On The Value Of Life

What is the value of life? How to live is meaningful?People always ask these questions in their daily life.This kind of value questioning has a great influence on people's attitudes and lifestyles.Since the birth of modern science,people go farther and farther in the pursuit of truth,but they are far behind on looking for value.What's more,people's questioning on the value of life is covered and forgotten.The development of human civilization and the progress of human society cannot be separated from the reflection and torture of their own life at any time.Therefore,in today's increasingly powerful technology and gradually rich material life,but the growing affluence of disaster and suffering not declining in society,to explore the value and meaning of life,cultivate a healthy and appropriate life values,has great theoretical significance and practical value.Based on the above considerations,this paper attempts to make a systematic philosophical reflection on the value of human life.The main content is divided into the following five parts.The first part summed up the basic definition of life value and its characteristics and forms through digging and analyzing the connotation and meaning of the two concepts of "life" and "value".In this paper,it is believed that the activities of life on earth are very rich,but only human life is the most unique and the most influential.The life of human being is not only the same as the biological characteristics of other life forms in the nature,but also the spiritual characteristics of transcendence.Man is the man who has the consciousness of his own life.Human life is always to find meaning and only human will create a value of the world.Human life is a contradictory unity which is natural and supernatural,finite and infinite,historical and transcendent.The value of human life is a kind of special meaning relationship formed by the life as an object to a person as subject.The value of life not only reflects the significance of the individual life to the multiplication of the race,the inheritance and innovation of the national culture and the family inheritance,but also shows the value of life itself and its value.The value of life is an important part of the value of human beings,of which the value of individual life is the most basic.The value of life is the unity of intrinsic value and external value,and also the unity of purpose value and means value.The value of life is not to be found,but to be created.In addition,the value of life includes three basic forms: natural value,social value and spiritual value,and contains rich connotation at the same time.The second part reviews the value of life in human history.Philosophers and ideologists at all times and in all countries in history have done a lot of research on the value of life,condensed many valuable ideas and theoretical resources.Philosophers and thinkers of the East and West have put forward a lot of profound theoretical insight into the nature and structure of human life,the status of man in the universe,the meaning of life,the happiness of life and the problems of life and death.For example,ancient Greek philosophers emphasized the value of the soul and on the pursuit of goodness.The medieval theological philosopher stressed the limitation of individual life and its non-independence,praised God's integrity and infinite highly.They made man's natural life under the faith of God,in order to obtain the salvation of the soul.The modern western philosophers liberated individual life from God's imprisonment and slavery.They carried forward the personality,affirmed the value of human life,advocated the creation of human's value of life,and pursued their own happiness.Modern western philosophers,especially philosophers of life,have paid attention to the irrational aspects of human life.They raised the value of life by explaining the essence of human life in an absolute and abstract way.In Chinese traditional culture,Confucianism,Taoism and Buddhism are also very concerned about the value of life.They have embodied the fundamental difference among realism,inaction doctrine and quietism.But these theories have similarities in paying attention to people's moral value or spiritual value and the way to realize the highest value.Compared with Eastern and Western traditional philosophers' viewpoints on the the value of life,Marx offered a different paradigm for understanding life values.He replaced the abstract person in Eastern and Western traditions with the ?real person?.Critiqued alienated labor and alienation of human life and deeply concerned about the life of workers and proletarians under capitalism are all reflected that Marx have always paid high attention to the value of human life.The third part discusses the basic premise and ontological basis of the value of human life.This paper argues that the value of human life depends on three basic premises.The first is the healthy existence of human natural biological body.That is to say,if people lost their natural life,everything about the value of human life is impossible.It is just based on people's life and its health condition,each of us have consciousness about their life,own the ability to evaluate their own life and realize the importance of their own life,and then realize the value of life and strive to create value.Namely,the value of life is endowed by man himself.The second is human subjectivity and life consciousness.People's self life-consciousness makes people's life become a free and conscious activity.Human life itself is the subject of value.According to their own will,human beings understand the world,create material wealth and spiritual wealth and also fulfill the moral responsibility.The third premise is the awareness of life-and-death and the insight into the value of life-and-death.Life and death are the two poles of human life.They are mutually regulated.Life can reflect its meaning and value in the face of death.The inevitable existence of death makes people feel more strongly the limited and precious life.Therefore they are more willing to use the infinite potential of life to create the greatest value.By studying death,the value of life can be more clearly revealed.And a positive sense of survival can be inspired.The fourth part discusses the realization and evaluation of the value of life.How to realize the value of one's life and live a meaningful life involves the evaluation of the value of life.This paper argues that it is possible for us to make an appropriate and effective evaluation of the value of life,.Because what we desire and need is not only the life itself,but the life which is consistent with the value.The realization of the value of human life can be divided into three stages.The first stage is the realization of self value,that is,to cherish the self-life and look for personal happiness.Specifically,a person should take care of himself,treat others' lives,create the material and spiritual things to meet his own needs through his own efforts to obtain a sense of well-being.The second stage is the realization of people's social value,that is,to give to others and to the community.The social value of a man is to give,not to receive.Although social contribution is an important index to measure the social value of individual life,it cannot reduce or even negate the value of a disabled individual's life.The third stage is the realization of people's spiritual value,that is,the individual life maintaining the dignity of personality,seeking truth,goodness and beauty,and enhancing the realm of life.These three stagess are closely linked to each other to form a unity.They are all the result of the individual's free choice and his hard work.The last part of this paper tries to explain the feasibility of life education and the cultivation of life values.Any theoretical construction of life value should be put into practice.In real life,people cannot be clearly aware of the value of life,and then to create and realize their own value of life in purpose.All sorts of extreme life phenomena,such as life has been injured cruelly and deliberately,or a young man has been taken by fatigue and illness suddenly,show that modern people always face the confusion of existence.The fragility of life and the ideality of the value of life are easily ignored and forgotten.This requires us to carry out life education and cultivate a positive life values.In my opinion,we should pay special attention to the excellence based on no-life.Life education should emphasize on enhancing the life consciousness and strengthening the self-education of the subject life.Based on this,in the formation of life values and its education,everyone should be brave in the face of adversity and suffering,beyond the individual's happiness,and have the pursuit of giving and serving and making contribution.Guided by the values of life,we may be able to achieve a meaningful life.