73%
Confidence
Belief overview
Meaning of life without theistic transcendence
Meaning of life can be built in relationships, projects, knowledge, and human responsibility.
3
Supportive
0
Contrary
0
Neutral
What it is: Atheism usually affirms that the absence of God does not eliminate the possibility of meaning.
How the position understands it: Meaning can be found in love, creation, science, art, justice, care, freedom, and collective or personal projects.
Argumentative basis and context: The theme appears in secular humanism, existentialism, and contemporary lay ethics.
Debates and variations: Some currents defend constructed meaning; others accept a certain cosmic absurdity without normative despair.
Documentary evidence
Supportive
Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus
A central work on absurdity and meaning without transcendence.
Reference: Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus.
Content: Camus confronts the question of the absurd and argues for lucidity and revolt without recourse to a theistic transcendent meaning.
Use in debate: It is important for debates about the meaning of life without God.
Humanist Manifesto III
A contemporary document of secular humanism.
Reference: Humanist Manifesto III.
Content: The text affirms human dignity, ethical responsibility, reason, and the pursuit of well-being without normative theism.
Use in debate: It is central to contemporary secular humanism.
Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism
The absence of God is articulated with radical human responsibility.
Reference: Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism.
Content: Sartre maintains that, without God, the human being must assume freedom and responsibility for values and choices.
Use in debate: It is an important source for the meaning of life and ethics without theistic transcendence.