfulness as Contribution”, Southern Journal of Philosophy , 55: 232–56.
• Matheson, D., 2017, “The Worthwhileness of Meaningful Lives”, Philosophia , 48: 313–24.
• –––, 2018, “Creativity and Meaning in Life”, Ratio , 31: 73–87.
• Mawson, T., 2016, God and the Meanings of Life , London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
• –––, 2019, Monotheism and the Meaning of Life , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• May, T., 2009, Death , Stocksfield: Acumen.
• –––, 2015, A Significant Life: Human Meaning in a Silent Universe , Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• McPherson, D., 2020, Virtue and Meaning: A Neo-Aristotelian Perspective , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Metz, T., 2002, “Recent Work on the Meaning of Life”, Ethics , 112: 781–814.
• –––, 2013, Meaning in Life: An Analytic Study , Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• –––, 2019, God, Soul and the Meaning of Life , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Mintoff, J., 2008, “Transcending Absurdity”, Ratio , 21: 64–84.
• Moreland, J. P., 1987, Scaling the Secular City: A Defense of Christianity , Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
• Morris, T., 1992, Making Sense of It All: Pascal and the Meaning of Life , Grand Rapids, MI: Willliam B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
• Mulgan, T., 2015, Purpose in the Universe: The Moral and Metaphysical Case for Ananthropocentric Purposivism , Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Murphy, J., 1982, Evolution, Morality, and the Meaning of Life , Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield.
• Nagel, T., 1970, “The Absurd”, Journal of Philosophy , 68: 716–27.
• –––, 1986, The View from Nowhere , New York: Oxford University Press.
• Nozick, R., 1974, Anarchy, State and Utopia , New York: Basic Books.
• –––, 1981, Philosophical Explanations , Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• –––, 1989, The Examined Life , New York: Simon and Schuster.
• Nussbaum, M., 1989, “Mortal Immortals: Lucretius on Death and the Voice of Nature”, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research , 50: 303–51.
• Olson, N., 2016, “Medical Researchers’ Ancillary Care Obligations”, Bioethics , 30: 317–24.
• Pereboom, D., 2014, Free Will, Agency, and Meaning in Life , Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Pisciotta, T., 2013, “ Determinism and Meaningfulness in Lives ”, PhD Dissertation, University of Melbourne.
• Purves, D. and Delon, N., 2018, “Meaning in the Lives of Humans and Other Animals”, Philosophical Studies , 175: 317–38.
• Quinn, P., 2000, “How Christianity Secures Life’s Meanings”, in The Meaning of Life in the World Religions , J. Runzo and N. Martin (eds.), Oxford: Oneworld Publications: 53–68.
• Raz, J., 2001, Value, Respect, and Attachment , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Repp, C., 2018, “Life Meaning and Sign Meaning”, Philosophical Papers , 47: 403–27.
• Ruse, M. and Wilson, E., 1986, “Moral Philosophy as Applied Science”, Philosophy , 61: 173–92.
• Scarre, G., 2007, Death . Stocksfield: Acumen.
• Schinkel, A., De Ruyter, D., and Aviram, A., 2015, “Education and Life’s Meaning”, Journal of Philosophy of Education , 50: 398–418.
• Seachris, J., 2011, “Death, Futility, and the Proleptic Power of Narrative Ending”, Religious Studies , 47: 141–63.
• –––, 2013, “General Introduction”, in Exploring the Meaning of Life: An Anthology and Guide , J. Seachris (ed.), Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell: 1–20.
• –––, 2016, “From the Meaning Triad to Meaning Holism: Unifying Life’s Meaning”, Human Affairs , 29: 363–78.
• Singer, I., 1996, Meaning in Life, Volume 1: The Creation of Value , Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Singer, P., 1995, How Are We to Live? Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
• Smith, Q., 1997, Ethical and Religious Thought in Analytic Philosophy of Language , New Haven: Yale University Press.
• –––, 2003, “Moral Realism and Infinite Spacetime Imply Moral Nihilism”, in Time and Ethics: Essays at the Intersection , H. Dyke (ed.), Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers: 43–54.
• Smuts, A., 2011, “Immortality and Significance”, Philosophy and Literature , 35: 134–49.
• –––, 2018, Welfare, Meaning, and Worth , New York: Routledge
• Solomon, R., 1993, The Passions: Emotions and the Meaning of Life , Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company.
• Street, S., 2015, “Does Anything Really Matter or Did We Just Evolve to Think So?”, in The Norton Introduction to Philosophy , G. Rosen et al. (eds.), New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.: 685–95.
• Svensson, F., 2017, “A Subjectivist Account of Meaning in Life”, De Ethica , 4: 45–66.
• Swenson, D., 1949, “The Dignity of Human Life”, repr. in The Meaning of Life, 2 nd Ed. , E. D. Klemke (ed.), New York: Oxford University Press, 2000: 21–30.
• Swinburne, R., 2016, “How God Makes Life a Lot More Meaningful”, in God and Meaning , J. Seachris and S. Goetz (eds.), New York: Bloomsbury Academic: 151–63.
• Tabensky, P., 2003, “Parallels Between Living and Painting”, The Journal of Value Inquiry , 37: 59–68.
• Tartaglia, J., 2015, Philosophy in a Meaningless Life , London: Bloomsbury.
• Taylor, C., 1989, Sources of the Self , Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• –––, 1992, The Ethics of Authenticity , Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Taylor, R., 1970, “The Meaning of Life”, in Good and Evil , repr. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Boooks, 2000: 319–34.
• –––, 1987, “Time and Life’s Meaning”, The Review of Metaphysics , 40: 675–86.
• Thomas, J., 2018, “Can Only Human Lives Be Meaningful?”, Philosophical Papers , 47: 265–97.
• –––, 2019, “Meaningfulness as Sensefulness”, Philosophia , 47: 1555–77.
• Thomson, G., 2003, On the Meaning of Life , South Melbourne: Wadsworth.
• Tooley, M., 2018, “Axiology: Theism Versus Widely Accepted Monotheisms”, in Does God Matter? Essays on the Axiological Consequences of Theism , K. Kraay, (ed.), New York: Routledge: 46–69.
• Trisel, B. A., 2002, “Futility and the Meaning of Life Debate”, Sorites , 14: 70–84.
• –––, 2004, “Human Extinction and the Value of Our Efforts”, The Philosophical Forum , 35: 371–91.
• –––, 2016, “Human Extinction, Narrative Ending, and Meaning of Life”, Journal of Philosophy of Life , 6: 1–22.
• Velleman, J. D., 2015, Beyond Price: Essays on Birth and Death , Cambridge: Open Book Publishers.
• Visak, T., 2017, “Understanding ‘Meaning of Life’ in Terms of Reasons for Action”, The Journal of Value Inquiry , 51: 507–30.
• Waghorn, N., 2014, Nothingness and the Meaning of Life: Philosophical Approaches to Ultimate Meaning through Nothing and Reflexivity , London: Bloomsbury.
• Wielenberg, E., 2005, Value and Virtue in a Godless Universe , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Wiggins, D., 1988, “Truth, Invention, and the Meaning of Life”, rev. edn. in Essays on Moral Realism , G. Sayre-McCord (ed.), Ithaca: Cornell University Press: 127–65.
• Williams, B., 1973, “The Makropulos Case: Reflections on the Tedium of Immortality”, in Problems of the Self , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 82–100.
• –––, 1976, “Persons, Character and Morality”, in The Identities of Persons , A. O. Rorty (ed.), Berkeley: University of California Press: 197–216.
• Williams, C., 2020, Religion and the Meaning of Life: An Existential Approach , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Wolf, S., 2010, Meaning in Life and Why It Matters , Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• –––, 2015, The Variety of Values: Essays on Morality, Meaning, and Love , New York: Oxford University Press.
• –––, 2016, “Meaningfulness: A Third Dimension of the Good Life”, Foundations of Science , 21: 253–69.
• Wong, W., 2008, “Meaningfulness and Identities”, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice , 11: 123–48.
• Buber, M., 1923, I and Thou , W. Kaufmann (tr.), New York: Simon & Schuster Inc., 1970.
• Camus, A., 1942, The Myth of Sisyphus , J. O’Brian (tr.), London: H. Hamilton, 1955.
• James, W., 1899, “What Makes a Life Significant?”, in On Some of Life’s Ideals , New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1900.
• Jaspers, K., 1931, Man in the Modern Age , E. Paul and C. Paul (tr.), New York: Routledge, 2010.
• Kant, I., 1791, Critique of the Power of Judgment , P. Guyer and E. Mathews (tr.), New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
• Kierkegaard, S., 1849, The Sickness unto Death , H. V. Hong and E. H. Hong (tr.), Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980.
• Marx, K., 1844, Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts , in Karl Marx Selected Writings, 2 nd Ed. , D. McLellan (ed., tr.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
• Nietzsche, F., 1885, Thus Spoke Zarathustra , in The Portable Nietzsche , W. Kaufmann (ed., tr.), New York: Viking Press, 1954.
• Sartre, J.-P., 1946, Existentialism Is a Humanism , P. Mairet (tr.), London: Methuen & Co, 1948.
• Schlick, M., 1927, “ On the Meaning of Life ”, P. Heath (tr.).
• Schopenhauer, A., 1851, Parerga and Paralipomena: Short Philosophical Essays, Volume 2 , E. F. J. Payne (tr.), New York: Oxford University Press, 1974.
• Tolstoy, L., 1884, A Confession , L. Maude and A. Maude (tr.).
• Wittgenstein, L., 1929, Lecture on Ethics , E. Zamuner et al. (eds.), Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2014.
• Benatar, D. (ed.), 2016, Life, Death & Meaning, 3 rd Ed. , Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
• Cottingham, J. (ed.), 2007, Western Philosophy: An Anthology, 2 nd Ed. , Oxford: Blackwell: pt. 12.
• Garcia, R. and King, N. (eds.), 2009, Is Goodness Without God Good Enough? Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
• Klemke, E. D. and Cahn, S. M. (eds.), 2018, The Meaning of Life: A Reader, 4 th Ed. , New York: Oxford University Press.
• Kolodny, N. (ed.), 2013, Death and the Afterlife , New York: Oxford University Press.
• Leach, S. and Tartaglia, J. (eds.), 2018, The Meaning of Life and the Great Philosophers , London: Routledge.
• Morioka, M. (ed.), 2015, Reconsidering Meaning in Life , Saitama: Waseda University.
• ––– (ed.), 2017, Nihilism and the Meaning of Life , Saitama: Waseda University.
• Seachris, J. (ed.), 2013, Exploring the Meaning of Life: An Anthology and Guide , Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
• Seachris, J. and Goetz, S. (eds.), 2016, God and Meaning: New Essays , New York: Bloombsury Academic.
• Baggini, J., 2004, What’s It All About?: Philosophy and the Meaning of Life , London: Granta Books.
• Belliotti, R., 2001, What Is the Meaning of Life? , Amsterdam: Rodopi.
• Belshaw, C., 2005, 10 Good Questions About Life and Death , Malden, MA: Blackwell.
• Cottingham, J., 2003, On the Meaning of Life , London: Routledge.
• Eagleton, T., 2007, The Meaning of Life: A Very Short Introduction , Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Fischer, J. M., 2019, Death, Immortality, and Meaning in Life , New York: Oxford University Press.
• Ford, D., 2007, The Search for Meaning: A Short History , Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Hauskeller, M., 2020, The Meaning of Life and Death: Ten Classic Thinkers on the Ultimate Question , London: Bloomsbury Academic.
• Martin, M., 2002, Atheism, Morality, and Meaning , Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
• Messerly, J., 2012, The Meaning of Life: Religious, Philosophical, Transhumanist, and Scientific Approaches , Seattle: Darwin and Hume Publishers.
• Ruse, M., 2019, A Meaning to Life , New York: Oxford University Press.
• Young, J., 2003, The Death of God and the Meaning of Life , New York: Routledge.

