{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreibira3i2v4wyavk32opa46rg2aa3lerpzb6e6wv5l26kpewwj4n2q",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:wz3tmummjex7sursdmzyar5e/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmo7yoankwg2"
  },
  "path": "/notes/2026/05/2026-05-23-the-benefits-of-living-without-objective-meaning/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-23T21:10:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://paulopinto.xyz",
  "tags": [
    "Peter Kügler",
    "The Benefits of Living Without Meaning Sub Specie Aeternitatis",
    "Spinoza",
    "Susan Wolf",
    "Psychologist Tatjana Schnell’s research on meaning-in-life",
    "John Stuart Mill",
    "Plato",
    "Ludwig Wittgenstein",
    "Tractatus",
    "Psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi",
    "flow experiences are among the most satisfying moments of our lives",
    "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi",
    "The Meaning of Life Sub Specie Aeternitatis by Iddo Landau",
    "Sub Specie Aeternitatis — A Philosophical Meditation",
    "The Psychology of Meaning in Life by Tatjana Schnell",
    "Philosophy as a Way of Life by Pierre Hadot"
  ],
  "textContent": "_Photo: NASA via Unsplash_\n\n## Overview\n\nWhat does it mean to view your life from the perspective of eternity? For centuries, philosophers have grappled with this question—the Latin phrase _sub specie aeternitatis_ (under the aspect of eternity) describes this cosmic viewpoint. From this perspective, human lives seem impossibly small. The universe is 13.8 billion years old. Earth’s diameter is 742 millionths of one light-year. Your 70-year existence is barely a flicker in the cosmic timeline.\n\nThis realization often leads to despair. If our lives are cosmically insignificant, how can they have meaning? Philosopher Peter Kügler explores this question in his essay The Benefits of Living Without Meaning Sub Specie Aeternitatis, and his conclusion is surprisingly optimistic: accepting that life has no objective, cosmic meaning might actually be one of the best things that could happen to us.\n\n## The Distinction Between Objective and Subjective Meaning\n\nBefore we can appreciate Kügler’s argument, we need to understand a fundamental distinction: objective versus subjective meaning. **Objective meaning** exists independently of human judgment or feeling—it’s “out there” in the universe itself. A life viewed _sub specie aeternitatis_ is asked whether it has objective value: is it important to the cosmos, to something universal and eternal?\n\n**Subjective meaning** , by contrast, depends entirely on how you and others experience and value your life. Raising a child, creating art, fighting for a cause you believe in—these feel meaningful to you because you care about them. They don’t require cosmic significance.\n\nThe troubling reality, Kügler argues, is that the cosmic perspective doesn’t reveal objective values. Physics and biology—the disciplines that describe the universe as it actually is—are neutral about what matters. They tell us _how_ the universe works, not what _ought_ to be valued. This means life has no objective meaning in the cosmic sense. But here’s the paradox: this realization opens the door to something richer.\n\n## Beyond the Cosmic Perspective: The Ontological Reading\n\nPhilosophers often misunderstand the cosmic perspective. Some, like Spinoza, read _sub specie aeternitatis_ not as a distance-based view of the universe but as a view of what’s ultimately real. This _ontological_ reading is more fundamental: if objective values don’t exist in reality itself, then human life simply cannot have objective meaning. But this isn’t the cosmic emptiness it sounds like.\n\nThe key insight is that **accepting the non-existence of objective values doesn’t lead to meaninglessness—it leads to freedom**. Once you stop searching for cosmic validation of your choices, you become free to create, pursue, and celebrate meaning on human terms.\n\n## Benefit 1: A Richer, More Diverse Vision of Meaning\n\nFor too long, philosophy has narrowed the definition of meaningful living. Philosophers like Susan Wolf argue that meaning requires impact—you must change the world, influence others, leave your mark. This emphasis on self-transcendence through effects on the world has created an unspoken hierarchy of meaning.\n\nBut psychological research tells a different story. When researchers ask ordinary people what makes their lives meaningful, the answers are wonderfully diverse. Some find meaning in raising children. Others find it in pursuing hobbies—collecting, puzzles, crafts. Some find it in simple pleasures: good food, time with friends, moments of beauty. Psychologist Tatjana Schnell’s research on meaning-in-life identifies sources of meaning including “fun,” “comfort,” “freedom,” and even solitude—none of which require changing the world or transcending yourself.\n\nBy abandoning the search for objective values, we can stop insisting that only certain kinds of pursuits—artistic, intellectual, moral—count as meaningful. A person who finds deep satisfaction in lawn mower racing, collecting goldfish, or solving Sudoku puzzles isn’t living a meaningless life. They’re living according to what matters to them.