On redemption, the value of putting bad things to good use
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- This dissertation offers a theory of a solution to the problem of lost meaning in life due to regrettable, past events. Each of us wishes for a meaningful life, but each of us, too, is vulnerable to threats to the meaning in life. The dissertation argues that a phenomenon called redemption can restore lost meaningfulness, and increase the value of our lives, overall. The first step in the argument is to demonstrate the need for a new model of redemption. The next step is to argue that redemption is a matter of transforming the meaning of events in our lives from bad to good in a thick, eudaimonistic sense related to a person's well-being. Finally, I show that this transformation not only increases a person's well-being but, more importantly, changes the relationship a person has with his past; By satisfying conditions for meaningfulness—a special value a life can have, distinct from its moral goodness or happiness—redemption renders the past more meaningful that it would have otherwise been. Because of this, redemption can solve the problem articulated in the beginning of the dissertation—the problem of lost meaning in life due to bad, past events.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2011 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | McElroy, Peyton Craig |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Philosophy |
| Primary advisor | Anderson, R. Lanier |
| Thesis advisor | Anderson, R. Lanier |
| Thesis advisor | Hills, David James, 1947- |
| Thesis advisor | Schapiro, Tamar |
| Thesis advisor | Wood, Allen W |
| Advisor | Hills, David James, 1947- |
| Advisor | Schapiro, Tamar |
| Advisor | Wood, Allen W |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Peyton Craig McElroy. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Philosophy. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2011. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2011 by Peyton Craig McElroy
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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