How to cite this entry . Preview the PDF version of this entry at the Friends of the SEP Society . Look up topics and thinkers related to this entry at the Internet Philosophy Ontology Project (InPhO). Enhanced bibliography for this entry at PhilPapers , with links to its database.

• Delon, N., 2021, “ The Meaning of Life ”, a bibliography on PhilPapers.
• Metz, T., 2021, “ Life, Meaning of ”, in Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy , E. Mason (ed.).
• O’Brien, W., 2021, “ The Meaning of Life: Early Continental and Analytic Perspectives ”, in Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy , J. Fieser and B. Dowden (eds.).
• Seachris, J., 2021, “ Meaning of Life: The Analytic Perspective ”, in Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy , J. Fieser and B. Dowden (eds.).

afterlife | death | ethics: ancient | existentialism | friendship | love | perfectionism, in moral and political philosophy | value: intrinsic vs. extrinsic | well-being

Copyright © 2021 by Thaddeus Metz < th . metz @ up . ac . za >

• Accessibility

Support SEP

Mirror sites.

View this site from another server:

• Info about mirror sites

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is copyright © 2023 by The Metaphysics Research Lab , Department of Philosophy, Stanford University

Library of Congress Catalog Data: ISSN 1095-5054

Life Philosophy 101 – An Introduction

Personal life philosophies are not a common subject and quality information on them can be difficult to find. They can tend to be grouped with other more prescriptive philosophies or reduced to personal slogans like bumper stickers or t-shirts.

Personal Life Philosophies are unique in that there are as many of them as there are individuals. Just as no two people are alike, no two life philosophies are the same. We each have our own basis for understanding ourselves, our lives and the world and our own aspirations for how we seek them to be.

This introduction touches on the essential knowledge that everyone should have to understand personal life philosophies, why they are essential life tools and how they can enrich your life.

Introduction to Life Philosophy Resources

These key concepts establish a common foundation of knowledge.  This foundation will be helpful as you develop and live your personal life philosophy.

Start here if you are unfamiliar with life philosophy or want a refresher. Expand each of the sections if you would like more in depth information.

Life philosophy can be a tricky subject to embrace. There are common misconceptions that can bias your understanding and lead you to avoid the whole topic.  

Understanding these misconceptions can stop them from preventing knowing and embracing your unique personal philosophy.

Just as we all have our own life philosophy; we all have our own way of learning.

If you prefer, choose the topics you want to cover in the order that works best for you.

Key Concepts about Personal Philosophies

• What is a personal philosophy?

A personal life philosophy is your unique understanding of and perspective on the world and life including how you think life should be lived and the world should be.

Why does this matter? Your personal philosophy is a way to crystalize and make real your understanding of the world and life to help you make sense of it, know what is essential, sharpen your vision and bring clarity to a complex world.

The concept of a personal philosophy is something that is unique and something that is not generally well known or widespread, at least personal philosophies that are well developed and that can bring real value to one’s life. One can wonder why this is so, especially considering the importance of one’s personal philosophy . 

In general, personal philosophies include things like your most essential truths and insights about, and highest aspirations, for life and the world. They bring value to your life both through the process of developing them and through helping make more definite thoughts and feelings that can be abstract and difficult to readily access and use in your life.

A personal philosophy encapsulates what is most essential, of great consequence, vital, enlightening and imperative. It is based upon what captures your imagination, demands your attention, comes naturally to you, incites you to action, inspires you, infuriates you, drives you or frees you to the greatest degree.

Personal philosophies are typically stated in a written form such as a set of principles or tenets and sometimes are written in an essay format, though they can take any from that you find useful.

Note: There are a series of related terms used for referring to personal philosophies including personal philosophy on life, living philosophy.  Just about every conceivable combination and variation of the words philosophy, life and personal that are used to refer to personal philosophies.  Here, the terms personal philosophy, personal life philosophy and life philosophy are used interchangeably.

• What is life philosophy?

Life philosophy is the development and application of your personal philosophy to your life.  Life philosophy includes two primary components: your personal philosophy and the ongoing act of making it real through developing and living it.

Why does this matter? Personal philosophies that cannot be or are not used in one’s life, may be interesting to contemplate and discuss over an adult beverage, but they cannot enrich your life unless you actually use them in it.

Beyond the potentially transformational experience of developing a personal philosophy, most of its value is realized through living it. A personal philosophy that is only vague concepts or even one is well formed but unused is of little value. Your personal philosophies can be of great value, but only if it is clear to you and made real in your life. Living your personal philosophy is how you realize the value of it for yourself and the world. There are a wealth of practical and enriching ways that your personal philosophy can be used in your life .

• Why should I put effort into developing my personal philosophy?

Although each of us naturally has the basis for our personal philosophy, most of us do not understand our basis in ways that help us or in ways that we can make use of. Developing your personal philosophy clarifies it for you and helps you gain active knowledge of it.

Why does this matter?   The experience of developing your personal philosophy includes connecting with what is essential to you in the world, which is a rewarding and enriching experience itself. Most importantly developing and actively knowing your personal philosophy enables you to use it in your life and realize the value it can bring .

When following a good approach for developing yours, you start to realize the value early in the process. Because of the nature of personal philosophies, you necessarily need to consider your perspective on the world and to understand your thoughts and feelings about it.  Most of us do not take the time or invest the effort into actively working to understand our perspective on the world and ourselves. Developing your personal philosophy gives you an opportunity to indulge in doing so in a way that gets around much of the challenge of being too actively introspective, or touchy-feely. With the right approach, getting in touch with your perspective on the world and yourself is rewarding, freeing and simply enjoyable. You may even find it an experience that is affirmational or transformational.

Beyond the enriching personal experience, developing your personal philosophy will clarify your unique understanding of the world and life for you and make it something that you actively know. A personal philosophy that is just thoughts and feelings floating around in your mind has about as much value as a personal desire to become Yoda. It may be an interesting thought, but it probably won’t go much further than that. Your personal philosophy needs to be clear to you and something that you actively know. Clarity is critical so that when you need to use it in your life you don’t have to sort through it to figure out how it applies. Actively knowing your personal philosophy allows you to use it in your life. Not being able to clearly remember your personal philosophy makes it difficult to use in the moment. If you have to refer back to it in some written form it probably doesn’t have the clarity needed to be a real and present part of your life. Part of developing your personal philosophy is crafting it to be clear so that you can and actively know and use it in your life in large and small ways.

The importance (value) of your personal philosophy in life.

Your personal philosophy begins to bring value to your life through the experience of developing it and continues to do so for the rest of your life. It will help you make sense of the world, understand what is meaningful to you, clarify your insights, motivate and inspire you, and help you find and maintain your direction.

What does this mean to me?  Your personal philosophy is a real-world life tool. Without it you are in many ways unequipped for life in an increasingly complex and difficult world for you as an individual.

The process of developing your personal philosophy necessarily requires being in touch with the world and yourself.  The experience of doing so in a concerted, intentional way helps you crystalize what is meaningful in the world to you.  This is one part of the reason why you should put the effort into developing your personal philosophy .

Beyond the experience of developing your personal philosophy, the real importance of a personal philosophy is that it equips you for life in a complex world in ways that can be difficult to do otherwise. Knowing and understanding your essential truths about, and aspirations for, life and the world as well as what you value and what is meaningful to you helps you with some of the most challenging aspects of life. Many of the traditional sources that people have relied upon for these answers are outdated and not relevant in today’s world. Without a personal philosophy you can be left searching for answers when challenges in life arise. Your personal philosophy helps you make sense of life and the challenges you encounter. It also helps you identify things you do that are out of sync with what you place value in and be a source of strength for changing them. It will help you fend off the constant barrage from others trying to make you do and think what they want you to. It provides a clear source of personal direction that can help with difficult or important decisions that you need to make in life. It can help you better understand your unique insights about life and the world and make the most of them. It can even inspire you to do something that is wildly aspirational that you would likely not do without the clarity, vision and meaning that your personal philosophy makes real for you. Knowing and living your personal philosophy will help you be more effective in the world and help you to contribute to realizing the things that you aspire for life and the world to be.What

Why aren't personal philosophies taught on a wider basis?

The primary purpose of education in most parts of the world is to produce individuals that are effective members of society and productive workers. Secondarily the concept of personal philosophies and the individual or “self” are relatively new (see the brief history of personal philosophies ).

Why should I care about this? A personal philosophy is something that is not needed to be a productive worker or effective member of society. It is needed if you are going to live an engaged, meaningful life that aligns with who you are and what you seek for your life and the world to be.

The value of education cannot be overstated. Knowledge is empowering. Self-knowledge, like that used in one’s personal philosophy, is an especially powerful form of knowledge. Unfortunately, self-knowledge is something that most of us must learn on our own without significant guidance or education about it. 

An important part of developing a personal philosophy is quality self-knowledge. While some education systems do seek to develop the individual, but even they do not overtly educate individuals on developing self-knowledge. The concept of personal philosophies, the self and self-knowledge are relatively new. Most education systems are based upon century old theory and have not kept up with these concepts or integrated them into their method and curriculum. Imagine if our education systems sought to help people become self-aware, develop self-knowledge and become more enlightened about life and the world, instead of just seeking to produce productive contributing members of society. 

A personal philosophy is something that can help you get beyond the narrow vision and relatively low expectations that many educational systems have for you. It can help you become more self-aware, more knowledgeable and more enlightened about life and the world.

What can be included in your personal philosophy?

Anything that you think or feel is essential to your understanding of and perspective on life and the world. 

Why is the point?   There are some things that can be helpful to include to make your unique personal philosophy more valuable in your life, but in the end, it is up to you. 

A personal philosophy is the encapsulation of one’s most essential truths about, and aspirations for, the world, life and one’s self. That said, you can choose what to include in yours. To be able to apply your personal philosophy to your life, it is helpful if one includes things that you uniquely understand about life and the world, or your truths, and how you would like to see the world be, or your aspirations. The two together create a view of what you know about the world that is most significant to you, how you think life and the world should be and your desires for them. Your personal philosophy can include anything you find essential such as what you place value in and find especially meaningful. If there are other aspects of your understanding of yourself, life or the world that you think are substantive, you should include them.

One of the key attributes of your personal philosophy is that it draws upon your unique knowledge of the world and yourself. The types of knowledge that can be used in your life philosophy are those encompassed by knowledge in a broad sense. Often the concept of knowledge is constrained to specific types of knowledge such as that which is taught through formal education or that which can be attained through science and reason. While there are no hard rules about personal philosophies, constraining yourself to narrow definitions of knowledge is limiting. Including what you know beyond your capacity for reason and the realm of scientific proof, such that which you know through emotion and intuition, helps to create a personal philosophy that captures the nature of being human. Einstein’s essay in Living Philosophies is a great example of how this is true. If you are going to apply your personal philosophy to your life, it should be substantive and not oversimplify the nature of life to the point of being of little value in it. It also should not be limited to someone else’s definition of what a life philosophy should entail, or what it should be based upon.  Too, it should not be limited to systems thought and belief that have been formalized and categorized. In many ways, personal philosophy allows you to move beyond these prescribed ways of understanding and create a perspective that is rich in meaning to you.

Including those things that are the most significant to you, especially what sets you apart from others, is one approach. For instance, we all place high value on our families, health and livelihood. These are universal and stating them as a personal philosophy, while perfectly valid, may not be very insightful about your personal truths or aspirations for life and the world. In a similar way, a personal philosophy is not necessarily about defining universal truths or answering life’s big questions such as the purpose or meaning of life. These can be included if your knowledge of them is especially significant to you. Your personal philosophy is about understanding and expressing the things that stand out to you above all others.

