Taylor\'s Argument - Richard Taylor’s article, “The Meaning of Life\" PDF

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Richard Taylor’s article, “The Meaning of Life"...

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Critique of Taylor’s Argument In Richard Taylor’s article, “The Meaning of Life,” the author argues that in order to know when something is meaningful, you must know what is meaningless. According to Taylor, meaninglessness is something that is never ending and does not serve a purpose of something new. For example, Taylor uses Sisyphus and his task of pushing a rock up a hill just to watch it roll down and have to push it back up again as his punishment from the gods. The question that ponders is, “how come he never dies?.” Well, he is already dead. If there was a different rock, it is still the same task. Therefore, meaningfulness is when something comes to an end because the purpose is fulfilled. A source of meaning in my life comes from music. Without music, I will still live, but my life will be missing something- fillers. Music works in a way that makes people feel a certain way- like a guide. For example, in movies, directors use music to make the audience feel a certain way- Jaws uses lower, faster tones to make it intense or a romantic movie uses slower, positive songs or melodies. I listen to music everyday to stable my emotions and thoughts. The meaning derives from an attachment to my emotions and thoughts. Connecting back to Taylor, the task of listening to music to become happy or calm may lead to an end to be meaningful, but we continue to listen to music because we want to always be happy or feel the way we want to feel. In Taylor’s viewpoint it may seem like it is meaningless since it continues, but there is a catch. It can be a different song which generates a different mood, but it will always serve to receive a reaction....