Value and Meaning - Essay Example

Nozick also states that as human beings, we are always looking for a way to find unity and value and to make ourselves and our lives valuable. He says that we also want our lives and ourselves to have this organic unity (165). He says that the diversity comes to us from us wanting to do a myriad of things with our lives and to take in many different ideas and activities. This means that some of us will have meaning from things that are intrinsic to our selves (e.g. deep meaning within us) while others will see value and meaning in those things that are outside ourselves.

Value can have many meanings. Nozick suggests that value is something intrinsic in an individual or in a thing. Value is within someones own boundaries while meaning is something that is connected beyond the specific boundaries that people have within their lives (166). He suggests that meaning is limited by the way that people think of it. People are concerned that meaning has limits and therefore it does. This translates to people thinking that their lives are limited. In order to actually find true meaning for someones life they must understand that there are no limits and that they can do whatever they want in order for their life to have the meaning that they seek (166).

However, meaning can also be integrated into value if we connect with things that we also feel are important to us. He says that we also see limitations because we know that we will ultimately die and this will be the ending of us. Even the universe will eventually change its form by dying in some sort of massive heat, which ultimately brings its destruction. In my opinion, it is difficult to get past the limitations that we set in our lives because of this believe that things must be limited.

A lot of self-help books and other materials state that we are not limited and we have only to understand this so that we can live a life of abundance and prosperity; the challenge is that most people do not believe