Research Group
in Analytic Philosophy

Abstract

Philosophers tend to treat meaning in life as a type of value, on a par with well-being and moral value. In this paper I argue that finding something meaningful in one's life does not require attributing to it value in any substantive sense, but rather it can be rooted in a non-evaluative attachment to one's narrative identity or to one's place in a broader story about the world. This proposal fits with recent psychological research on narrative intelligibility as a source of meaning, and it explains how we can find meaning in past experiences of adversity, hardship, or loss without thereby having reason to seek or bring about such experiences in the future.