• What do I need to know to develop my personal philosophy?

Having a reasonably broad view of life and the world is helpful, as is being able to connect with and understanding your perspective on it. An understanding of personal philosophies is also helpful.

Why does this matter to me?   While having a broad view of life and the world is important, you can never know, feel or experience everything. When you decide to develop your personal philosophy, it is important to use your perspective on the world to the greatest extent possible. Too, your personal philosophy will likely evolve as you and the world change.

Your personal philosophy necessarily draws upon your understanding of life and the world. If you have limited experience with life and the world, it can be helpful to work to expand your perspective. Even if you have an expansive perspective on the world, being in touch with that perspective is important. You may find it helpful to spend some time reconnecting with your perspective on the world as you craft your personal philosophy. Too, you continue to learn and change throughout your life and the world continues to change at a rapid pace. An effective approach for crafting your personal philosophy should help you connect with what is essential in the world to and to understand why throughout your life.

Having a good connection with yourself is also helpful. This connection allows you to understand your perspective on the world including your thoughts and feelings about it. You may find it necessary to work to create this connection, or to reconnect with yourself if you have lost touch. One of the challenges with creating and maintaining it is the constant barrage we are under from others wanting us to think and do what they want us to. A good connection with yourself helps cut through this barrage. An effective approach for developing your personal philosophy will also help.

Like with most things that you undertake, a good understanding of what you are taking on and what is involved with accomplishing it is advisable. Having an understanding of personal philosophies and what is involved with developing one can help you successfully craft yours so that it is valuable in your life.

• Where did the concept of personal philosophies come from?

While the roots of personal philosophies, individual’s interpretations on what is important in the world, can be seen even in the earliest artwork and myths, personal philosophies per se arrived on the scene much more recently.  They appear to have come into general use within the last century or so.

Like most forms of modern thinking, the roots of personal philosophies appear to have evolved along with human thought. Prehistoric evidence for personal views on the world and what is most significant in it are likely captured in the earliest myths and paintings. These early forms of expression undoubtedly included some personal interpretation of the world for practical use. Yet, considering them to be statements of personal philosophy is a stretch at best. The first formal thinking related to personal philosophies dates back to the time of the early thinkers on human condition and the nature of the world that we live in. Religious beliefs and religions evolved from individuals’ personal understanding of the world. Confucius’s writings can be considered a good example of how this happened. Undoubtedly, many of those who have focused their life on the pursuit of philosophy necessarily include what would constitute their own philosophy on life in their work including the first recognized philosophers in the 600-500 BC period. One perspective on philosophy itself is that it can be considered the pursuit of making sense of life and the world. Beyond those who pursued philosophy per se, many great thinkers and people who have put their imprint upon the course of history have recorded their philosophical perspective behind their thinking and actions. Abraham Lincoln is a familiar, notable example, and there are many more. Yet none of these can be considered a personal philosophy per se.

Personal philosophies in the context used here, are prevalent in modern times. In 1931 a volume of Living Philosophies was published by Simon & Schuster and includes short essays about their philosophy on life from notable figures including Albert Einstein. These insightful essays capture their perspective on the world including their beliefs and ideals. Two subsequent volumes were published with essays from other notables, I Believe in 1942 and Living Philosophies in 1990. All of which are worth reading.  These essays seem to come the closest to the concept of personal philosophy as used here. Interestingly the concept of individual identity and the self appears to have come into prominence on a similar timeline, within the last century.

The rapid escalation of the challenges facing humanity in general, the shift away from traditional sources and authorities for answers to life’s important questions, the increasingly difficult global environmental and political situation and the escalating assault on our individuality through the ever-present screens we view all seem to be reasons why personal philosophies are becoming more prominent. In many ways, personal philosophies have become a vital form of empowerment for the individual actualizing their individuality.

Using your personal philosophy in your life.

There are virtually limitless ways that you can use your personal philosophy in your life.  How you do so will vary based upon where you are in life and what is happening in yours.

Your personal philosophy can be made part of your life in ways large and small. In looking at the importance (value) of your personal philosophy in life , we touched upon many of the ways your personal philosophy brings value to your life including as a source of meaning, a source of guidance for important decisions, a source of strength, a source of vision and insight, even a source of inspiration.

Through actively knowing your personal philosophy you can use it in your daily life as you make decisions and to help guide your actions to be in line with how you seek to be. It can be easy to take the path of least resistance or to succumb, even momentarily, to the toxic messaging constantly targeting you. Actively knowing your personal philosophy helps you be more intentional and fend off this and other forces working against you.

Making your personal philosophy a part of your daily life helps keep what you find essential, place value in, and draw meaning from present in your life. It also provides a reassuring sense of understanding and direction through your essential truths and aspirations.

Your life philosophy can help you better understand yourself and your perspective on just about everything and under any circumstances. Having a well-developed life philosophy also allows you to share and discuss it with others, if you choose to.  It can help them understand you and your actions.  Sharing your life philosophy or some part of it can be helpful in many situations such as when you have to explain choices that you make which are different from others or that don’t align with their expectations of you.

Your life philosophy can help you achieve a greater sense of meaning and fulfillment. Some think that it is only possible to achieve higher levels of meaning and happiness through the understanding and awareness that knowing and living a personal philosophy can provide.

Common Misconceptions About Personal Philosophies

• I don’t have or need a personal philosophy.

Short Answer : Everyone has some form of a personal philosophy. Most just have not developed it into something they actively know or use in their lives.

Each individuals’ personal philosophy, including yours, is their unique understanding of the world that is developed into a form that can be actively known and used in their life. When you consider the scope of the human experience, including what we can know and feel and how we can know and feel it, and the diversity of individuals, we all truly have our unique understanding of the world.

There is strength in diversity.  You as an empowered, self-actualized and enlightened individual build upon what it means to be human and for us to collectively be humanity. Understanding your unique knowledge and wisdom about life and the world will help you become an empowered, self-actualized and enlightened individual.

The kinds of changes that are confronting individuals and humanity require something more than for all of us to live and think the same way, or even subscribe to a defined set of philosophic and religious systems. The scales are tipped toward you becoming more like everyone else. The intentional attempt to control your thoughts and actions through messaging and artificial intelligence is invading all aspects of your life. It is an attempt to make you think and behave in ways that others seek for you to. Actively knowing your understanding of the world and your aspirations for it is not only essential for surviving in an increasingly complex and difficult world, it is key to advancing us as humanity and overcoming the crises that confront us now and in the future.

• Personal philosophies are only for big thinkers.

Short Answer : Each of us has a unique understanding of the world and the ability to define our own personal philosophy. Be wary of anyone or any entity that tries to make you think otherwise. Question their motives. 

Society puts undue importance on the personal philosophies of famous people and preserves their perspective through time disproportionally. Historically, this may have largely been a product of our ability to record and publish the thoughts of any one person. It may be no coincidence that as our ability to record our individual thinking and share it broadly the importance of the big thinkers’ thoughts is diminishing.

For some reason, we have a tendency to treat some and their thoughts effectively as idols. We often turn to those that we view as authorities for answers to life’s important questions when the reality is that they are just people and their answers are merely that, theirs. They are not better than the answers that we each have, yet we often place more value in them than our own. 

In the end, you determine your personal philosophy. If you decide to adopt a philosophy or components of a philosophy that is defined by someone else, that is your choice. The important thing is that you have explored the world enough to know what makes sense to you and works for you. Too, nothing in life is cast in stone. The world changes and we all grow and learn. As you do, your personal philosophy should as well.

But it is not only the famous who leave their marks.  Every single one of us has, I believe, a significant part to play in the scheme of things.  Some contributors that go unrecognized may nevertheless be of the utmost importance. 

– Jane Goodall in her personal philosophy within Living Philosophies 1990.

• A personal philosophy is a one sentence maxim.

Short Answer : You’re not a car and your personal philosophy shouldn’t be a bumper sticker.

Everyone likes a concise statement that captures the essence of a common experience in life. It’s also good to have simple rules in life to remind us of basic things we know. They have practical value in specific situations. That said, simple rules of life, even a collection of really good ones do not amount to a personal philosophy. 

An effective personal philosophy encompasses the scope of your unique perspective on life and the world. To be effective it needs to be able to help you make sense of a complex and dynamic world. It needs to be able to help you derive meaning from your life, understand what you value and what you seek for life and the world to be. If you truly can express your personal philosophy in one sentence, beyond likely being an amazing sentence, it would no longer be a maxim that is applicable only in specific situations. It would be a broad, robust expression of your unique perspective on the world and life including your truths about them and how you think they should be.

Like philosophy in general, personal philosophies are esoteric and don’t have practical value.

Short Answer : This misconception is completely understandable. Philosophy is generally something that can be challenging to convert to real world value. Personal philosophies are different as they are practical real-life tools.

Unfortunately, there is not a good substitute for the word “philosophy” in the English language that fully captures its meaning in the sense of being “a set of basic concepts and beliefs that are of value as guidance in practical ways.” When we hear or read the world philosophy, we most often think of one of the other meanings primarily “systems of thought” as in skepticism, pragmatism or existentialism and the famous men (typically) that professed their virtues and argued for their specific flavor as the one best perspective on the world and life. In many ways, personal philosophies are the antithesis of these systems of thought. Personal philosophies are individual perspectives meant to have meaning and value for one individual rather than general principles that apply to all. Applied practical value in life is one of the defining characteristics of personal life philosophies. If a personal philosophy is not of practical value in life, it is not much of a personal philosophy at all.

I already know my personal philosophy. I don’t need to develop it.

Short Answer : If you have and know your personal philosophy, you should be able to state it now in a clear and concise way that you can apply in your life. If not, crafting it into a clear form to you and that you actively know will help you realize real-world value from it.

• I’m just one normal person, my personal philosophy is of no value to the world.

Short Answer : Humanity is a collective of unique individuals. Who we are, what we know, what we will become and what defines us our humanity is determined by the sum total of each of us. Your individuality, including your unique understanding of and perspective on life and the world, has real implications for humanity collectively.

It can be easy to sell oneself short considering the hype and focus given to people with power, money and fame. This is exactly what you are doing if you truly think that your personal philosophy is not of consequence to the world.

At the very least, understanding your unique perspective on the world and life, will hedge off the homogeneity we are being driven toward by the systems and institutions that we have created. Systems and institutions controlled by and for the benefit of those with power, money and fame. Systems, institutions and people that want you to think and act in ways that benefit them. Dismissing the value of your personal philosophy and not developing yours is playing their game. Their game of control lets them have power over you and makes you even more susceptible to thinking and acting like they want you to as long as you are passive to it.

Your personal philosophy will lead you to a better understanding of the world. That understanding will prompt you to take some action to make it better, at least within your immediate world. Developing and knowing your personal philosophy may even lead you to do something that you never thought you would. That action may have implications beyond what you expect, and makes a substantial difference in the lives of others and the course of the world.

Be better equipped to develop and live your personal philosophy.

On Terms of Your Own:

The Pursuit of Being and Fulfillment in a Challenging World.

Navigate 101 by Topic

Key Concepts :

• The importance (value) of a personal philosophy.
• Why aren’t personal philosophies taught on a wider basis?
• What can be included in a personal philosophy?
• Using my personal philosophy in my life .

Common Misconceptions :

• Like philosophy in general, personal philosophies are esoteric and don’t have any practical value.
• I already know my personal philosophy. I don’t need to formalize it.

