Editing Meaning of life (section)

==Origin of the question==
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[[File:Σωκράτης, Ακαδημία Αθηνών 6616.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Socrates]]]]
[[Arthur Schopenhauer]] was the first to explicitly ask the question,<ref name=":8" /> in an essay entitled "Character".<blockquote>Since ''a man does not alter'', and his ''moral character'' remains absolutely the same all through his life; since he must play out the part which he has received, without the least deviation from the character; since neither experience, nor philosophy, nor religion can effect any improvement in him, the question arises, '''What is the meaning of life at all?''' To what purpose is it played, this farce in which everything that is essential is irrevocably fixed and determined?<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer: on Human Nature., by Arthur Schopenhauer |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10739/10739-h/10739-h.htm |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=www.gutenberg.org}}</ref></blockquote>Questions about the meaning of life, and similar, have been expressed in a broad variety of other ways, including:
* What is the meaning of life? What's it all about? Who are we?<ref name="Westphal">{{Cite book |author=Jonathan Westphal |title=Philosophical Propositions: An Introduction to Philosophy |publisher= Routledge |date=1998 |isbn=978-0-415-17053-6}}</ref><ref name="Nozick">{{Cite book |author=Robert Nozick |author-link=Robert Nozick |title=Philosophical Explanations |publisher=Harvard University Press |date=1981 |isbn=978-0-674-66479-1|title-link=Philosophical Explanations }}</ref><ref name="Baggini">{{Cite book |author=Julian Baggini |author-link=Julian Baggini |title=What's It All About? Philosophy and the Meaning of Life |publisher=Granta Books |year=2004 |location=US |isbn=978-1-86207-661-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/whatsitallaboutp0000bagg }}</ref>
* Why are we here? What are we here for?<ref name="Thiemann & Placher">{{Cite book |author=Ronald F. Thiemann |author-link=Ronald F. Thiemann |author2=William Carl Placher |author2-link=William Placher |title= Why Are We Here?: Everyday Questions and the Christian Life |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |date=1998 |isbn=978-1-56338-236-9}}</ref><ref name="Marcellino">{{Cite book |author=Dennis Marcellino |title=Why Are We Here?: The Scientific Answer to this Age-old Question (that you don't need to be a scientist to understand) |publisher=Lighthouse Pub |date=1996 |isbn=978-0-945272-10-6}}</ref><ref name="Hua">{{Cite book |author=Hsuan Hua |title=Words of Wisdom: Beginning Buddhism |publisher=Dharma Realm Buddhist Association |date=2003 |isbn=978-0-88139-302-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/wordsofwisdomv1b0000hsua }}</ref>
* What is the [[origin of life]]?<ref name="Davies">{{Cite book|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/d/davies-miracle.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010616025035/http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/d/davies-miracle.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 June 2001 |title=The Fifth Miracle: The Search for the Origin and Meaning of Life |year= 2000 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-0-684-86309-2 |author=Paul Davies |author-link=Paul Davies |access-date=17 September 2016 }}</ref>
* What is the nature of life? What is the nature of [[reality]]?<ref name="Davies" /><ref name="Christiansen & Baum & Bass-Haugen">{{Cite book |author1=Charles Christiansen |author2=Carolyn Manville Baum |author3=Julie Bass-Haugen |title=Occupational Therapy: Performance, Participation, and Well-Being |publisher=SLACK Incorporated |date=2005 |isbn=978-1-55642-530-1}}</ref><ref name="Walker">{{Cite book |author=Evan Harris Walker |author-link=Evan Harris Walker |title=The Physics of Consciousness: The Quantum Mind and the Meaning of Life |publisher=Perseus Books |date=2000 |isbn=978-0-7382-0436-9}}</ref>
* What is the purpose of life? What is the purpose of one's life?<ref name="Christiansen & Baum & Bass-Haugen" /><ref name="WITMOL">{{cite web |title=Question of the Month: What Is The Meaning of Life? |work=[[Philosophy Now]] |publisher=Issue 59 |url=http://www.philosophynow.org/issue59/59question.htm |access-date=26 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824210257/http://www.philosophynow.org/issue59/59question.htm |archive-date=24 August 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Krishnamurti">{{Cite book |author=Jiddu Krishnamurti |author-link=Jiddu Krishnamurti |title=What Are You Doing With Your Life? |publisher=Krishnamurti Foundation of America |date=2001 |isbn=978-1-888004-24-3}}</ref>
* What is the significance of life?<ref name="Krishnamurti" /> (See also [[#Psychological significance and value in life]])
* What is meaningful and valuable in life?<ref name="UIUC">{{cite web|last=Puolimatka |first=Tapio |author2=Airaksinen, Timo |title=Education and the Meaning of Life |work=Philosophy of Education |publisher=[[University of Helsinki]] |date=2002 |url=http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/EPS/PES-Yearbook/2001/tapio%2001.pdf |access-date=26 July 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926154148/http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/EPS/PES-Yearbook/2001/tapio%2001.pdf |archive-date=26 September 2007 }}</ref>
* What is the [[value of life]]?<ref name="Van Hooft">{{Cite book |author=Stan Van Hooft |title=Life, Death, and Subjectivity: Moral Sources in Bioethics |publisher=Rodopi |date=2004 |isbn=978-90-420-1912-6}}</ref>
* What is the reason to live? What are we living for?<ref name="Hua" /><ref name="Shafer-Landau & Cuneo">{{Cite book |author=Russ Shafer-Landau |author2=Terence Cuneo |title=Foundations of Ethics: An Anthology |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |date=2007 |isbn=978-1-4051-2951-0}}</ref>

These questions have resulted in a wide range of competing answers and explications, from [[scientific]] theories, to [[philosophical]], [[theological]], and [[spirituality|spiritual]] explanations.