PHI 2010
October 1, 2012
Leo Tolstoy Reaction Paper Many people have had a mid-life crisis and during this time many people have asked this question what is the meaning of life. Leo Tolstoy too had a mid-life crisis and asked that very same question. Searching for the meaning of life can be very difficult but, the way Tolstoy went about searching and discovering his own meaning is and an author that I can agree with. Tolstoy began his search for the meaning of life by asking his friends, family, and fellow arthurs. Many of them began to discuss there ideas in which Tolstoy finds them all inadequate. The first of many ideas was that the meaning of life is money. You would work hard, make money, and build yourself a better life. Tolstoy’s reaction to the idea is that money cannot be taken when you die. Also, people who are poor did not fulfill there live because they did not obtain enough money throughout there lives. I agree with Tolstoy because money cannot be the meaning of life because there are not many people who are able to amass such an amount of money to fulfill their lives. Another suggestion that his friend explain was that while he will die, his fame will live on through his name. Tolstoy again objected to fame being the meaning of life because fame is meaningless to the dead and fame in it self does not last forever. I agree with Tolstoy’s objection to the idea of fame not being the meaning of life, because fame will not last forever just like a celebrity. Fame is just a small aspect of what life is all about so that cannot be the true meaning f life. Tolstoy was given the idea that a legacy is the meaning of life. Again Tolstoy objected to this idea because it the same as fame. A legacy is leaving some impact to the world, and while his books will do that in some way, the impact that Tolstoy in to will die and cannot be carried with you when you die. Agreeing with Tolstoy I can say that having a legacy is something that