We’re in Yellow Springs, Ohio

Essay on Principles in Life as a Student

Students are often asked to write an essay on Principles in Life as a Student in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Principles in Life as a Student

Being responsible.

As a student, you need to be responsible for your actions and decisions. This means doing your homework on time, attending class regularly, and being respectful of your teachers and classmates. It also means taking ownership of your mistakes and learning from them.

Having a Positive Attitude

A positive attitude can go a long way in helping you succeed in school. When you have a positive attitude, you’re more likely to be engaged in your studies and to see challenges as opportunities. You’re also more likely to be resilient when things get tough.

Being Organized

Being organized can help you stay on top of your schoolwork and avoid feeling overwhelmed. This means having a system for keeping track of your assignments, due dates, and notes. It also means creating a study schedule and sticking to it.

Managing Time Effectively

Time management is a critical skill for students. It means being able to balance your schoolwork with other activities, such as extracurriculars, hobbies, and family obligations. It also means being able to prioritize your tasks and focus on the most important ones.

Asking for Help When You Need It

It’s okay to ask for help when you need it. If you’re struggling with a particular subject, don’t be afraid to ask your teacher or a classmate for help. There are also many resources available online and at your school library.

250 Words Essay on Principles in Life as a Student

Honesty and integrity.

As a student, it is crucial to uphold honesty and integrity in all aspects of your academic pursuits. This means avoiding plagiarism, cheating on exams, or misrepresenting your work. By maintaining honesty, you build a strong foundation of trust and credibility, which will benefit you in your studies and future career.

Respect and Courtesy

Demonstrating respect and courtesy towards your teachers, peers, and fellow students is essential. This includes actively listening during lectures, engaging in thoughtful discussions, and treating others with kindness and consideration. By fostering a respectful learning environment, you contribute to a positive and productive classroom atmosphere.

Time Management and Organization

Effective time management and organization are key to academic success. Develop a structured study schedule, prioritize tasks, and allocate time efficiently. Utilize tools like planners, calendars, and digital apps to stay organized and on track. By managing your time wisely, you can avoid procrastination, reduce stress, and achieve your academic goals.

Perseverance and Resilience

The path to academic achievement is not without challenges. You will encounter obstacles, setbacks, and moments of doubt. It is important to persevere through these challenges with resilience and determination. Learn from your mistakes, stay focused on your goals, and maintain a positive attitude. By developing resilience, you can overcome obstacles and achieve lasting success.

Collaboration and Teamwork

Collaboration and teamwork are valuable skills in both academic and professional settings. Learn to work effectively with others, listen to different perspectives, and contribute your ideas constructively. By engaging in collaborative learning, you not only enhance your understanding of the material but also develop important communication and interpersonal skills.

500 Words Essay on Principles in Life as a Student

What are principles.

Principles are the guidelines that we follow to make decisions and behave in a certain way. They are the values that we hold dear and that shape our character. As students, we need to have strong principles that guide us in our academic and personal lives.

One of the most important principles for students is honesty. This means being truthful in all our dealings, both academic and personal. We should never cheat on tests or plagiarize others’ work. We should also be honest with our teachers and classmates, even when it is difficult.

Integrity is closely related to honesty. It means doing the right thing, even when it is not easy. We should stand up for what we believe in, even if it means going against the crowd. We should also be willing to admit our mistakes and learn from them.

Respect is another important principle for students. This means showing consideration for others, even if we disagree with them. We should listen to others’ opinions and try to understand their point of view. We should also be respectful of our teachers and classmates, even when we are frustrated or angry.

Responsibility

Responsibility is the principle of taking ownership of our actions and decisions. We should be accountable for our work and our behavior. We should not blame others for our mistakes. We should also be willing to take on new challenges and learn from our experiences.

Perseverance

Perseverance is the principle of not giving up, even when things get tough. We should be willing to work hard and overcome obstacles in order to achieve our goals. We should not give up easily, even when we feel like we are not making progress.

In conclusion, principles are essential for students to succeed in their academic and personal lives. They provide us with a foundation for making good decisions and behaving in a responsible manner. By following strong principles, we can become successful students and well-rounded individuals.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Primary Education as a Human Right
• Essay on My Life Mission
• Essay on Prevent Climate Change

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Life's Organizing Principles

Part i: intrinsic qualities of life, by daniel lim, february 20, 2022.

This is Part I of a three-part series of essays on life's organizing principles.

Ecological design at its core is about designing with life and in support of life. This means that in order to practice ecological design successfully, we need to understand what life is.

What is life? How do we define and demarcate life such that we can confidently say what things in the universe can be considered alive and what things cannot be? What makes possible the incredible diversity of life we see today and life's proliferation into every corner and inch of this planet? When we visit another planet or moon, what criteria can we use to determine if something we're seeing is a living thing? Philosophers, mystics, and scientists have been endeavoring to answer these fundamental questions for millennia. 

I have practiced spiritual kinship with the more-than-human, living world my whole life. My earth-based spirituality led me to be intensely curious about the nature of life and what explains the awe-inspiring diversity and abundance of life. My understanding of life changed dramatically and forever when one of my best friends from college gifted me a book, titled The Web of Life, written by renowned biophysicist Frijtof Capra. The book introduced me to living systems theory, a seductive and wildly intriguing explanation for the origins and fundamental nature of life. I read the book during my time in college when I was intensely studying ecological design and permaculture. Between my classes and the book, I became obsessed with learning more about regenerative biocultural systems whose design is inspired by life. 

The series of three essays, of which this is the first one, is something that I have been writing over and over again—kind of obsessively—for many years, with each new version exhibiting a deeper and richer understanding of life and regenerative systems. The act of writing the essays is a critical part of my own education as it helps me synthesize and articulate all that I have learned. The essays are also an offering to others, a gift that I want to share with those who are also on the sacred journey to understand life and design with life. I hope sharing my knowledge helps deepen your learning.

Living Systems Theory

Life, or the state of being alive, is a novel property that emerges when organic molecules self-organize into a system of nested networks and engage in biochemical processes that produce more organic molecules. This "biomatter" is fed back into the system to maintain a perpetual cycle of self-generation. 

A living thing is an organizationally closed but energetically open system. It feeds on a constant flow of energy but its form remains relatively stable over time until triggered by internal or external stimuli to evolve. The constant flow of energy allows living things to exist far from thermal equilibrium. In fact, existing far from thermal equilibrium is one of the requirements of being alive. Living things need the energy differential—a net positive in energy—to self-organize and self-generate. Thermal equilibrium is death. Because they exist far from thermal equilibrium, living things are capable of systems change. When faced with stimuli that a living thing's current form cannot accommodate, it undergoes systems change to reach higher levels of order and complexity. It innovates new metabolic pathways, new structures, and new biomatter that are capable of responding successfully to the stimuli. Living things that fail to evolve tend to perish.

Life is incredibly diverse. I loved watching nature documentaries on PBS growing up because I got to see the most unusual and jaw-dropping life forms that I realistically have no hope of ever seeing in real life. From iridescent birds-of-paradise and deepwater fish that glow to titan arum plants whose flowers reek of a rotting corpse and the honey mushroom, the largest organism on earth, life is constantly pushing the boundaries of what is possible. Every species has its own biological idiosyncrasies and unique ecological strategies for survival. The incredible diversity of form and behavior among living things can lead us to think that there is no unifying set of fundamental principles that underpin all life. But there is.

Life has been able to diversify and proliferate into every inch and corner of this planet by adhering to basic principles of organization. These organizing principles steered life's first coming into being nearly four billion years ago and continue to govern life's evolution today. They form the basis of all living things. I call them life's organizing principles since that is how I learned them from reading Fritjof Capra, but they go by several other names, including patterns of nature and ecological principles.

I like to organize (pun intended) life's organizing principles into three groups. In Part 1 (this essay), I talk about the largest group of principles, which concerns the intrinsic qualities of living things. In Part II, I talk about the second group of principles, which concerns the shapes and structures that living things take. In Part III, I talk about the third group of principles, which describes the key behavioral strategies that living things have been employing for billions of years.

The organizing principles I discuss in my essay series represent only my best identification and understanding of them thus far in my life after over a decade of learning about them from science and indigenous knowledge systems as well as my own observation and contemplation. Trying to understand the principles that underpin all life is a lifelong, intergenerational and interdisciplinary endeavor. The list of principles is not exhaustive but rather an ongoing list that I fully expect to continually expand and refine.

Intrinsic Qualities of Living Things

The principles below describe intrinsic qualities of what all living things are at their core beyond the biological idiosyncrasies and unique survival strategies of particular species.

SELF-ORGANIZATION

Self-organization is the ability to organize oneself into particular forms based purely on internal forces—one could say volition—rather than in response to an external directive. Self-organization is the most basic organizing principle of the universe, not just living things. It is responsible for the formation of solar systems, galaxies, and galactic superclusters. In Hinduism, the power of self-organization is recognized as Vishnu, one of the three supreme deities, known as "The Preserver", who represents the tendency of the universe to maintain order.

Self-organization is also the most basic quality of all living things. Elemental atoms somehow and somewhen in the deep recesses of time spontaneously came together to form organic molecules, which went on to self-organize into the first proto-cells that could establish cellular identity, capture energy and perform metabolic functions, and self-replicate. From there, self-organization became a runaway train. Single-celled organisms self-organized into multicellular organisms, which self-organized into ecosystems, which self-organized into biomes, which ultimately self-organized into a living planet.

I see self-organization everywhere. Whenever we as a people organize to fight against systems of oppression, we are reenacting the ancient process of self-organization. Even mundane activities like organizing a dinner party or a club is tapping into the power of self-organization. Observing self-organization happening spontaneously and ubiquitously is a powerful reminder that living things will self-organize. Colonial and supremacist societies will always want to dictate the movements and activities of the living things they oppress, but the power of self-organization is insuppressible. Ecological design is inherently a liberatory practice because it is a design process that leans into and makes use of life's self-organizational power in contrast to conventional, top-down design, which seeks to impose a creator's often ego-driven vision onto the world.

Self-organization is a manifestation of autonomy, the ability of all living things to be their personally and culturally authentic selves. Because living things are organizationally closed systems, they are able to possess a distinct sense of self and discern what is itself and what is not-itself or outside-of-itself. This distinct sense of self imbues every living thing with agency. In nature, there is no cosmic overlord dictating the behavior and destinies of individuals. All living things have the innate capacity for self-reference—the act of turning inward to check in with one's desires, needs, and goals—and self-determination—the process of taking actions that are aligned with one's internal compass. Because of self-reference, a living thing becomes more empowered and capable of making better decisions when it is connected to more of itself and has more information about what it wants to be. Living things achieve their highest act of sovereignty when they are able to experience joy and pleasure and actualize one's creative potential.

INTERDEPENDENCE

I have always felt a spiritual connection to our plant, fungi, and animal kin. Ecology is my favorite science because I love learning about the dynamic relationships between living things and their environment. Being passionate about social justice and racial equity, I believe in the power of community. Given all this, it was such an affirmation of my lived experience and values when I learned that interdependence was one of the most important organizing principles of life. 

Interdependence plays an outsized role in shaping the nature and evolution of life. Nested networks of relationships are apparent at all levels of life. When we look at life on the ecosystem level, we see that every living thing is entangled in countless webs of connection to other living things. Living things exist in interspecies communities. Their survival depends on it. Trees and other plants in a forest, for example, partner with mycorrhizal fungi in the ground to facilitate a critical exchange of nutrients and information among the plants and fungi (and possibly many other organisms), which ultimately support collective survival. When we zoom in and look at life on the organismal level, we see that an individual organism is in fact a microcosm of even more nested networks of relationships amongst smaller living systems. The symbiosis between us humans and the bacteria that live in our gut is one of the best examples. I love knowing that the bacteria perform important digestive and immune functions that contribute to our health and in return our bodies provide them with nourishment and a safe habitat.

