Philosophy in the Library: Rivka Weinberg on the Pointlessness of Life

In the May edition of Philosophy in the Library, Rivka Weinberg argues that life is, always and by its very nature, pointless. A point is a valued end and since we humans are agents, it makes sense for us to want our acts, efforts, projects, and enterprises to have a point. Valued ends provide justifying reasons for our acts, efforts, projects, and enterprises. And Professor Weinberg further argues that ends lie separate from the acts and enterprises for which they provide a point (e.g., you build a hut because you value the shelter provided by the hut and you value the shelter because you value yourself and others). Since there can be no end external to one's entire life, since one's life includes all of one's ends, life as a whole cannot have a point. This doesn't mean that the acts, efforts or projects within a life can't have a point. But life as a whole, which is a separate effort and enterprise of its own, cannot. Finally, Professor Weinberg argues, since we live our lives and structure our living-a-human-life efforts both in parts and as a whole, it is fitting to be sad to recognize that bothering to live is pointless. Professor Weinberg's discussion helps make sense of the literature that frequently touches on this topic but often does so vaguely and indirectly.

Rivka Weinberg is Professor of Philosophy at Scripps College, Claremont CA. She specializes in ethical and metaphysical issues related to birth, death, and meaning. She is the author of The Risk of A Lifetime: How, When, and Why Procreation May Be Permissible (OUP 2015), and is currently working on a book on meaning and the human condition.