(May 25, 2018 at 12:53 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote:(May 25, 2018 at 11:54 am)Edwardo Piet Wrote: What sense of why are you using here?
If your 'why' speaks of ultimate purpose then you are starting from the presupposition that there is an ultimate purpose at all. Before you can ask "What is the ultimate purpose?" you have to ask "Is there an ultimate purpose?" and perhaps the answer to that is "no". Again, depends what you mean by 'ultimate purpose'.
That's the reason for the question. It demands a yes or no answer. Either is acceptable but can it be accepted? Some ideas have consequences. YMMV.
The question is useless unless first the definition of meaning is specified.
And, no, the why question doesn't and cannot demand a yes or no answer as it's an open question rather than a closed one. The question is loaded as it presupposes that there is a why in the first place. "Is there a purpose?" is a different question to "What is the purpose?".
And you can't even justifiably answer with "Yes" or "No" until you first interpret what is meant by "purpose" or "ultimate".
If you are to answer "Yes" to "Is there an ultimate purpose to the universe?" you then have to say what you mean and how you interpreted the question. Otherwise we're just talking past each other. If you think that, yes, there is an ultimate purpose, then what do you mean?
Of course, it's more obvious from a theist perspective because purpose is simply "Whatever God says it is". But that doesn't at all imply that it's a choice between a godly purpose or no purpose at all... as that's a false dilemma. It depends what you mean by "purpose", it depends what you mean by "ultimate", it depends what you mean by "why", it depends what you mean by "meaning".
