Meaningfulness, Death, and Suffering: Philosophy of Meaning in Life in the Light of Finitude

Abstract

AbstractSubjective sense of meaningfulness of life, or meaning in life, is a growing theme of interest in psychological research. Psychology of meaningfulness originates from existential psychology that aligned closely to mid-twentieth century philosophical existentialism. Now positive psychology is a strong field of study of meaning in life. This article investigates the role of the negative element of human life, that is, death and suffering, plays in psychologies about meaning in life. This article proposes the concept of finitude for the negative element of human life, aims to clarify the central concepts of meaning in life and meaning-making, and offers a short intellectual historical background on questioning existential psychology and meaning in life. The article concentrates on selected classic existential psychological thinkers (Viktor Frankl, Rollo May, and Irvin Yalom), on Tatjana Schnell’s contemporary existential psychology, and on Martin Seligman’s contemporary positive psychology.