The pragmatic fulfillment view and evaluations of meaning in life

Abstract

Susan Wolf developed her well-known Fitting Fulfillment View in the hope of avoiding some of the pitfalls of a purely subjective approach to understanding meaning in life. In doing so, Wolf built in an objective criterion for qualifying for a meaningful life. This objective criterion makes it necessary for one to engage in appropriately worthy pursuits if her life is to be considered meaningful. Wolf concedes to the difficulties of filling out the details of a "worthiness condition" for conferring meaning to one's life. It is my hope here to provide a framework that will help clarify Wolf's worthiness condition. Specifically, I will argue that certain readings or strains of American pragmatism can be useful in constructing appropriately worthy or attractive pursuits for increasing meaning in life. I will argue that this approach—the Pragmatic Fulfillment View—will not only elucidate a worthiness condition but will also have the distinct advantages of being both maximally inclusive and practically-oriented toward amplifying meaning in life.