Is it possible for us to create a purpose?

[Gambit]

Many atheists are inclined to argue that the only purpose we have is that which we create for ourselves. But creating a purpose qualifies as a purpose in and of itself. IOW, whatever is driving the atheist to create a purpose is itself a purpose which the atheist him- or herself did not create.

Question: Is it possible for us to create a purpose without acting on some higher purpose (which we ourselves did not create)?

"The good is what all desire." - St. Thomas Aquinas

 

[Deathbydefault]

Your life only holds the purpose you give it on a 1st person sort of level.
There is no objective standard purpose that I can think of, and there really doesn't need to be.

 

[Augustus]

I'd say it is much more difficult not to create a purpose.

Creating and seeing purposes where none objectively exist is pretty much what we human animals do with ourselves.

 

[Rick O'Shez]

People create all kinds of purposes for themselves, many of which are not related to religion.

 

[LuisDantas]

Is it possible for us to create a purpose without acting on some higher purpose (which we did not create)?

Obviously.

 

[Mycroft]

Is this a trick question?

 

[Jumi]

Of course we can and have.

 

[Tumah]

I don't really understand the question.
Like, can I purpose my car for going to the store without having previously decided to use my car to pick my kids up from school?

 

[Riverwolf]

I'd say it is much more difficult not to create a purpose.

Creating and seeing purposes where non objectively exist is pretty much what we human animals do with ourselves.

Yeah. Pretty much that.

Frankly, if someone's having trouble with creating such a purpose for themselves, that's a very worrying sign that said person could be suffering from depression and should seek help. I speak from experience.

 

[Rick O'Shez]

I would like to have a porpoise in my life, but my bath isn't big enough.

 

[Windwalker]

Is it possible for us to create a purpose without acting on some higher purpose (which we did not create)?

If you are careful not to define this "some higher purpose" as some already preexisting specific form from eternity as in a Platonic sense of form, i.e., the ideal man, "man in his essence", but rather that there is some eternal reason for us to create the forms that emerge, finding our own purpose, then yes. We create these, but not in a vacuum. There is obviously some desire within us to create these, and that is what draws all life to itself, to create ideas of purpose, which serve us in creating ourselves in self-amplifying loops in service of life itself. Do we create that desire for no reason, "Just because"?

"The good is what all desire." - St. Thomas Aquinas

Yes.

 

[Oldsoul]

I would like to have a porpoise in my life, but my bath isn't big enough.

Eww!!

 

[A Vestigial Mote]

Is it possible for us to create a purpose without acting on some higher purpose (which we did not create)?

As a little kid I never contemplated my "purpose" for even a split second.

As a boy/adolescent I put myself into my studies - I had judged most of my peers at school to be basic douches, but I had great parents and a fantastic family life, so my "purpose" was doing well by them.

In high school I wanted very much for my purpose to be getting attentions from those of the opposite sex. When that didn't really work all that well I instead focused on getting into college.

In college my purpose was to do well, graduate and get a job that could sustain me and the woman of my dreams - wherever she was.

Once I found my wife, my purpose was to protect her, sustain her comfort and continually garner her love by showing her my own.

When I had children, my purpose was augmented to include bringing them up as champions, protecting them, and loving them until my heart stopped beating.

So you see... my "purpose" has changed/shifted over the course of my life. From not having one at all (and not caring one lick that I didn't) to having what I deem the greatest purpose one can achieve - giving yourself in service to another out of pure, unadulterated love. Who "gave" me this/these purposes? I did. I did.

 

[Gambit]

If you are careful not to define this "some higher purpose" as some already preexisting specific form from eternity as in a Platonic sense of form, i.e., the ideal man, "man in his essence", but rather that there is some eternal reason for us to create the forms that emerge, finding our own purpose, then yes. We create these, but not in a vacuum. There is obviously some desire within us to create these, and that is what draws all life to itself, to create ideas of purpose, which serve us in creating ourselves in self-amplifying loops in service of life itself. Do we create that desire for no reason, "Just because"?

I think we are in agreement. The "higher purpose" is to desire the good.

 

[Gambit]

I don't really understand the question.

Many atheists are inclined to argue that the only purpose we have is that which we create for ourselves. But creating a purpose qualifies as a purpose in and of itself. IOW, whatever is driving the atheist to create a purpose is itself a purpose that the atheist did not create for him- or herself.

 

[Parsimony]

I think we are in agreement. The "higher purpose" is to desire the good.

What do you mean when you say "desire the good"? You mean our innate tendency to seek out things that give us pleasure? Or do you mean moral goodness?

 

[A Vestigial Mote]

... whatever is driving the atheist to create a purpose is itself a purpose that the atheist did not create for him- or herself.

I admit that you are right. I did not create the intellectual drive nor emotional desire to seek a "purpose". Doesn't mean a god did either.

 

[ArtieE]

Many atheists are inclined to argue that the only purpose we have is that which we create for ourselves. But creating a purpose qualifies as a purpose in and of itself. IOW, whatever is driving the atheist to create a purpose is itself a purpose that the atheist did not create for him- or herself.

Question: Is it possible for us to create a purpose without acting on some higher purpose (which we ourselves did not create)?

"The good is what all desire." - St. Thomas Aquinas

Well, since we evolved a survival instinct and an instinct to multiply our purpose is obviously to survive and perpetuate the species.

 

[ArtieE]

So you see... my "purpose" has changed/shifted over the course of my life. From not having one at all (and not caring one lick that I didn't) to having what I deem the greatest purpose one can achieve - giving yourself in service to another out of pure, unadulterated love. Who "gave" me this/these purposes? I did. I did.

Evolution gave you the survival instinct and the instinct to procreate. You just followed your instincts.

 

[Gambit]

What do you mean when you say "desire the good"? You mean our innate tendency to seek out things that give us pleasure? Or do you mean moral goodness?

I mean that which we believe or understand to be good (regardless of what form it may take).