Life
[gL.edu] This article gathers contributions by Patrik Veraja, developed within the context of the Conceptual clarification about "Information, Knowledge and Philosophy", under the supervisión of J.M. Díaz Nafría.
Abstract
In the search to understand life we will first take a look at how all life on earth started. Secondly the definition of it, which comes in all kinds of forms from philosophers of the ancient days to modern definitions in many different sciences which will also explain in more depth the differences between living and nonliving objects. Lastly it will be discussed what the purpose of life is, which has been defined by many philosophers of different times. A lot of great minds gave this question a lot of thought, yet it is always a vague journey that is different for all of us.
Overview
Everyone knows what life is, we can easily differentiate between living and nonliving things. But it is surprisingly difficult to define life without exception. Many have tried before and nowadays we have many different definitions used by different branches of science or legislation. Defining the meaning or purpose of it is a question a lot of philosophers also tried to answer, and their views are often very different from one another.
The Begining of Life
Life on earth is believed to have started about 3,7 Billion years ago. For this to happen the environment needed to be liquid in our case water was perfect for this and there were multiple necessary elements and a constant source of energy. These elements built compounds that know how to grow and later separate, making it the first process of multiplying. For the next 3,7 Billion years there were many new and different compounds that kept growing more complex are larger creating all life we know of today.
Definition of Life
The first step to defining “Life” is comparing things that we know are alive, such as animals and plants, to inanimate objects that we know aren’t alive. But finding indefinite differences is a lot harder than it may seem.
Philosophical Definition
One of the first definitions of life comes from ancient Greece during the 5th century BCE, more specifically from the Greek philosopher Aristotle. He stated that life is a “form of self-motion, perpetuation, or self-alteration”. These were simple observations of his surroundings, yet this definition would dictate that for example seeds before plantation aren’t alive since they have no form of motion or alteration until planted. It wasn’t a definition that fit for every living organism or excluded every nonliving organism, but it was sufficient for the times as the understanding of our environment was very limited.
Scientific Definition
A lot of sciences need a set definition of life, yet certain characteristics that animate objects display are more relevant in some sciences and a lot less in others. Therefore, a lot of sciences use their own definitions which are best suited to their observation areas.
A renowned Austrian physicist Schrödinger tried to explain Life itself using research done in many different fields such as biology, chemistry and of course physics. He held many lectures in his times about his findings on life and his works have been summarized in a book named “What is Life?”. In his works he talks about the relevance of evolution to all living beings. As well as atoms, which although very disorderly by themselves and not living can connect and create systems that have DNA and follow specific physical rules. Schrödinger did not give his own definition of life, but his statements helped shape the definitions in many scientific fields.
Physiology is a branch of biology that studies functions of living organisms and their parts. In Physiology life is defined as “… a system capable of preforming a number of [specific] functions”. This definition has been the most popular and was also adopted by Oxford University which defines life as “the ability to breathe, grow, produce young, etc. that people, animals and plants have before they die and that objects do not have”, making this the Linguistic definition of life as well. This definition is criticized, because a lot of living things do not have the ability to perform every function stated, and some inanimate systems are able to perform one or more, making the line between the two unclear. If only going off this definition it would be hard to tell the two apart in certain situations.
Biologists that use metabolism as a base determinant tend to define life as objects that continually exchange materials and energy with their surroundings to keep themselves alive. Metabolism is divided into anabolism, the process of making complex molecules and substances out of simpler ones using energy, and catabolism, the reverse process where energy is released by breaking down molecules. Both anabolism and catabolism are observable in all lifeforms. But there are inanimate systems that imitate metabolism, and it is hard to test certain lifeform for metabolism, that’s why this definition isn’t used as the universal one although metabolism is a great criterion for life.
Biochemists use a very simple and compact definition that states a life form is a chemical system that contains hereditary information (DNA). NASA also uses a similar definition which describes living systems as capable of Darwinian evolution. It has been proven since that there are certain organisms that don’t use DNA but rather RNA. The two are similar but differ in their composition. This is quite a definite way of telling life from nonlife apart since every living organism possesses either DNA or RNA.
Legal Definition
The definition of life in United States legislation is “Life is the state of being which begins with generation, birth, or germination, and ends with death or the state of an animal or plant in which all or any of its organs are capable of performing all or any of their functions.”. This definition is very specific, it also defines death which is very practical for use in court situations. But it does have a few flaws such as momentary death would by this definition be the same as indefinite death, and freezing living things would mean their death even if they return to their original state after being unfrozen.
Meaning of Life
A lot of Philosophers tried to explain what the purpose of life is. This is an almost impossible question to answer, because the purpose of life is very vague and subjective. The purpose or meaning of life is different for everyone if there even is a set purpose at all. Still many Philosophers had definitive answers to this question all throughout history. Ranging from Socrates in the 5th century BCE to multiple modern philosophers such as Sartre in the 19th century.
