The Impossibility of Meaninglessness

It’s no secret there’s a trend in the Western world towards meaninglessness and nihilism. Talk to any college aged teen and you’ll see they’re hard pressed to find a good reason to care about anything bigger than themselves or they know someone else that’s in that boat. Some possible causes are the dramatic rise in depression and anxiety or that old religious and communal institutions that provided a structure to make sense of the tragedies of life no longer speak to many. No matter the reason, to weather the storms life is filled with, a deeply held belief in meaning is key to turning back the tide. This class provides one paradoxical way to finding meaning that can only be found in suffering.