TheMeaningofLife
阿爾弗雷德·阿德勒/AlfredAdler
Ifweaskedsomeone,「Whatisthemeaningoflife?」Hewouldprobablybeunabletoanswer.Forthemostpart,peopledonottroublethemselveswiththequestionortrytoformulateanyanswers.Itistruethatthequestionisasoldashumanityitselfandthatinourowntimeyoungpeople—andolderpeopletoo—willsometimesdemand,「Butwhatislifefor?Whatdoeslifemean?」Itisfairtosay,however,thattheyonlyaskthesequestionswhentheyhavesufferedsomesortofsetback.Solongaslifeissmoothsailingandtheyarenotconfrontingdifficulttests,thequestionisneverputintowords.Itis,rather,inhisactionsthateachpersoninevitablyposesthesequestionsandanswers.Ifweclosedourearstowordsandconcentratedonobservingactions,wewouldfindthateachpersonhasformulatedhisownindividual「meaningoflife」andthatallhisopinions,attitudes,movements,expressions,mannerisms,ambitions,habits,andcharactertraitsareinaccordancewiththismeaning.Eachpersonbehavesasifhecouldrelyuponacertaininterpretationoflife.Inallhisactions,thereisanimplicitsummingupoftheworldandofhimself.Theverdict,「Iamlikethisandtheuniverseislikethat,」hasameaninggiventohimselfandameaningascribedtolife.
Thereareasmanymeaningsascribedtolifeastherearehumanbeings,andperhaps,eachmeaningismistakentosomeextent.Nooneknowstheabsolutemeaningoflife,andthusanyinterpretationthatisatallserviceablecannotbecalledabsolutelywrong.Allmeaningsarevariationsbetweenthesetwolimits.Amongthesevariations,however,wecandistinguishsomethatworkwellandsomethatarelesseffective;somewherethemistakeissmallandsomewhereitislarge.Wecandiscoverwhatitisthatthebetterinterpretationshaveincommonandwhatitisthatthelesssatisfactoryinterpretationslack.Wecanderivefromtheseacommonmeasureofthetruth,acommonmeaning,whichenablesustodecipherrealityinsofarasitconcernshumankind.Again,wemustbearinmindthattruemeanstrueforhumankind,trueforthepurposeandaimsofhumanbeings.Thereisnoothertruththanthis.Evenifanothertruthexisted,itwouldnotconcernus.Wecouldneverknowit;itwouldbemeaningless.