ABSTRACT
What makes our life meaningful? Different philosophical approaches propose different ways to gauge issues, including: why something is meaningful in our life; how that meaning is produced; and why it is valuable to follow the meaning generated through a certain pipeline. At the core of Owen Flanagan’s naturalism lies a question: Is a meaningful life possible when we do not assume a transcendental or supernatural power as a source of the meaning structure? In this chapter, the author wishes to demonstrate that seemingly different philosophical approaches share a common ground in their approaches to the so-called meaningful life. The author will examine some major tenets of Flanagan’s naturalism and consider how they share some insights with Jacques Derrida’s deconstruction of metaphysics. The author will also propose that Zen Buddhist ethics share ideas with Flanagan’s naturalist ethics and Derrida’s deconstructive approach to ethics. In conclusion, the author claims that transcendence or metaphysics is not a necessary condition for finding the meaning of existence, and Flanagan’s naturalism, Derrida’s deconstruction, and Zen Buddhism show us how we produce meaning of existence without relying on a transcendental power and without being pessimistic.
