Mind the Definition

     I recently read a list of "philosophical questions".  It was interesting. The first thing I noticed was that in the twenty to thirty questions posed, all of them dealt with meaning, purpose, happiness, and love as related to life.  

     Fifty-two years ago I was in a philosophy class where the professor told the class that he would give an "A" to any student who could define the opposite to love no matter what their grade average might be. Heading toward graduate school the next year, I really wanted that "A".  I did get an "A" in the class but not because I showed the opposite to love.  It didn't take me long to realize that there isn't an opposite to love. There was no way to make the definitions work. 

     The only reason I tell this story is that so many of these philosophical questions are really unanswerable. For starters, let's talk about definitions. The Greeks wisely have seven words that can be translated into English as love, depending what one is trying to describe.  

     In English we can't really define the word "meaning".  I was taught that when you define something you never, ever use the word being defined in the definition. One of the internet definitions (I believe it was probably from Google) said that meaning is what is meant. Well, isn't that just helpful.  The word "meaning" is used in at least three different ways in English.  

     We can play the same game with all of the above words and all of the questions in the list. What is purpose?  What is happiness, love and life? 

     The hardest part of any philosophical discussion, debate or thesis is the definitions. I had a few years in my life where I supervised doctoral candidates. I had a horrible time trying to get this truth across. There is never anything easy about definition. If I go out into the woods hunting for food you can rightly say that I have a purpose, but does that mean that my life has a purpose if you define purpose as a spiritual or philosophical goal of seeking fulfillment, whatever fulfillment means? 

     What makes this so very frustrating is that we absolutely can not make an intelligible statement without defining the words, especially abstract concepts. However, I must admit that, since my 1968 encounter with definition, this is one aspect of philosophy that intrigues me most.  Go figure ... whatever that means. LOL.