Josh Glasgow explores what it means to live a meaningful life in his article, ‘The Ordinary Meaningful Life‘ published in the Journal of the American Philosophical Association. The blog is written by author Josh Glasgow and the article is free to access until the end of February 2023.

At least in certain cultures, many people seem to value being important.  It is supposed to be a good thing if you become a U.S. President who ends a war or a Nobel-winning novelist who reimagines literature or a scientist who cures a terrible disease. 

But why is this good?  Why should we seek importance?

There do seem to be moral reasons to be important.  If you can cure an illness, improve our literary lives, or end a war, you should, because it is the morally right thing to do. 

But many people seem to want to be important for more self-interested reasons.  They want to be important not just for morality or the greater good, but also because it is good for them personally.  We tell our kids that they could be President one day, and we say that with excitement, as if it would be good for the child to accomplish that.  We ourselves sometimes seek to do important things, as though this improves our own lives.

But is it really in our own personal interests—leaving morality and other “impersonal” goods aside—to be important?  What interest is served by being especially significant?

The most obvious interest we have in being important may be the downstream benefits that society attaches to important feats.  Jonas Salk gets our adoration for curing polio.  Toni Morrison gets recognition and financial rewards for her novels.  Joe Biden gets free rides wherever he goes. 

But many want to be important for reasons that float free of those rewards.  Even if they don’t get the fame or the fortune, some want to do something important anyway, just because that’s a better life than a merely ordinary life.  They’d rather be special than ordinary.  In particular, being important is supposed to make for an especially meaningful life. 

“Meaning in the Ordinary Life” tries to chip away at that instinct.  It argues that the extraordinary life is no more meaningful than the ordinary life.  Of course, to know if that is true, we have to answer what it is to be important, and what gives our lives meaning.  If the article is correct, any plausible answer to those questions is going to lead us to the conclusion that ordinary lives are just as meaningful as those lives with enormous significance.  From the perspective of securing a meaningful life, we have no reason to be especially important.

Read the full article here: ‘The Ordinary Meaningful Life‘