Narrative and the Meaning of Life

About this episode

The episode explores the relationship between storytelling and the meaning of life.

More at https://philosophytalk.org/shows/narrative-and-the-meaning-of-life. Humans are uniquely storytelling creatures who can narrate the events of their own lives. Some argue that our lives derive meaning from our ability to see them as an ongoing story. So is telling our own life story the key to a meaningful life? Is it the events that matter, or how we describe them? Does it matter if we’re unreliable narrators who fudge the facts to make ourselves look good? Josh and Ray tell tales with Helena de Bres from Wellesley College, author of "Philosophy in the First Person."

People in this episode

Hosts: Josh, Ray

Guest: Helena de Bres

Topics covered

• narrative
• meaning of life
• storytelling
• self-perception
• philosophy

Keywords

• narrative
• meaning of life
• storytelling
• philosophy
• self-narration

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Wellesley College

Books & works: Philosophy in the First Person

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