All of us owe our identities to interdependence. We learned from the science of complex systems that the identity of a component of a system is very much shaped by its relationships to other components. Likewise, living things are who they are in kinship with other living things. Going back to the example of the bacteria who live in our gut, we humans co-evolved with the bacteria such that the bacteria do not have an independent existence outside of our bodies and our human identity—our experience of being human—is greatly facilitated by these bacteria. We are who we are and the bacteria are who they are because of our relationship to each other.

I think interdependence is the most important organizing pattern to develop an appreciation for in these times when we are experiencing a global crisis of disconnection from ourselves, each other, and the living world. Many of us have forgotten that our collective wellbeing hinges on our interdependence with the living world. The great work that we have to do in our environmental and social movements is to rekindle our memory of that kinship.

Dance between Interdependence and Autonomy

Insect societies are majestic examples of the dance between interdependence and autonomy. Many species of termites in Africa, Australia, and South America build incredible mounds, some reaching over 8 feet tall. These homes are made possible not by a central termite engineer telling subordinate termites what to do, but by each termite acting autonomously while being fully responsive to the actions of other termites. In honeybee hives, there is no honeybee leader who is telling other bees how and where to search for nectar. Every bee makes their own decisions, communicates the results of their endeavors, and accordingly decides whether to adjust one's efforts based on information they receive from their peers.

The tension between staying true to who we are and being in harmony with our community is something that almost all living things experience. Autonomy is often confused for independence. This conflation happens often in individualistic societies like the U.S., but the two terms do not mean the same thing. Living things are autonomous but they are not independent. They are not atomized individuals with unadulterated identities, purely self-directed thoughts, and wholly uninfluenced behavior. Our sense of self as autonomous living things may be distinct but it is not rigid. It is in fact porous and greatly shaped by the people with whom we surround ourselves. It is also incredibly fluid, continuously expanding and contracting across our webs of kinship. Our sense of self at times may include the community in which we are embedded and at other times be as wide as the ecosystem that nourishes us.

Conversely, being interdependent does not imply that we are all subject to conformity and obedience to a larger group. Our communities may influence us, but we ultimately make our decisions. Far from being opposing forces, interdependence and autonomy work off of each other. We are able to practice self-determination most successfully when we are nourished by our community and our webs of connection are strongest when each of us is able to be our authentic selves.

Growing up as a queer person, the belief that homosexuality was wrong was hammered into my psyche through relentless cultural messaging. Some of the messaging was overt homophobia but much of it was subtle conditioning in heteronormativity. Because of the latter, I was led to believe that queerness was an unnatural anomaly that "liberal White people invented" and that humanity on the whole—and nature on the whole, for that matter—was heterosexual. People concocted a heteronormative and gender-binary image of nature and weaponized it to villanize queerness. This turned out to be patently false, of course. Homosexuality abounds in nature. Many animal species, most notoriously birds, form same-sex unions. There is also abundant queerness in sexual identity. Plants and fungi are particularly famous for being fluid with their expression of sex. Striped maple ( Acer pensylvanicum ), a small understory tree native to eastern Turtle Island, regularly switches from being a monoecious tree to a dioecious tree and back, and from being a male-flower tree to a female-flower tree and back. The split-gill mushroom ( Schizophyllum commune ) is known to have nearly 23,000 expressions of the equivalent of animal sexual identity. When we begin to appreciate the expansiveness of queerness in the living world, human queerness suddenly seems quite limited and unimaginative in comparison.

Queerness also goes deeper to the core of what living things are. If being queer by definition is about not being confined to restrictive categories imposed upon life by supremacy cultures, then all of life is inherently queer because living things readily defy and break neat colonial definitions of unadulterated species. The concept of species has several different definitions, but all of them share the belief that each living thing belongs to a single species. Biologists believed for a long time that all living things could trace back a linear ancestry and were subsequently obsessed with classifying them into distinct species. They still are! But breakthrough discoveries in evolutionary biology in the 20th and 21st centuries have given us a completely different story. We are learning that new life forms are created just as often from the fusion of different, far-related ancestors as they are from the splitting-off of a common ancestor. Lichen is one of the most well-known contemporary examples. Lichen is a life form that emerges from the union of algae, fungi, and bacteria. Lichen is a composite being that completely upends the notion of species. Is lichen a whole new species or temporary partnership of three species or neither? 

The coming-together of different, far-related living things to form new life forms didn't happen just once but multiple times in the history of life. Did you know that chloroplasts in plant cells and mitochondria in animal cells have their own DNA that is different from the DNA of the respective plant and animal? Biologist theorize that this is because somewhen in the deep history of life, some unknown organism fused with a bacterium that could photosynthesize and from the union emerged the plant cell that we recognize today and similarly some unknown organism fused with a bacterium that could generate energy and from the union emerged the animal cell that we recognize today. These two unions were consequential to the evolution of life.

Liminality—the state of existing at the transitional edges and straddling multiple identities—is an intrinsic quality of living things. We come back again to interdependence. The hyper-connectedness of life makes liminality possible. Living things are incredibly promiscuous and have a proclivity for engaging in partnerships and unions, especially to overcome existential obstacles and take advantage of new opportunities.

We are all liminal beings with queer identities because our bodies are a living record of different lineages of life. We are composite beings who are still forming new unions. Remember the bacteria who live in our gut? We experience our human body as being purely human, but there are actually more nonhuman cells that make up our body than there are human cells by a ratio of 1.3 to 1. How do we begin to make sense of our experience of being human when we are in truth a hybrid of human and bacterial? Do we owe the bacteria who live within and on our bodies our humanity? Are we singular or plural?

A human-built machine, no matter how sophisticated, is still crude and simplistic in comparison to a living thing, because the constituent parts of a machine often have a linear relationship with each other and as a result exhibit a hierarchical flow of information and influence. Machines are designed in a top-down manner to produce predictable outcomes. Machines do not evolve over time on their own. Ironically, the rise of the Industrial Revolution in the late 19th century and the subsequent rise of the computer in the late 20th century inspired humans to use machines as metaphors to describe living systems. I think this is purely a symptom of human hubris, which has led many people (ahem, straight White men) to think that a human invention can ever be an adequate descriptor of the living world.

Living things by comparison are richly complex systems made up of nested networks. The self-organized connections that exist amongst the constituent parts of a living system are multidirectional and nonlinear. This nonlinearity creates countless feedback loops in which each constituent part is influencing and being influenced at the same time by other parts. Due to our propensity for hierarchy, we used to believe that the human brain controlled the rest of the body, but that turned out to be untrue. The brain controls a lot, but not any more than any other organ. Our bodies are made up of many different organ systems, e.g., circulatory, nervous, respiratory, and endocrine, that have formed multidirectional and nonlinear connections with each other. They are influencing and being influenced by each other at all times.

When a complex system goes through enough rounds of positive feedback loops, it often reaches a bifurcation point, i.e. point of instability and potential change, where it must choose one direction or another. Bifurcation points are powerful opportunities for a living system to abandon its existing form and evolve a new one. A caterpillar transitioning into a chrysalis reaches a bifurcation point in its cocoon where it must decide whether to turn into a butterfly or something else. With millions of years of ancestral wisdom stored in its DNA, the caterpillar instinctively knows to turn into a butterfly.

The feedback loops ensure that a complex system is unpredictable and appears chaotic to an outside observer who is looking at the system at a particular point in time. But widen the view and span of time and the observer will see that a complex system always displays a deeper level of order that is only perceptible on the level of the whole. We must learn to see the forest for the trees, literally.

Complex systems tend to exhibit emergent properties, which are particular properties that only appear at the level of the whole system. These properties do not reside in the constituent parts. Once the system is dissected, the properties disappear.

Water is a simple example of emergence. Water emerges from the union of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. The quality of wateriness only exists at the level of the H2O molecule. It does not belong to either hydrogen or oxygen. As I wrote at the beginning of the essay, life itself is an emergent property. The quality of being alive emerges from the self-organization of organic molecules into a complex system of nested networks that are then able to engage in biochemical processes that produce more organic molecules. The quality of being alive does not reside in any single aspect of an organism. DNA is just matter. It disintegrates quickly outside of a body and without the metabolic processes to make use of the information stored in it. A body is just an organism's form. Without DNA and metabolic processes, the body never comes into existence. Metabolic processes are simply abstract potentialities. They never come "online" without the organic molecules to embody them and the organism's body to house them.

Why focus on such an abstract concept? Well, it's because emergence in many ways is the opposite of design. Design lies in the realm of intention. Emergence lies outside of it. Things in nature emerge into being, they are not designed into being. The power of emergence has been worshipped in Hinduism for thousands of years as Brahma, one of the three supreme deities, known as "The Creator", who represents the process of creation, of coming into existence. Surrendering to the power of emergence is the ultimate act of humility and being open to magic. Emergence is an inherently magical experience. Emergence is serendipity. Its unpredictability usurps and subverts any ill-guided desire for human control. We can design, plan, and manage all we want, but we can never dictate what emerges when people come together, when living things come together. You don't know what's going to emerge until it does. You can only anticipate and make space for it. That's the beauty of emergence.

REGENERATION

When I was five or six years old, still living in Burma, I was walking home with my mom and sisters one day after visiting the food market. We were on our block and seconds away from reaching our house when a neighbor's dog escaped from beneath a fence gate, ran towards me, and bit me on the side of my left knee. I crashed to the ground and cried from the shock and pain of the attack. My parents rushed me to the doctor to clean up the wound and stitch it up. It took weeks for the wound to heal and that was the first time I truly got to witness my body's incredible ability to repair itself. Fun fact: skin that has repaired itself is structurally stronger than undamaged skin. A scar, despite being aesthetically unfavored, is a site of strength. It would take years for me to also heal from my dog-phobia that I developed in that moment of attack. My experience with healing from the physical wound and the psychological trauma of getting attacked by a dog as a young child was my first introduction to the regenerative power of life.

Regeneration has two levels of meaning. On one level, regeneration speaks to living things' impressive ability to repair themselves after sustaining damage or disruption. Human-built machines can't repair themselves when they break (at least not yet), but living systems can. Regeneration is often used interchangeably with other similar-meaning words that also start with the letter "r" including recovery and restoration. But the latter words often carry a connotation of bringing something back to its former condition. Regeneration is not about restoring a system to what it used to be but more about restoring wholeness. Becoming whole again ironically often involves change and becoming something new. I could never be the innocent child I was before I was bit by a dog, but I did go through a period of healing and came out the other side as a stronger person capable of interacting with dogs. I am now raising a powerful and mischievous and totally adorable pitbull. Similarly in ecology, when a forest sustains damage or disruption such as from a fire, it can never go back to what it once was, it can only heal and transform into a stronger and even more complex ecosystem. Wholeness is not sameness. In fact, trying to remain the same often stalls your process towards wholeness.

Regeneration on another level has an even more beautiful and awe-some meaning. Famed biomimicry innovator, Janine Benyus, defines regeneration as "life creating conditions conducive to life." Living things have an incredible capacity to transform any environment they settle in into a place that can support ever more life. The earth in its infancy was a violent world hostile to life. Ancient bacteria were perhaps the first major group of living things that radically altered the course of this planet by transforming the earth's toxic atmosphere into one that contained more oxygen and could subsequently support oxygen-consuming life forms. And in the billions of years since, countless lineages of life successively managed to turn the hostile planet into the fertile world that we inherited. We can witness this regenerative power even today. Whenever a new landmass is created, such as from a volcanic eruption, we can monitor how the barren landscape quickly teems with life in a matter of a few centuries. Or in an even more intimate time scale, we can witness life taking back degraded places that have been scarred by extraction and pollution.

