Which comes first: Existence or essence?

[thebigother]

Are we thrust into a meaningless existence in which we must create our own meaning, or are we brought into existence to find the meaning that is already there? This isn't a "what is the meaning of life?" type question, but rather "is there a meaning to life?" And if we accept that there is no meaning are we "condemned to be free," so to speak. Is there any way around taking responsibility for our actions, or are some things beyond our control as a result of our individual nature or other forces?

[ThePope]

the former; there is no meaning to life, but I don't think I understand what you mean by the part about taking responsibility for our actions, it would seem both scenarios are valid whether life has an objective meaning or not.

[thebigother]

Well the existentialist argument is that if there is no meaning then every action we make is a choice and as such we should be held accountable for them. This stems from the idea that the mind is always in control of the body, even extending to emotions which are said to be behaviors that we deliberately choose to adopt. The argument even goes so far as to deny the existence of the subconscious and to suggest that we act upon impulses because we choose to.

[Mitch-a-palooza]

the hokey pokey is what it's all about.. I believe there is no ultimate spiritual meaning to life. The meaning of life is a derivative of the way things are. We are born and we rely on others for happiness and for our material needs. Everything is connected whether we like it or not so why would we not treat others how we would like to be treated and make everyones ride on this big ole sphere a better one? I do believe however that we are somewhat slaves to our primal instincts (fuck fight eat shit) We do however make the final decision whether to listen to them or not.. even though they do influence every decision we make subconsciously.

[Spiralz]

Are we thrust into a meaningless existence in which we must create our own meaning, or are we brought into existence to find the meaning that is already there? This isn't a "what is the meaning of life?" type question, but rather "is there a meaning to life?" And if we accept that there is no meaning are we "condemned to be free," so to speak. Is there any way around taking responsibility for our actions, or are some things beyond our control as a result of our individual nature or other forces?

The more you search for "meaning" the more you digress from it, at least in my experience. Responsibility is a conditioned way of reacting to ones actions, yet the multitudes to which one can define responsibility or deny it are endless, and whether or not it is predetermined---well who knows?

[oldsklgrl]

We are animals, the meaning of life is to eat, shit and pro-create. All other meaning is created by the society. Yes we are smarter than other animal; yes we have a neo-cortex which gives us the ability to anticipate pleasure, pain and even death. The realization of these (especially death) causes the human to attempt to create meaning in their lives given the limited time we know to have in the physical realm of being. This meaning is parallel to pro-creation. It is not just our DNA we want to survive, we also desire our ideas to influence those that will follow, thus securing our continued existence in this ambit.

[BEERnBRATWURST]

Humans are a severe rash on the world. Our meaning in life is to consume consume consume all natural resources until there is nothing left. We are unable to live in equilibrium with the planet. It's like the earth went to a brothel and didn't wear a condom and acquired us. God is just a figment of the imagination that was born out of fear of the unknown. Our purpose is to procreate and spread more of us until the earth dies or becomes too toxic for us to live.

Does that make me "the glass is half empty" kind of person? I think it's just the hangover talking....I'm on vacation in Mexico and i drank too much Tequila last night....