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Ideas

Does the meaning we make still count

If life has no built-in purpose, does the meaning we make for ourselves still count? Some say yes. Nihilists say nothing matters in the end.

What it is

Suppose there is no purpose written into the universe, no plan, no judge, nobody keeping score. Does that make everything pointless? Or can the meaning people make for themselves, through love, work, curiosity and care, still count for something real? Nihilism, in the form that concerns life, says that nothing matters in the end. The opposing view says that this conclusion does not follow.

It is the hardest version of the question about meaning, because it asks whether made meaning is a real thing or a comforting story we tell ourselves.

The main views

  • Nihilism. Life has no intrinsic meaning or value. People give different reasons: that objective values do not exist, or that human lives are too small to matter from the point of view of the universe.
  • Meaning still counts. The lack of a purpose for the universe does not mean the lack of meaning in a life. What we care about and do can matter here, now, to the people involved.
  • Make it, with commitment. Existentialists such as Sartre and Camus urge passionate commitment, free choice and defiance in the face of silence. Nietzsche proposed working through nihilism, not stopping at it.

An example

Think of someone who teaches children to read. In a billion years nothing about it will be remembered. A nihilist says that makes it pointless. Someone on the other side says that its not being remembered in a billion years has no bearing on what it does for those children this year, and that meaning does not need to be eternal to be real.

Why people still disagree

  • Is made meaning enough? If a thing is meaningful just because someone cares about it, then collecting string or counting hairs would be meaningful too. Many people think meaning needs something more than caring.
  • The cost of nihilism. Critics say that if nothing matters, there are no guidelines for how to act, and power alone can decide. Defenders say that a person can face this honestly and still choose to live well.
  • Different claims. Saying there is no cosmic purpose is one claim. Saying that nothing at all matters is another. A great deal of the argument is about whether the first leads to the second.

Written by epchē in our own words, and checked against independent sources on 8 October 2026. The sources are listed below.

Philosophies that answer it

Where each philosophy leans on this question, from the same positions the walk uses.

Nothing matters in the end

What we make of life matters

Sources we used

Where do you stand? Take the walk

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