Life's regenerative power may seem obvious, but I don't think it's a given. It's very possible for life forms not to make, or not be able to make, their environments more livable places to live. Colonial and supremacist societies and their extractive ways of being certainly fit the bill. I imagine that in the four billion years of life on this planet, many life forms that could not be regenerative have perished and the ones that could were the ones that survived and evolved into the living things that populate the planet today.

Ecological design is often also called regenerative design because the discipline is committed to partnering with life to build physical and cultural systems that support life. Colonial and supremacist societies have built systems that extract, exploit, and degrade in the pursuit of profit and power. These systems are degenerative—the opposite of regenerative—as their actions are literally collapsing the life-sustaining systems of this planet. I modify Benyus' definition slightly and define regenerative as "being in right relationship with all our relations, human and more-than-human, so that our mutual existence contributes to ever more life on earth." Ecological design strives to put us in right relationship with ourselves, each other, and the more-than-human, living world.

Learning Edge: Animism in Indigenous Cosmology

My innate curiosity and love of learning combined with having grown up in multicultural and multilingual environments have allowed me to cultivate a very porous mind. I am by disposition open to many different worldviews. My own worldview is a hybrid—a liminal worldview!—of all the different knowledge systems that I have had the privilege of coming into contact with and learning from. 

You may have noticed that living systems theory and the intrinsic qualities of life I described in this essay comes heavily from the biological and ecological sciences. These knowledge systems are predicated, at least for the time being anyway, on the belief that some things in the world are living and other things are not. Scientists do not consider water and rocks, for example, to be alive. This distinction made by Western science stands in sharp contrast to many indigenous cosmologies which uphold the understanding that all things in the universe are imbued with life, including non-biological entities like water and rocks. European anthropologists label this understanding as animism, a term I believe says as much about the anthropologists' own positionality as it does about the cultures on which they are applying the label. 

My understanding of life is informed as much by the Western scientific disciplines of biology and ecology as it is by indigenous cosmologies and traditional ecological knowledge. Growing up, I was steeped in indigenous Burmese and Chinese teachings, which taught me to recognize place-spirits. To this day, when I enter a particular place, especially a "natural" place like a forest or wetland, I greet and pay my respects to the spirit that resides in that place. I regularly communicate not only with trees and fungi but also with wind, rivers, and mountains.

My embrace of both the Western scientific view of life and indigenous views of life obviously creates tension and conflict and therein lies my learning edge. On the intellectual level, I see the contradictions and cannot reconcile them. Not yet anyway. But when I bypass the limits of my rational mind and engage from a deeper, spiritual place, I know that both worldviews are true. Both worldviews are held comfortably in my being and there is no contradiction to reconcile. I do know that Western science has a habit of dismissing ancient wisdom only to make breakthrough discoveries that affirm what indigenous people have known for a long time. So maybe in the near future Western science will make new discoveries that affirm that the property of life extends beyond biological entities and that all of creation is fully expressive and animate but just in ways and time spans that are different from those of biological life. Until those discoveries are made, the apparent contradiction and the desire to reconcile it represent my learning edge.

Benyus, Janine M. Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. William Morrow. 2002.

Capra, Fritjof. The Hidden Connections: A Science for Sustainable Living. Anchor Books. 2004.

Capra, Fritjof. The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems. Anchor Books. 1997.

Story Type: Essay | Themes: autonomy , biology , complexity , ecology , emergence , interdependence , life's organizing principles , liminality , living systems theory , regeneration , self-organization

More Stories

Building Regenerative Cultures

Life’s Organizing Principles — Part II: Shapes, Structures, and Patterns Life

Life’s Organizing Principles — Part I: Intrinsic Qualities of Life

Leave a comment cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Copyright © 2022 Belonging to Earth All Rights Reserved

How Your Moral Principles Can Impact Your Life

Have you ever wondered why you make the decisions that you do? If you’ve experienced that uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach when you do something you know you’ll regret, it’s likely because of your moral principles, or your individual sense of right and wrong. 

Most people have a set of morals, with many having their morals at least partially tied to their culture, religion, or another external source (referred to as ethical principles). A sense of morality is one aspect of human behavior that sets us apart from other species, but it can vary greatly from one person to another. It may be helpful to explore your own moral principles, as they can influence various aspects of your life.

How moral principles impact your life

One definition of morals is, “the principles of right and wrong that are accepted by an individual or a social group”. As a general rule, we use morals to guide our individual actions. They help us make decisions based on what we feel is the “right” thing to do in a given situation. Without them, we would have little rhyme or reason for why we make the choices we do—or we’d only ever make choices that take our own needs into consideration. Our decisions would likely be impulsive and with little consideration for the consequences.

Our moral values often guide how we approach decision-making, address ethical dilemmas like conflict of interest, and implement professional standards like informed consent in patient care.

Making the effort to have a clear set of moral values can affect your behavior in many ways. You might be less easily influenced to act in ways that are contrary to your values, no matter the circumstances. You might be able to voice your opinions more readily, stand up for justice, and distance yourself from things that don’t match up with your own moral reasoning.

To put it another way, moral principles allow people to judge their own behaviors so that they can make changes as needed in order to feel that they’re doing the “right” thing—though some people might not have the same “rights” that you do, they’ll choose the best course of action depending on their individual values.

Furthermore, research over the years has demonstrated how central a set of morals is to who we are. One study found that “moral character” is the most important element of “impression formation” when we’re getting to know someone new. Another study involved five experiments which led researchers to declare that moral traits “are considered the most essential part of identity, the self, and the soul,” more than any other mental faculty. In other words, our morals are a fundamental part of our nature and how we interact with others. You can take a morality test for fun to get a glimpse of your morals.

Examples of moral principles

You can think of moral principles as a set of guidelines that help us decide how to handle ethical issues and other situations that may arise in life. Here are a few generally accepted examples of principles a person might hold:

• Treat others the way you want to be treated and show them respect. This principle means taking the time to empathize with others and trying to see things through their eyes. While autonomy may be important, you can’t always do exactly what you want. This principle involves thinking about the situation someone else is in and considering what you’d want someone to do for you if the roles were reversed. Doing so can help strengthen equality in our country, a vital characteristic of a healthy society. 
• Speak the truth. Honesty may help us speak up for what we want and give others the information they need to make decisions for themselves. A principle of virtue like this means that you strive to avoid lying, whether to yourself or others.
• Don’t spend what you don’t have. Moral principles can even apply to how you handle your finances. These could include donating regularly to good causes, avoiding loaning money to friends so as to not complicate relationships, or not spending what you don’t have. This last one might entail living within a budget and doing your best to stay out of debt. While it may be tough, you can also benefit from having a thrifty lifestyle. 
• Keep your word. Your word should have meaning, and following through with what you say you’re going to do is another example of a moral principle. This might include honesty, but also not making promises that you can’t keep. Sticking to your word can prevent harm, both to your reputation and to your relationships. 

The above are some common examples, but moral principles are personal—something you decide for yourself. If you’re setting out to choose what yours might be, the examples listed here can at least give you a starting point. Think about how you want to approach or handle relationships, conflict, fairness, finances, etc., or the type of person you want to be when faced with hard situations in any of these realms. That exercise can guide you toward the moral principles that feel right for you.

How to be accountable: Moral principles

Sticking to the moral code you’ve set for yourself can help you live a life that’s authentic to you. Remember, however, that no human being is perfect. We’re all bound to fall short of our morals from time to time, but having them in place reminds us of what to strive for next time. To help further your moral development, consider some of the following tactics.

Set written goals

Research shows that you’re 42% more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down, so you can harness this fact to help you stick to your morals. Keeping a journal of what your goals are and how you’re progressing toward them can help you focus on accountability. For instance, you might want to perform one random act of kindness per week to practice empathy, be honest about personal boundaries when dating someone new, or save a certain amount from every paycheck. You can write each of these moral goals down and make notes regularly on how you’re coming along.

Listen to your instincts

Another method is to stay in touch with your gut instincts. An individual’s identity can determine when they listen to their “gut”. When you’re about to do something that, deep down, you feel is wrong in the context of your principles, think twice. Our gut instincts may be trying to tell us that something about the situation we’re in doesn’t fit our personal moral code.

Speak with a therapist

Finally, you may find it useful to speak with a therapist. While they’re not there to decide your moral code for you, they can help you get in touch with your true self and your beliefs so that you can draw conclusions about what your morals might be. They can help you examine the moral principles that parents or caregivers passed down to you, which may be outdated or based on a problematic part of history. These conversations can help you decide whether you want to keep them as part of your own code. They can also help you deal with any perfectionism you may have in regard to morality, and learn to forgive yourself. Whatever challenges you may be facing, a trained therapist can offer a nonjudgmental, unbiased space for you to explore and work through them.

Today, there are a variety of different ways in which you can connect with a mental health professional. Some find virtual therapy to be the best option for them. A 2020 study suggests that it can be just as effective as traditional face-to-face counseling, making it a “viable alternative.” Researchers also found that online therapy had other added benefits too, including “lower cost, no travel time, no waitlists, and trackable progress”. An online therapy platform like BetterHelp can connect you with a licensed therapist with whom you can meet via phone or video call and check in via chat. Remember: The best therapy method for you is the one that’s available and that you feel the most comfortable with.

Need help making decisions that align with your moral principles? Click here to get guidance from a therapist

Counselor reviews.

Read on for reviews of BetterHelp counselors who have helped people in similar situations.

“I’ve been working with Alicia for about 7 months now, and I can’t recommend her enough. She is unbelievably smart and yet filled with warmth, she’s non-judgmental but still able to see negative patterns, she gives solid frameworks and solutions when I need them, and is a listening ear when I need that. Alicia doesn’t just deal with the subject matter at hand, she remembers things I’ve told her weeks prior, small names or details or passing comments, and points out patterns I hadn’t noticed, helping me re-frame my own thoughts and behaviors, all while showing how much she’s really listening and paying attention. It makes me feel like I’m talking to a friend. One personal example of her intuitive spirit is what she said to me in my very first session with her which has stuck with me since that day. I told how “broken” I felt after my last couple roles in rather toxic work environments. And after telling why I had left those companies, mostly dealing with bosses/ colleagues who were bullies, dishonest and manipulative people who did a lot of damage, Alicia pointed out that I am not, in fact, broken, as the reason I left those companies was always the same – my deep rooted values of kindness and honesty would not allow me to be in that environment any longer, that my sense of self from a moral perspective had remained the same when many people bend their morals to succeed in stressful work situations. This reframing of the narrative I had been telling myself from the moment I quit changed everything for me, and she had known me for 45 minutes. For anyone on the fence about therapy and its benefits, Alicia is the empathetic soul we all need in our lives.”

“Oliver has helped me in many ways despite our relatively short time working together. He’s helped me gain a better outlook on the world, and he has helped me install some new philosophies and principles that I’ve found to be very useful in my day to day life and coping with everyday stress, as well as helping me and guiding me through some tough personal decisions, and working on myself and my behaviour.”

Moral principles can look different for everyone. Deciding on what yours will be can give you direction in life and help you make decisions. The tips on this list may help you in the process.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the 7 moral principles? What are the six universal moral values?

What are the greatest moral values in life.

What are strong moral values? What are moral values in real life?

