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Philosophy, Ethics and Religion
The Meaning of Life
A lecture by Raymond Angelo Belliotti
We dread questions about the meaning of life. We recognize that part of the human condition is that the questions most important to us - Why am I born to suffer and die? What, if anything, is my destiny? How did it all begin? How will it end? - evade incontestable answers and, instead, underscore the limitations of human reason. Seriously confronting such questions threatens our mundane lives. Yet, to avoid questions of ultimate meaning strikes us as cowardly and inauthentic. Living a fully human life involves struggling with crucial questions that elude simple answers.
In this talk, Belliotti analyzes three answers to the meaning of life: the otherworldliness of the Religious Solution; the pessimism of Cosmic Meaninglessness; and the fragile optimism of The Creation of Contingent Meaning. Belliotti concludes that the meaning of life is best understood through two metaphors: telescopes, and slinky toys.
This lecture is available from August 24, 2006 to November 1, 2011
Can be tailored to a high school audience
Setup Needed
- Microphone optional
Professor Raymond Angelo Belliotti
Distinguished Teaching Professor, State University of New York, Fredonia
Raymond Angelo Belliotti, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy at SUNY Fredonia, holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a Ph.D. from University of Miami. He is the author of nine books: Jusitfying Law (1992), Good Sex (1993), Seeking Identity (1995), Stalking Nietzsche (1998), What Is the Meaning of Human Life? (2001), Happiness is Overrated (2004), The Philosophy of Baseball (2006), Watching Baseball, Seeing Philosophy (2008) and Niccolo Machiavelli (2008). Belliotti has been the recipient of the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, the William T. Hagan Young Scholar Award, the Kasling Lecture Award for Excellence in Scholarship, and the SUNY Foundation Research and Scholarship Recognition Award.
| Telephone: | (716) 673-3837 |
| Website: | ww3.fredonia.edu/philosophy/faculty /raybelliotti/tabid/778/defaul... |
| Address: |
SUNY Fredonia Department of Philosophy Fredonia, NY 14063 Chautauqua County |
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