Exploring Existence: Philosophers’ Lived Experiences, Minds, and Their Theories of Meaning
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Lamont Lee
CoPIs:
Taniah Johnson
College:
The Dorothy and George Hennings College of Science, Mathematics, and Technology
Major:
Biology
Faculty Research Advisor(s):
Sean Keegan-Landis
Abstract:
Traditional philosophical approaches to the meaning of life like stoicism or hedonism offer universal answers that are supposed to apply to everyone. In contrast, some philosophers consider the meaning of life to be a fully subjective project: how a person views meaning and purpose to their life depends on that person’s particular lived experiences. Even these subjectivist accounts, however, often ignore the significance of mental health to individuals: the challenges each of us face, identities we have, and the influence of societies’ expectations on our well-being. We aim to apply this psychological subjectivism to philosophers and their philosophical theories themselves.
Given that different philosophers live their lives based on the circumstances they are put in, we propose that every philosopher finds their theory of meaning through experiencing their unique blend of challenges and advantages. Furthermore, these philosophers’ understanding of reality is influenced by psychological and genetic factors. Through comparing philosophers' experiences and psychologies, we plan to identify how the challenges they face directly relate to what they propose provides fundamental meaning to their lives. We aim to highlight the patterns between philosophers’ different minds and experiences and what they have to say about how to exist in a world that has multiple meanings.
We are crafting a poster containing a list of philosophers, such as Aristotle, Seneca, Epicurus, Miguel De Unamuno, Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, and Gloria Anzaldúa. Next to each philosopher will be biographical and psychological details about them, their theories of meaning, and the underlying patterns we notice between their lives, minds, and theories.