• An Introduction To Prosocial Behavior Medically reviewed by Melissa Guarnaccia , LCSW
• Stand Up: Guidelines For Assertive Behavior Medically reviewed by Paige Henry , LMSW, J.D.
• Relationships and Relations

• Passion Power Purpose (Album)
• Dare To Be Different (Album)
• Freedom (Album)
• RECHARGE (Album)
• Headphones ON, World OFF – Workout Music Album
• UPGRADE YOUR MIND (Album)
• Better Than Yesterday – Motivational Speeches Album
• Reinvent Yourself – Motivational Speeches Album
• Uncommon Being – Motivational Speeches Album
• Tom Bilyeu – Motivational Speeches (ALBUM)
• Greatest Hits – Album + CD
• 10% Human 90% Beast – Gym Motivational Speeches (Album)
• They Will Never Define Me – Album
• Working On The Dream – Album
• Strong Mind, Strong Life – Album
• Feed Your Mind With Success – Album
• Born Ready – Album
• Hard Work Pays Off – Album
• Success And Nothing Less (Album)
• Today Is The Day (Album)
• Fear Less Dominate More – Album
• Hungry For Success – Album
• Background Music
• Motivational Quotes
• The Great Teachers
• Entrepreneur
• Self Development
• Money & Success
• Athlete Motivation
• Fitness Motivation
• Inspirational Quotes
• Mental Health
• Motivational Speeches
• Spirituality
• Sports Motivation
• Success & Self Help Books
• The Law of Attraction
• Wealth Building
• Using Our Music
• Licensing – YouTube Videos
• Suggestions

• This Song Explains The Laws of Success That Apply To EVERYONE ON EARTH!
• Focal Point – Official Lyrics – Fearless Motivation
• NO DAYS OFF – Official Lyrics – Fearless Motivation
• PASSION x AMBITION – Fearless Motivation – OFFICIAL LYRICS

20 Principles You Should Live By To Guarantee You Get Everything You Want In Life!

Once you master these principles… you’ll never be the same.

20 Principles You Should Live By If You Want An Amazing, Successful Life – Motivational Speech

Download or Stream the speech now, on iTunes , Spotify , Apple Music ,  GooglePlay , AmazonMP3 or MP3 Download Anywhere In The World 20 Principles You Should Live By If You Want An Amazing, Successful Life – Motivational Speech – Lyrics, Music, Speech: Copyright:  Fearless Motivation Speakers: Josiah Ruff Music “PRINCIPLE – Sounds of Power 8” © Fearless Motivation, composed by Patrick Rundblad

Transcript – 20 Principles You Should Live By If You Want An Amazing, Successful Life – Motivational Speech |  Fearless Motivation

Success is no accident. Living a GREAT life will not come by luck or chance. 

It won’t fall from the sky. There’s no magic wand. There’s no quick fix.

The good news is, there are principles that lead to success. If you commit to doing the things successful people do, you will lead a life of success and happiness.

 Live by these 20 principles, and you will ensure you live a GREAT life!

NUMBER 1. There’s Nothing You Can’t Have Or Achieve In Life… If You’re Willing To Work For It.

There are no reasonable limits relating to what you can achieve, other than those that exist in your own mind.

 What you can have is up to YOU.
 Who you can be… is up to YOU.

 YOU are your only limit.

 No one else can stop you from having anything or being anyone you decide to be.

 Don’t let any unsuccessful person convince you otherwise.

NUMBER 2. Take Responsibility For Your Life and You Will Take Control Of Your Life.

Take responsibility for where you are in life, and accept the challenge required to get where you want to be.

Successful people don’t make excuses or blame others, they just focus on what they CAN DO.

 As Florence Nightingale once said:

“I attribute my success to this: I never GAVE nor took any excuse.”



Those who succeed in this world aren’t those who have escaped hardship. 

EVERY ONE of us carries our own baggage through life. Some let go of it, and push forward without the weight of EXCUSES on their back.

 Holding on to that weight of excuses is only ever going to slow you down, and hold you back from reaching your true potential.

 Let it go. Accept where you are AND DECIDE where you’re going to be.

NUMBER 3. There’s Always Something To Be Grateful For.

Grateful people are successful people. It’s been said many times , but it is worth repeating until it sinks in… When you are GRATEFUL for everything you do have in your life YOUR LIFE IS BETTER!

 Full stop.

Spending every morning thinking about, and writing down what you are grateful for will transform your life. 

The very act of doing this will lead to a better mood. A better mood will lead to better relationships, clearer mind, better results, and you will then attract MORE to be grateful for.


NUMBER 4. Follow Your OWN Path.



The world is full of opinions , none of them should influence where YOU want to be in life.

 Focus on your own path , and walk that path, regardless of others opinions.

 You’ll never be successful in life unless you are living the life YOU WANT TO LIVE.

 Don’t wear masks to fit in to this world. Be brave enough to stand tall and WALK in the direction you really want. 
Be true to you.

NUMBER 5. Never Stop Learning and Working On Yourself.

The key to a great life is GROWTH that comes from self development .

 The PRIDE that comes from that GROWTH.

 The inner joy that comes from that PRIDE, knowing you are self made. 

Knowing you made a great life, for yourself, and set the example for all those close to you.

 Feed your mind every day, always rising to a new level of consciousness, always seeking growth.

“The more you LEARN the more you will EARN” – Warren Buffett

The more you GROW the more you KNOW.
 The more you develop your SELF… 
The greater your true wealth.

NUMBER 6. Live With Integrity!

Zig Ziglar put it best:

“With integrity, you have nothing to fear, since you have nothing to hide. With integrity, you will do the right thing, so you will have no guilt.”



Living a life of integrity is living a life of TRUTH. And when you are living a life of truth, there’s nothing to hide.

 When there’s nothing to hide, there’s nothing but pride.

 You do the right thing, even when no one is watching, not because you’re getting rewarded, but because the reward is living a life of integrity.

NUMBER 7. Give Your All!

Nothing GREAT in life comes to those who give less than their EVERYTHING. 

Success doesn’t have to be a STRUGGLE. It should never feel like a chore.

 You should be in a place where you are ENTHUSIASTIC about giving your all, because you love what you do .

 Because you love the challenge.
 Because you love the growth.
 Because you love thinking about the end result.




 NUMBER 8. You Can Change The Way You Feel At Any Moment By Changing Your Focus.

Any emotion, no matter how extreme can be changed, by learning how to change your focus, specifically to gratitude and perspective.

 If your life doesn’t feel like a blessing, LEARN how to shift your focus – every day to the place where it does.


NUMBER 9. Don’t Chase Money… Follow Your Purpose.

Do nothing for the SOLE PURPOSE of money. 

Do what is right, do what you love, do something that helps others and more than enough money will come.

 Chase the money and the money will run faster. Chase your purpose and the money will chase you.


NUMBER 10. There’s No Such Thing As Failure, Unless You Fail To Learn The Lesson.

Everyone fails at something, somewhere along the way. Successful people fail more than most… But the ONLY TRUE FAILURE is to give up without learning the lesson the failure brought .

 Failure is never the end of the story. It’s just a plot twist. Keep writing your story, and find a way to become the hero of it.



NUMBER 11. The End Result Will Be Worth The Sacrifice.



Unsuccessful people think about what they have to give up in order to achieve what they want… 

Successful people think about what they are going to get at the end of the process.

 They are happy to sacrifice NOW , knowing they will be rewarded LATER.

NUMBER 12. Patience Is Power.



This doesn’t mean sit on your hands… Work hard. Work fast. Work smart. But, If it doesn’t come when you expect it to come… Be patient. The only way it is not coming is if you quit. KEEP GOING.

NUMBER 13. Nothing Worthwhile In Life Comes EASY.

If you want it bad, you must be prepared to work for it, to fight for it, to give up everything for it.

 If it’s worth the prize, it’s worth the fight.

NUMBER 14. Nothing That Has Happened In Your Past Can Stop You From Creating A Better FUTURE, Starting RIGHT NOW.



Let go of the past, it’s gone.
 FOCUS on the now. What can you do NOW that will create a better tomorrow?

NUMBER 15. It’s NEVER TOO LATE To Be GREAT.

It’s never too late to amaze yourself, to shock yourself, to become someone NO ONE thought you could be , not even YOU.



 NUMBER 16. Not Everyone Will Be Happy For You.



Not everyone is going to enjoy your success. 

Some will be jealous, some will be resentful… because they haven’t reached their own true potential. This should never stop you from pursuing your greatest self. Those who truly belong in your life, will be by your side on the journey. 

If you have to walk alone for a while be strong enough to do so, knowing it won’t be forever.



NUMBER 17. Habits Make Or Break You.



Think about every major area of your life. Health, Financial, Happiness. Are there any areas you have developed bad habits that are holding you back? If you have developed them, you can create new, better habits that take you closer to your goals.

 A habit is formed through consistent application and deep meaning. MAKE IT IMPORTANT to you and plan it, until it is a habit.



NUMBER 18. FEAR Is An Illusion.

FEAR is mind-made. It has no life outside your own imagination. Knowing this, you have no reason to hold yourself back, no reason to fear failure, rejection, embarrassment – ANYTHING. 
Go for want you want in life, FEARLESSLY.

NUMBER 19. Without Direction, You’ll End Up In The Wrong Section.

If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.
 Successful people know where they are going. They have CLEAR GOALS. BIG, CLEAR, MEANINGFUL GOALS and they FIGHT FOR THEM.



NUMBER 20. No One Will Believe In You, Until YOU DO.

If you want people to support you, lead by example: BACK YOURSELF . 

If you want people to believe in you: BELIEVE IN YOURSELF.

Lacking belief?
 PROGRESS leads to BELIEF.
GROWTH leads to BELIEF.
 Feed your mind, every day with self development material, new knowledge, empowering speakers AND start taking action – once you start making PROGRESS, belief will come. Belief will grow.

Back yourself, you can do this.

Share Your thoughts on: 20 Principles You Should Live By If You Want An Amazing, Successful Life – Motivational Speech below. Leave a comment below and join the #TeamFearless community

15 Responses

I like #3 – being grateful. Just appreciating what life has to offer is so important, even the little things.

your so right! haha

This is excellent

You are something extraordinary and you are many of people like me extraordinary .Hats off!!!

Very thoughtful. Keep going higher.

Great stuff. Most people take decades to absorb these wisdom on their own. I am greatful to have found Fearless Motivation.

AWESOME!! A very powerful road map to a better life !

I so love each one of them, great stuff!

Yes ma’am! Follow my socials for more!! <3

Just what I needed, thanks! FEAR is the killer, glad you covered it.

It was worthy sharing

There is so much in your speach, which makes you move on with positive enthusiasm. I need your thoughts of the day in my facebook. God bless you

Wow this is amazing, powerful

The part that not everyone will be happy with your success is very accurate. Most people do not have the courage to chase their dreams, so they become bitter towards those who do

Thanks Fearless soul has lighten up my candle ️

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Sara Laughed

Creative living & authentic faith

The 3 Life Principles I Use to Grow and Be a Better Person

Do you know what your life principles are? Could you tell them to me if I asked?

If you’re like the average person (or fortune cookie), you could probably rattle off a list of promises you don’t always keep. Don’t go to bed angry. Never hit snooze. Always make the bed when you get up. (Why are all of these about sleeping?)

Getting to the life principles that you actually use to structure your choices is a little more complicated.

Why I (Re)Defined My Life Principles

In October of 2017, at the ripe old, melodramatic age of 24, I felt my personal and professional life were at a deep low. I was on the East Coast, visiting my parents for a wedding and a funeral (come at me, Hugh Grant). I was incredibly down about losing my godmother, and felt slighted by many of my friends, who hadn’t all been there for me when she died. In addition, I was completely exhausted from visiting some 20 people in my 2 weeks in the States. And, on top of that, I was still reeling from a career flop that had deeply shaken my professional confidence.

I wanted a new start. And, since life doesn’t come with a reset button, I had to do it myself.

