Whats the meaning of life

Will we become all depressed or become great thinkers? Will everything become meaningless?

how to deal with weekly existential crises? :c

Is it true that ignorance is bliss?

Do you become more cognizant as you learn? Or do you feel like the more you learn the lesser you actually know?

Will we gain more IQ? Will I get a good looking partner? Does it even matter? Do we have free-will? So is freedom a mere social construct that we use to lie to ourself?

“Meaning of life” isn’t one of the topics in the module, though Topic 1 will be relevant. Also, the module can’t promise that you will “find meaning in life” by taking this module. Nonetheless, I hope that by the end of the module, you would have picked up the sensibility to see that the whole matter (“meaning of life”) is actually a more involved topic than might appear at first sight–since answering it will require that we have a plausible idea about what kind of “meaning” we are talking about in relation to “life”, since, presumably, the may meaning in question is clearly not the same as the meaning in the question What is the meaning of “life” (i.e., the word “life”)? So before we can start, we need a theory about the the sort of meaning that non-word things can have…

Funny enough, some of my tutors think that it’s normal for philosophy modules to induce existential crises and report having such experiences. One recent alumni use to tell me that once, after hearing me talk about how the infinite regress isn’t always a problem, he spent the afternoon wandering around a shopping mall in an existential crisis… Indeed, you might end up confronting the possibility that some of the things we do without thinking (eating factory farmed meat, for instance) is morally wrong, or that moral responsibility is impossible, or that knowledge is impossible, or that we are really living in a simulation. But to be clear, the module isn’t aimed to convince you of those conclusions–even if we do want to confront and consider interesting philosophical arguments in favor of them.

There has always been philosophers–both “East” and “West”–who came to the conclusion that reason and knowledge aren’t all they are cracked up to be. But we call them philosophers because they came to these conclusions after hard thinking, not because they happen to just have such opinions. On the flip side, precisely if you value knowledge the use of reason, you should feel like you know less the more you advance in your studies… Since the more you learn, the more you understand how much more there is!

On the first part of the last question above–see this.

What are your thoughts on the recent documentaries like “Fukushima Daiichi” and “Chernobyl”

What are your thoughts on “The Good Place” on netflix?

Is the Netflix show “The Good Place” relevant to what we’re going to touch on in this module?

Are there any good films/podcasts/fiction books to recommend?

Do recommend any movies to get us interested in philosophy?

Are there any good podcasts you would recommend?

Will reading Sophie’s World help me with this module?

To be honest, I haven’t come across many movies or shows that literally got me interested in philosophy–at least for me, it’s the other way round. Because of an existing interest in philosophy, I ended up seeing and thinking about more things in movies and shows. On “Good Place”. That is, there are plenty of shows out there that raises questions of interest to philosophers–but surely that’s only to be expected. One of the tutors recommend the below, saying that “it’s perfect for the free will week” (I agree):

More generally, I would strongly encourage you to read widely, watch shows–and don’t stop thinking. Whether doing all that will make you better at the module is really kinda besides the point. Rather, do that because it’s what you are keen to do as someone receiving an education in the university. Do it because it is what keeps your mind active. Do it because it makes you a more interesting person! (As far as the module is concerned, you are better served being a bit more focused–think carefully about the specific things we assigned rather than go all over the place.)