On the meaning of life: A Book of Will Durant for generations

On the meaning of life: A Book  of Will Durant for generations

Will Durant was a philosopher and historian. At the end of the 1930 in front of his house at New York, a well -dressed unknown person has approached Will Durant and asked him in a quite tone,” what is the meaning of life?’ and also told him to provide him valid philosophical reasons to live in this world, otherwise, he will  kill himself. Will Durant tried to give some quick reasons to the meaning of life but that man left and was not seen again. It was a difficult for him to explain to stranger and convince him not to commit suicide.

From Yogesh Gogwekar

It was a dilemma or there would have been more important questions than this. The simplest meaning of life is joy. Many academics and sages have tried to get proper reply to this eternal query. The question what is the meaning of life?  implies many other questions like why are we here? Is there any God? If so, why do we suffer so much?   After answering the reasons in philosophical ways to a desperate person whom Durant never saw again, he sat down and penned a letter from philosophical and poetical way by appealing many intellectuals across the land, asking them to provide the answer to the meaning of life. He sent this letter to Artists, Writers, Scientists, Educators, Political and religious leaders, Sport persons, philosophers and even to the prisoners. He wrote, “ Spare me a moment to tell me what meaning life has for you, what keeps you going, what help---if any –religion gives you, what are the sources of your inspiration and your energy, what is the goal or motive-force of your toil, where you find your consolations and your happiness , where,  in the last resort, your treasure lies?”.

He wrote this letter to nearly 100 personalities and many of them reverted in positive way by expressing joyous exaltation on how to make life more meaningful.  The responses received from Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, H. L. Menken (Writer and Naturalist Theodore Dreiser), Sinclair Lewis (A noble prize winner for literature ), John Erskine (Novelist of Columbia), Charles A Beard (most influential historian in American history), the poet John Cowper Powys, Dr. Charles Mayo ( founder of Mayo Clinic), English psychologist and author Havelock Elis , Helen Wills Moody (greatest tennis player), great play-wright George Bernard Shaw, noble prize winner of philosophy Bertrand Russel and also from Owen C Middleton, a life time Convict 79206 from Sing Sing Prison, New York.

All these replies had been grouped into chapters based on their categories. These are grouped under the men of letters, the religionists, the women, entertainers, artists, scientists, educators and the skeptics in a way that reader will feel interesting to read.  Some respondents had given important to their work because they felt that they had achieved their task by putting all their efforts in the best possible way. Some respondents pointed that human being knew hardly anything. They concluded that life is meaning less based on so little information.

In this book, Will Durant concluded that,” those of us who wish to live consciously, to know the works and praise the best, must meet these doubts if we are to maintain any longer our pretence to a life of reason”. He further said that, “It is not merely the War of 1914 that has plunged us into pessimism, much less the economic depression of these recent years; we have to do here with something far deeper than a temporary diminution of our wealth, or even the death of 26,000,000 men;  it is not our homes and our treasuries that are empty, it is our 'hearts.' It seems impossible any longer to believe in the permanent greatness of man, or to give life a meaning that cannot be annulled by death. We move into an age of spiritual exhaustion and despondency like that which hungered for the birth of Christ”.

This book is really applicable to Toda’s world. This book stated that all hopes of the enlightenment is Science and Science is free to remake the world. All technicians are using science to transform the earth and Philosophers are also using science to transform the universe. Universities are our greatest institutions which help us to create inventions. They offer us new ideas and new means of doing old methods to develop our optimistic views.

It is a good book to understand the meaning of life and also to know the opinion of great personalities of the world about the same. It is a brief article for anyone who reads it to get the answer to the question of Will Durant in philosophic and poetic way.

This book has published in 1932 and even after 88 years this book gives the great pleasure to read.

Mumbai

05/05/2020