Does Life Have Meaning? (Letters to Will)

by Leonard Swidler, Ph.D. (Grandfather)

Everyone struggles at times to answer important life questions. What is right and wrong? What is the meaning of life? Why do people believe different things? Professor Leonard Swidler, author of more than 100 books has explored these questions with many other professors across the world. Now, with his 15-year-old granddaughter, Will, he explores deep human issues, not with heavy language, but with thoughts and words from an experienced grandpa to his open-eyed, open-hearted granddaughter. In this first letter to Will, Len explores the critical importance of understanding basic words like “meaning” and “love”, whether life has meaning, or if we make its meaning. He does this by tracing the origins of words and phrases, and by drawing examples from philosophical schools, like existentialism and dualism. All of this culminates in an immensely appropriate question: Is love the meaning of life?