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Theists believe God created the universe and that God had a purpose in doing so. Theists also hold the view that humans find their meaning and purpose for life in God's purpose in creating. Some theists further hold that if there were no God to give life ultimate meaning, value, and purpose, then life would be absurd. [91]
Existential nihilism is the philosophical theory that life has no objective meaning or purpose. [1] The inherent meaninglessness of life is largely explored in the philosophical school of existentialism, where one can potentially create their own subjective "meaning" or "purpose".
The wise decision is to wager that God exists, since "If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing", meaning one can gain eternal life if God exists, but if not, one will be no worse off in death than if one had not believed. On the other hand, if you bet against God, win or lose, you either gain nothing or lose everything.
For instance, the inability to discern the meaning of life can lead to the conclusion that there is no such meaning, resulting in existential nihilism. [113] Moral skepticism, the view that there is no moral knowledge, can have a similar effect: the incapacity to distinguish right from wrong behavior can lead to the rejection of moral facts ...
Meaning in existentialism is descriptive regarding "the meaning of life"; therefore it is unlike typical, prescriptive conceptions. [ citation needed ] Due to the methods of existentialism, prescriptive or declarative statements about meaning are unjustified.
However, since no such purpose or meaning exists, it follows that God does not exist. Jean-Paul Sartre was one of the most prominent proponents of the atheist-existential argument. In his book Existentialism is a Humanism, Sartre argues that human existence is absurd because there is no inherent purpose or meaning to life. He contends that ...
Dawkins' God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life is a book by Alister McGrath, a theologian who is currently Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University.The book, published in 2004, with a second edition in 2015, aims to refute claims about religion made by another well-known professor at Oxford, Richard Dawkins.
The unexamined life is not worth living" is a famous dictum supposedly uttered by Socrates at his trial for impiety and corrupting youth, for which he was subsequently sentenced to death.