It would be interesting to explore what you mean when you say, :"The meaning in your life is objective, external, and real."
Do you mean that you can point to it, pick it up, turn it over, and examine its contours? Do you mean that meaning is objective, external, and real in the sense of being a tangible, material thing?
The language of objectivity is slippery. If you are going to sustain the claim that meaning is objective, you are going to have to carefully distinguish it from what we usually mean by objectivity, i.e., observability.
You are going to have to do that for two reasons. First, there's the empirical objection: it's obviously true that morality isn't objective in the same way that plants and animals or rivers and streams, or sun, moon, and stars are objective. And second, there's the religious objection: the biblical texts themselves command us not to identify God, who is the source of all meaning, with plants and animals or rivers and streams, or sun, moon, and stars.
And you will also have to deal with the words of Jesus Christ, who says, The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.
So, what is meant by saying meaning is objective, external, and real? I suggest that this isn't a question of whether meaning is objective or subjective. It's not one or the other; it's both. At least, that what is meant when the Heidelberg Catechism says, "I belong body and soul..." A person's body is the ground of their objective knowledge while the soul is the seat of their subjective consciousness of self. Thus the preaching of the Gospel (objective, external, etc.) must be accompanied by the work of the Holy Spirit (subjective, internal, etc.) if the Gospel is to have effect in a person's life.
In any case, I don't think it wise to insist on something that is completely unintelligible to persons who don't already buy "our" way of talking about things. It's better to start by acknowledging that meaning is subjective, but that doesn't mean it is meaningless.
(Thanks for posting this. I appreciate the oppourtunity to think through what is written above. I never got to do it while I was in school.)
It would be interesting to explore what you mean when you say, :"The meaning in your life is objective, external, and real."
Do you mean that you can point to it, pick it up, turn it over, and examine its contours? Do you mean that meaning is objective, external, and real in the sense of being a tangible, material thing?
The language of objectivity is slippery. If you are going to sustain the claim that meaning is objective, you are going to have to carefully distinguish it from what we usually mean by objectivity, i.e., observability.
You are going to have to do that for two reasons. First, there's the empirical objection: it's obviously true that morality isn't objective in the same way that plants and animals or rivers and streams, or sun, moon, and stars are objective. And second, there's the religious objection: the biblical texts themselves command us not to identify God, who is the source of all meaning, with plants and animals or rivers and streams, or sun, moon, and stars.
And you will also have to deal with the words of Jesus Christ, who says, The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.
So, what is meant by saying meaning is objective, external, and real? I suggest that this isn't a question of whether meaning is objective or subjective. It's not one or the other; it's both. At least, that what is meant when the Heidelberg Catechism says, "I belong body and soul..." A person's body is the ground of their objective knowledge while the soul is the seat of their subjective consciousness of self. Thus the preaching of the Gospel (objective, external, etc.) must be accompanied by the work of the Holy Spirit (subjective, internal, etc.) if the Gospel is to have effect in a person's life.
In any case, I don't think it wise to insist on something that is completely unintelligible to persons who don't already buy "our" way of talking about things. It's better to start by acknowledging that meaning is subjective, but that doesn't mean it is meaningless.
(Thanks for posting this. I appreciate the oppourtunity to think through what is written above. I never got to do it while I was in school.)