The Philosophy of Meaning of Life - Thesis Example

Certainty is very important for Descartes, and he gives great importance to reason and thinking. (Descartes, 145-50) Here we see that Descartes agrees with Plato in the sense that he wants to reach a certain truth. On the other hand, by the proposition, he is the first philosopher, who puts the subject in the context of philosophy. The subject was something, which Plato ignored. Thus, we can claim that Descartes is the one, who started the transition from the objective to the subjective.Husserl says that the task of philosophy that we saw in Plato and Descartes was to reach something objective, unchanging and certain.

But he claims that we, human beings are subjective rather than objective, and changing. We have self-determination that differentiates each of us from the others, we have freedom, and we are historical beings that have cultural values, traditions that also determine who we are. (Solomon, 310-20) This implies that if we search for something objective and unchanging, we have to ignore all the things that are different in all humans, and search for something that is common and same irrespective of time and space.

(Descartes, 198-202) But if we ignore them, then it is impossible to understand the problems that are related to human existence, and the world. (Beardsley, 118-22) He asks but can the world, and human existence in it, truthfully have a meaning if the sciences recognize as true only what is objectively established in the fashion?What Husserl is complaining about is briefly an explanation of what modern philosophy deals with. Modern philosophy questions the existence of a certain, objective truth rather than accepting that it exists and reaching it.

(Husserl, 59-63) According to modern philosophers, there is no objective truth as claimed, and therefore what we can do is to stop searching for something that does not exist and take the subjectivity into account. Kierkegaard is one of the remarkable modern philosophers. He gives significant importance to the individual and the free choice. He distinguishes the singular and the universal.