\n\n## Benefit 2: Freedom from Elitism About Values\n\nHere’s a uncomfortable truth: philosophers tend to rate the pleasures of the intellect higher than the pleasures of the senses. John Stuart Mill’s famous claim that it’s “better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied” reflects this bias. But this prejudice isn’t universal—it’s cultural, shaped by the specific values philosophers happen to hold.\n\nOnce we recognize that our deepest convictions are cultural products—products of our upbringing, education, and historical moment—we can be more humble about judging others’ sources of meaning. This doesn’t mean all activities are equally worthwhile, or that moral judgments disappear. Rather, it means we can’t claim that our preference for intellectual pursuits or high art reflects objective truth about what’s valuable.\n\nA composer shouldn’t abandon music to become a lawn mower racer. But the composer should recognize that the racer’s satisfaction isn’t inherently inferior—it’s different, shaped by different values, not determined by a cosmic ranking of what matters.\n\n## Benefit 3: Making Peace with Death\n\nSince ancient times, philosophers have prescribed the cosmic perspective as a remedy for fear of death. Plato argued that contemplating eternity could ease our terror of dying. The logic seems sound: if your individual life is infinitesimal in cosmic time and space, does death really matter?\n\nBut the truly radical comfort comes from a different angle. If life has no objective value, then death isn’t the loss of something cosmically important. This might sound depressing, but Kügler points out something subtle: it actually makes death _less_ bad. Consider the alternative—a worldview in which life is objectively valuable, and death steals that value away. This kind of thinking transforms dying into an ontological collapse, a descent from value to worthlessness.\n\nBy contrast, accepting that death is the natural end of a biological process—neither good nor bad in any cosmic sense—simply makes it what it is. The transition from life to death is a physical fact, not a spiritual tragedy. This perspective can provide genuine comfort without requiring religious faith or denial of reality.\n\n## Benefit 4: Learning to Live in the Present\n\nLudwig Wittgenstein approached the problem of meaning differently. Rather than retreating from the cosmic perspective, he transformed it. In his Tractatus, he suggested that “if by eternity is understood not endless temporal duration but timelessness, then he lives eternally who lives in the present.”\n\nThis surprising reinterpretation points toward an ancient wisdom: the deepest experience of life happens when you stop worrying about meaning and simply become absorbed in the present moment. Psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi called this state “flow”—the holistic sensation of total involvement in an activity. When you’re in flow, you lose self-consciousness and temporal awareness. You aren’t thinking about the meaning of life; you’re too immersed in living.\n\nCsikszentmihalyi’s research shows that flow experiences are among the most satisfying moments of our lives. Whether you’re playing music, having a conversation, or working on a problem, these moments of complete engagement offer something more valuable than abstract meaning-making: they offer concrete, lived fulfillment.\n\nAccepting that life has no cosmic meaning removes a burden: you no longer need to justify your existence by some grand narrative. You can simply show up to the present moment and be fully there. Wittgenstein put it beautifully: “The man is fulfilling the purpose of existence who no longer needs to have any purpose except to live. That is to say, who is content.”\n\n## The Paradox of Meaninglessness\n\nWhat emerges from Kügler’s analysis is a paradox: the absence of objective meaning doesn’t lead to nihilism or despair. Instead, it opens space for richer, more authentic, more diverse forms of meaningful living. You’re free to pursue whatever genuinely matters to you—not because cosmic forces declare it valuable, but because you do. You can face death without ontological dread. You can live more fully in each moment, without the constant pressure to immortalize your existence through lasting impact.\n\nThe cosmic perspective doesn’t annihilate meaning. It clarifies what meaning actually is: a human creation, a project of valuation and care that we build together, in our relationships, our pursuits, and our moments of flow. This meaning is no less real for being ours rather than the universe’s.\n\n## Further Reading\n\n  * Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi — Explores how immersive engagement and optimal experience create satisfaction and meaning in daily life.\n  * The Meaning of Life Sub Specie Aeternitatis by Iddo Landau — Philosophical examination of how to find meaning when viewing life from the cosmic perspective.\n  * Sub Specie Aeternitatis — A Philosophical Meditation — Contemporary philosophical exploration of Spinoza’s concept and its relevance to modern life.\n  * The Psychology of Meaning in Life by Tatjana Schnell — Empirical research on the diverse sources of meaning that people report in their lives.\n  * Philosophy as a Way of Life by Pierre Hadot — Historical examination of how ancient philosophers saw philosophy not as abstract theory but as lived practice.\n\n",
  "title": "The Benefits of Living Without Objective Meaning"
}