I can not understand why do I exist?
Can someone explain it to me with the language of philosophy, Why do I exist?
Why am I here, on earth? Why do I exist here but not in another planet?
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1We do not know... Nobody knows "why".– Mauro ALLEGRANZAMay 24, 2017 at 7:18
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Mauro ALLEGRANZA How can one make sure that people around him/her all are for real?– user26953May 24, 2017 at 7:19
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If you did not exist, you could not ask "why do I exist?". If you were not from Earth, but from Saturn, you would be asking "Why am I here, on Saturn, and not some other planet?". Do you see the problem with the question?– Dan BronMay 24, 2017 at 7:33
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1@Not_Here The argument is known as 'weak, or strong anthropic principle"– RichardMay 24, 2017 at 10:30
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1Although it is natural for humans to think teleologically, the question is ill-stated. The only teleological link here is that your existence on this planet was a mean to the end of your parents: Having a child. The counterfactual idea that "you" could be born "somewhere else" and "this reality" must have "a reason" to be the primary one is metaphysical nonsense that cannot be known anyway. All you get is headaches, but not a single bit of knowledge, out of questions like this. There may be a guy that thought it would be a good idea to have you here, there may be not. It's a question of faith.– Philip Klöcking ♦May 24, 2017 at 11:08
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2 Answers
What you are asking is a classical question of existence.
- The biological "you" is created because your farther impregnated your mother. Why you have legs, arms, blue eyes, whatever can be described in biological terms are a product of the development of evolution.
- You are on this planet because of a chain of coincidences leading to the evolution of man, evidently leading to your and millions of others peoples birth. No God, no profits, no upper power, just a chain of coincidences. If God did not exist, man would surely create him. This is from Voltaire.
The question you should be asking yourself is not "why do I exist?" but "how do I exist?" This is a much harder question because it changes, it alters your beliefs and allows you to search deep within yourself. To cover this you would need to look at:
- Joy
- Happyness
- Angst
- Acceptance
- The understanding of understanding.
When you have defined the above, understood, not only what make you feel, but also mapped how "man" feels, you have had recognition. Recognition is the first step towards fulfillment which is the first step towards answering the question "How do i live" If you need help to unfold the meaning of the above, just ask again.
Just because a question looks grammatical on the surface does not make it an appropriate question to ask. You use "why" in circumstances where you can try to suppose some reason for something - like "why do people with diabetes get eye problems". " Why do I exist?" - the practical answer is because your parents had you, because you have a brain, etc. But that's obviously not what you are talking about, you're going for the philosophical question. But can you even conceive of a kind of answer that could satisfy you? What would an answer to that question even look like? I don't think the solution to the question lies in an answer either way, but instead looking at the motivation for the question, seeing how the question may be doomed for the start because it puts a "why do" next to "I exist".
