Punctuating Life's Message: A Grammatical-Philosophical Exercise on the Quest for Meaning

Abstract

The meaning of life has preoccupied the minds of many throughout the ages. In this article, the authors turn to their respective disciplines (literature and philosophy) and provide an interdisciplinary reflection on this fundamental concern. The claim that is made is that life presents us with a challenge: it can become a ‘sentence’ on us or it can be regarded as ‘a series of sentences’ which contain a message. However, just as in grammar, it is necessary to insert the proper punctuation marks to be able to make sense of the grouping of words in a sentence, so in life it is important to create ‘punctuating moments’ to facilitate the reading of life’s message. The paper makes use of lessons that can be drawn from the study of literature and philosophy in understanding and interpreting the human quest for meaning in life. It also shows how religion can have a positive contribution to this task. Article in English