Early explanations
In the 5th century BCE Socrates was the first philosopher who tried to explain the meaning of life. Although he never wrote down his works, they were eternalized by his pupil Plato. Socrates saw life as an opportunity given to all of us to better ourselves and hone our skills both personally and spiritually. It took a lot of chiseling of one’s character throughout life for it to be considered a fulfilled life. But when asked he would sum it up in a rather simple way saying only “the meaning of life should be both personal and spiritual”. Accordingly, he believed that a life that is unknown to oneself cannot be considered a fulfilled one. His student Plato took lots of inspiration from his teacher, but he wasn’t happy with the vagueness of the answer to the meaning of life. He found his own definition and stated that “Achieving the Highest form of knowledge” is the meaning of life, because only through this can we understand how all good and just things are to be evaluated.
Aristotle disagreed with Plato’s statement, as he saw a flaw in knowledge as a meaning. He stated that knowledge is not certain to be good and if a person was to be virtuous, he couldn’t achieve that just by collecting knowledge, but he would have to act in virtuous ways. Aristotle also argued that every action Has a goal and many goals have their own further leading goals and the only thing breaking this infinite chain of goals is happiness. Therefore, every action in some way, shape or form is supposed to lead one to happiness, making happiness itself the meaning and purpose of life.
A pupil of Aristotle, Antisthenes believed that happiness is a product of mastering the mental attitude. Instead of happiness he saw virtue as the main purpose of life. His sense of virtue was based on the cynical belief that humas should revert to a more natural way of living by rejecting desires for wealth, fame and power. Also believing that suffering is caused primarily by false judgement of value and worth.
According to Epicurus, who was a pupil of Plato, the meaning of life is seeking modest pleasures. He explained that modest pleasure does not refer to wine and other delicacies of luxury, nor Lust but to freedom of pain and freedom of fear. He also stated that there was no afterlife and yet we have no reason to fear death, for death is without sensation making it simply nothing to us.
Enlightment explanation
During this Era the meaning of life shifted away from religion and one’s own interests, towards making a society that would be the most pleasant for the individuals that comprise it. Making the most valued ideas of the time love, compassion, freedom and unity.
Immanuel Kant was one of the most influential thinkers of this era and he stated that to live a good life people need to universalize a maxim (a generalization of how everyone should act). Meaning nobody should do any wrong to others if he wishes not to be treated this way himself. Kant also believed that consequences do not influence the morality of and act, arguing that we can never completely predict the physical world and therefore one is not to be held accountable for unexpected events that may interfere with the original plan.
Classical liberalism was also a different social set of ideas where it was believed that it would be in everybody’s interest to cast humas as beings with certain natural rights. This would balance out society across all the social standings. Making individual liberty and safety one of the most important parts of life in a society.
Modern explanation
Schopenhauer was one of the first western philosophers who brought back the question “What is the meaning of life”, which inspired thought in many 19th and 20th century philosophers. He himself thought of life as being merely the will to live that all living organisms have. He also described this will as egoistic and explained that the purpose of life is suffering, stating that we must fight through many horrible situations and overcome many burdens just because there’s something in us that wants us to persevere, the so called “will to live”.
Another Philosopher of the times named Jeremy Bentham described the purpose of life in a more utilitarian way, stating that the meaning of life is “greatest happiness principle”. The principle dictated that good is what brings pleasure and happiness to the greatest amount of people. Even if this means pain for few, if the majority benefits it’s a good deed which is a very simple yet often unjust way of thinking.
Nietzsche was a German philosopher who introduced the nihilist view on life and described life as being full of hardship and void of any overall meaning or purpose. On the other hand, he did explain that dealing with said hardships and struggles is what reinforces our experience and character and to this day the phrase “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is often credited to him. Nietzsche also gave a freeing definition to meaning of life saying that everyone needs to live life “authentically and powerfully” and that people should focus more on “creating the values which are beneficial for society”.
Sartre had a similar view and believed that there is no set purpose of life, that everyone should set their own goals and purpose with their resources and their own freedom. Much like Nietzsche he argued that life is filled with anxiety and responsibility with which many hardships come and overcoming those makes us conscious beings. Sartre also stated that our lives and our futures are in our hands, and building a better future is dependent on us.
Absurdists took yet another different view on this question, they believe the quest for the meaning of life is an unsolvable dilemma. Stating that the universe is meaningless and the search for meaning can only lead one astray. Kierkegaard and Camus have stated three solutions to these dilemmas. The first being suicide which viability was dismissed as it does not solve the problem but only releases one of the responsibility given by their curiosity. The second being a religious path where one believes in the existence of a reality beyond. And the third being acceptance of the absurd where one understands that there is no meaning, yet he lives despite this belief.
Refrences
1. Carl Sagan(2022) Life. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from: https://www.britannica.com/science/life[21.12.2022]
2. Carlos Mariscal(2021) Life. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/life/[18.12.2022]
3. Cambridge University Press "Schrödinger What is Life?"(1944)
4. Oxford University Press(n/a) Life. Oxford Learners Dictionaries. Retrieved from: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/life_1[19.12.2022]
5. Søren Kirkegaard "The sickness Unto Death"(1849)
6. Thaddeus Metz(2021) The Meaning of Life. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/life/[17.12.2022]