Short Essay on Question Three
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Richard Dawkins and Frank Tipler’s Views on the Definition of Life
God created life and gave meaning to it. He had a purpose for all His creation. However, Atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Frank Tipler believe that the purpose of life can be seen using science, but not religion. Richard Dawkins view on the definition of life is that life has no given meaning, its meaning is what you give it[1]. Dawkins begins his journey for the search of the meaning of life in the monastery, where he spends time with Cistercian monks. These monks tend to be happy, but Dawkins believes that they are living a sad life. Similarly, he goes to a Buddhist monastery and concludes that their life is also meaningless. With these two instances, Dawkins believes that both Buddhist and Christian monks were wasting their lives. His final answer to the definition of life is that people create their own meaning. Being an atheist, Dawkins asserts that anybody can do whatever he/she wants with life.
Frank Tipler, an atheist cosmologist, in his book, tries to give a physical reductionist twist on the language of old-style religion. He claims that modern physics comfort those that have lost loved ones or those who fear death. Therefore, in physics, immortality is a constant thesis on the domination of physics. He believes that for theology to survive, it has to be a branch of physics[2]. This claim is based on extreme reductionism. Thus, Frank Tipler’s view on the definition of life is that life is like the processing of information and the mind of human beings is complex computer software. He likens an individual with a computerized program that can go through the Turing test. The immortality claimed by Tipler is based on the postulate that once life comes into being, it continues forever. Although all lives depending on carbon have to perish, its successive embodiments are engineered by intelligence.
I can partially agree with Dawkins that people have some say in the meaning of their life. However, human beings are not masters of the meaning of life. The human being is never in control. Life has meaning because God created us for a purpose. Although God may give people a chance of finding extra meaning as they embrace their lives, he had a goal in mind when creating us. Failure to believe in God separates people from this purpose. Disbelieving in God doesn’t make people free, ad Tipler and Dawkin claim. Attempting to look for the meaning of life without God can be compared with viewing abstract art. The views of Tipler provide speculative tour de force. They create a form of cosmic babel tower, which eventually proves unsuccessful. With God being the artist of creation, he has instilled his works with meanings. What people should consider is just gaining a sense of meaning and purpose of life. The source of the purpose of life is not very essential here. Religion is one of the many channels that people may use to obtain a sense of the meaning of life.
Bibliography
Sahtouris, Elisabet, and Vladimir Vernadsky. “Omega Point Explained.”
Shaikh, Salman Ahmed Ahmed. “Exploring Meaning of Life.” Exploring Mean of Life, Islamic Economics Project (2017) (2017).
[1][1] Sahtouris, Elisabet, and Vladimir Vernadsky. “Omega Point Explained.”
[2] Shaikh, Salman Ahmed Ahmed. “Exploring Meaning of Life.” Exploring Mean of Life, Islamic Economics Project (2017) (2017).