In the year and a half since, I’ve gotten engaged, changed four dress sizes, and dramatically redirected my career to something with more flexibility and opportunity ( more on that here ). More importantly, I feel much more confident, empowered, and secure — both in who I am and where I’m going.

Pictured: me gazing into my amazingly bright future and/or a fluorescent light.

The changes I’ve made are linked with a series of new life principles I’ve picked up. Some I learned from books, speakers, or videos. Some I learned from major life experiences, or from these changes themselves. This isn’t a list of all my values or principles, but the three new ones that have made the biggest difference in me changing my life in the last two years.

I understand that these principles won’t work for everyone. I’m not writing this article to tell you how to shape your life. Instead, I’d like to show you the principles I use to shaped mine, and encourage you to discover and write out the ones that work for you.

The Life Principles I Use for Growth

I am fully responsible for my life..

Core value: responsibility.

I choose to take an extreme level of responsibility over my life and choices. For several years, I placed the blame for a lot of my failures, hurt feelings, or inner wounds on other people. But if you chalk up all your problems to someone else, there’s never any reason to better yourself. Instead, I now choose to accept full responsibility for the choices I made that led to certain outcomes in my life, even if other people or circumstances played a major role. This maximizes how much I can learn from my experiences and prevents me from feeling bitter at others.

I want to make a clear distinction between taking personal responsibility for your actions and  blaming yourself for things that aren’t your fault. There are, of course, many circumstances that are out of our control, such as natural disasters, chronic illness or disability, or others intentionally harming or victimizing us. I think it’s very important to place the blame for these things where it belongs, and not with ourselves.

What I’m talking about here is taking full responsibility for the role we play in our own lives — our half of the fight, our poor judgment in a business deal that went wrong, our lack of financial planning, and things in that vein. If I tank a job interview, I’ll learn more from the experience if I take responsibility for it than if  I assume the other person didn’t like me or is ‘just stupid.’ It’s not completely true that I have ownership over everything in my life; but believing that I do makes me a better and more growth-oriented person.

I believe the things that help me grow.

Core value: growth.

The responsibility principle is the perfect example of an empowering lie. Obviously, I don’t have total control over my life. Major news events, the family and country I was born in, the quality of my local public school, and my genetics have all played large roles in bringing me to where I am today; for better and for worse. But when I choose to accept full responsibility for everything in life, I am a more thoughtful, productive, and growth-oriented person. So, even if a statement isn’t true, I choose to believe it if its result is better than the alternative.

This plays out in many beliefs that I have. For example, and this is a little silly: I choose to believe that the positive outcome for me is virtually guaranteed. Whether I’m going into a job interview, applying for an award or scholarship, or playing a board game, I encourage myself to believe that I’m going to succeed.

Why? If I go into something with the assumption that I’ll fail, I’ll be nervous. And, I’ll be less likely to make smart choices because of my anxiety. If I go in assuming that I’ll succeed, I’ll be confident and decisive.

Which circumstance is more likely to help me get a positive outcome?

Conversely, I choose not to believe things that will make me feel or perform worse. Obviously, I don’t run around shouting “I DON’T BELIEVE YOU” at newspapers and other people. Accepting reality is important. But if something’s up the air or I only have limited information, I won’t assume the worst. I don’t know why Julie hasn’t texted me, but that doesn’t mean she hates me or is dead, until proven otherwise. Choosing not to assume the worst helps me live with fewer feelings anxiety and a strong focus on the things that move me forward.

I am 100% honest with myself and others, even when it sucks.

Core value: integrity.

I have several friends who I love deeply, but who lie to me all the time. They’re white lies, and fairly harmless. They’re meant to make me feel better (“Yes, I read your new article!”) or to ease a tricky situation (“Yes, I already mailed your package!”). I don’t assume that my friend is lying when it happens, but usually realize later that she hasn’t actually read the article or that the mail date on my package is a week later than she said it was. This isn’t a deal-breaker for me; I don’t love those friends any less for it. But it does mean that, sometimes, I’m less likely to believe or rely on them.

I think the same thing goes for being honest with yourself. It’s important to be truthful about how you feel, what you think, and what you actually do right or wrong. When we’re not honest with ourselves and others, we start to take our own word less seriously. At the end of the day, the only person who will never leave you is yourself. And if you can’t trust her, what good is that?

So, I choose to be honest — even when it would be so, so convenient not to be. If I ate 3 helpings of pasta every day for a  week, I don’t pretend my weight gain is just water weight. If I didn’t study as hard as I could have and do badly on a test, I don’t pretend it’s the teacher’s fault, or the grade curve. And if I went to bed at 3AM last night and feel groggy all day, I don’t pretend it’s because I “just couldn’t fall asleep,” when I know it’s secretly because I was watching YouTube videos.

How My Growth Principles Fit Together

It might sound like the principle of radical honesty is at odds with the principle of empowering lies. After all, how can I believe things that aren’t true and also be honest with myself?

To me, these principles apply to different parts of my life.

I take full responsibility for my actions, because doing so helps me grow.

I believe that the things outside of my control are lining up for my benefit, because doing so helps me act with confidence.

I’m honest about what I really feel, think, and do because doing so helps me trust myself and lets others trust me.

The first principle is about my attitude towards my life, the second is about my attitude towards the world, and the third is about my attitude towards my thoughts and feelings.

My Life Principles for Relationships and Self

These aren’t the only principles I use to shape my life. I also have explicitly-defined principles in the areas of work, my relationships with others, and my relationship with myself. Some of those take on  a very different tone. For example, I think the principles above are focused on integrity and pragmatism. My relationship life principles are much more focused on compassion and presence, and my personal life principles center around authenticity and playfulness. If you liked this post and are curious about my other principles, let me know in a comment — I’d be happy to share them.

Hey hey! I'm Sara, an American writer living in the Netherlands and working as a product manager.

This is such a lovely article, I have never thought of doing this. I need to define my principles as well !

I never thought about this but it makes so much sense. I need to think about this more. I’d love to read more about your other principles 🙂

Just stumbled upon your article when trying to determine my own life principles and values. I am so inspired by your deep insight and thoughtfulness at a young age. Would love to hear about your other principles, particular since it has been a few years since this entry. Cheers!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Post Comment

Related Posts

Decorating the world

Practical Tips for Your Trip to the Netherlands

Behind the Little Lantern Shop

Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel.

• EssayBasics.com
• Pay For Essay
• Write My Essay
• Homework Writing Help
• Essay Editing Service
• Thesis Writing Help
• Write My College Essay
• Do My Essay
• Term Paper Writing Service
• Coursework Writing Service
• Write My Research Paper
• Assignment Writing Help
• Essay Writing Help
• Call Now! (USA) Login Order now
• EssayBasics.com Call Now! (USA) Order now
• Writing Guides

Importance Of Principles In Life (Essay Sample) 2023

Table of Contents

Importance Of Principles In Life

How Can I Get Essay For Free and Is it realistic to expect a low-cost, High-Quality Essay from a Cheap Paper Writing Service ?

Life is full of many activities and influences that can either mislead a person or even shape their behavior to the best. Therefore, in order to survive this, it is important for a person to have principles so that they can guide them into making the right choices. Principles play different roles in the life of a person.

One of the main reasons as to why principles are important in life is the fact that they help an individual during the decision-making process. This happens in the event whereby the individual is in a dilemma of choosing ideas that have a close relationship. In such a case, a person can decide to choose the idea that makes more sense in life as compared to the other one. As a result, this makes it for individuals to make sound decisions without having to go through much stress. Hence, it is important for every individual to respect their principles and act according to them.

As well, principles help individuals in understanding the world around them and the reason as to why things happen the way they do. As a result, this brings about highly intelligent individuals who are able to make sound decisions. In the case of an individual who doesn’t have principles, then it would b difficult for them to understand various life issues in the current world. It is, therefore, important for every individual to set their own principles so that they can be able to understand the world. Having done so, then it means that a person can fit in the world well because they are able to differentiate between that which is good or bad.

In addition, principles help an individual to maintain good morals in everything that they do. A good example is the case of teenagers who are very prone to peer pressure from their fellow teenagers. Hence, if someone does not have principles, it will be easy for them to join bad activities being carried out by their friends such as drug trafficking and theft. Having principles would enable the teenager to realize that such activities are not very important in life and a person can live without them. Principles guide a person into doing what is good and beneficial in their life.

Principles enlighten individuals hence making them more open-minded about life as compared to people who lack principles. It is the idea of having an open mind that enables a person to handle any difficult situations that come their way. Having principles come along with an emotional intelligence which is responsible for non-standard thinking. The non-standard thinking enables a person to solve problems in a unique way that is different from the common solutions that people have been in regard to that particular problem. The end result of such thinking is that the individual ends up discovering new and beneficial things about themselves that they did not even know that they existed. Hence principles are important in life for the sake of wise thinking.

Concisely, principles are an important part of an individual’s life because they help a person discover themselves by choosing what’s good. This brings about the idea of earning respect from friends because principles help a lot in shaping the behavior of an individual. A person who has principles and can make their decisions without the influence of friends deserves to be respected and also, acts as a role model to other people. Therefore, every individual has the obligation of realizing that life is not just about doing the common things other people do but, instead, one should be principled in everything that they do.

Home — Essay Samples — Philosophy — Ethical Dilemma — Applying Ethical Principles

Applying Ethical Principles

• Categories: Ethical Dilemma Virtue Ethics

About this sample

Words: 457 |

Published: Jan 31, 2024

Words: 457 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Table of contents

Understanding ethical principles, the importance of applying ethical principles, real-world applications of ethical principles, ethical dilemmas and their resolutions, individual perspective, organizational perspective, professional ethics, environmental ethics.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Prof Ernest (PhD)

Verified writer

• Expert in: Philosophy

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

3 pages / 1600 words

4 pages / 1866 words

1 pages / 598 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Ethical Dilemma

Social dilemmas happen when the members of a group, culture, or society are in possible conflict over the establishment and use of shared “public goods”. Public goods are benefits that are shared by a community and that everyone [...]

In this scenario, the primary stakeholders are the employees, which in turn affect the customers, the shareholders, the suppliers, and the community. If Roger Jacobs is allowed to remain at Shellington Pharmaceuticals and [...]

There are four main sources of law within the legal system of the United States. These include Statutes, Case Law (Judicial), Constitution and Administrative Regulations. Within the source of laws under Statutes, it includes [...]

sheds light on the detrimental impact of social media on society, revealing how developers and owners exploit users through data mining and surveillance technologies (Orlowski, 2020). The addictive nature of social media [...]

Social workers will come across ethical dilemmas on a regular basis. Ethical dilemmas may include inappropriate nature in the workplace, or having to make a decision that may go against protocols but be morally the right thing [...]

Ethical dilemma is a decision between two alternatives, both of which will bring an antagonistic outcome in light of society and individual rules. It is a basic leadership issue between two conceivable good objectives, neither [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

Home / Essay Samples / Life / Principles / Good Values And Principles In Life

Good Values And Principles In Life

• Category: Sociology , Life
• Topic: Personal Life , Principles , Values

Pages: 1 (416 words)

Views: 2075

• Downloads: -->

--> ⚠️ Remember: This essay was written and uploaded by an--> click here.

Found a great essay sample but want a unique one?

are ready to help you with your essay

You won’t be charged yet!

Humanity Essays

Adversity Essays

Hope Essays

Empathy Essays

Inspiration Essays

Related Essays

We are glad that you like it, but you cannot copy from our website. Just insert your email and this sample will be sent to you.

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service  and  Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Your essay sample has been sent.

In fact, there is a way to get an original essay! Turn to our writers and order a plagiarism-free paper.

samplius.com uses cookies to offer you the best service possible.By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .--> -->