Meaning of life
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The meaning of life pertains to the inherent significance or philosophical meaning of living. There is not a definitive answer, and thinking or discourse on the topic is sought in the English language through the question, "What is the meaning of life?". There have been many proposed answers to these questions from many different cultural and ideological backgrounds. The search for life's meaning has produced much philosophical, scientific, theological, and metaphysical speculation throughout history. Different people and cultures believe different things for the answer to this question. Opinions vary on the usefulness of using time and resources in the pursuit of an answer. Excessive pondering can be indicative of, or lead to, an existential crisis.
A graffito in Dublin depicts a stick figure pondering its existence.
"The Storm Fiend" — Heading to Book II Chapter IX of Thomas Carlyle's Sartor Resartus, 1898 illustration by E. J. Sullivan
Philosopher in Meditation (detail) by Rembrandt
Hieronymus Bosch's Ascent of the Blessed depicts a tunnel of light and spiritual figures, often described in reports of near-death experiences.
Existence
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Existence is the state of having being or reality in contrast to nonexistence and nonbeing. Existence is often contrasted with essence: the essence of an entity are its essential features or qualities, which can be understood even if one does not know whether the entity exists.
One of the topics covered by theories of the nature of existence concerns the ontological status of fictional objects like Pegasus.
Bertrand Russell proposed his theory of descriptions to dissolve paradoxes surrounding negative existential statements.
According to Alexius Meinong, there are some entities that do not exist.
Plato and his student Aristotle disagreed on whether form and matter depend on one another for their existence.