1. I do believe that human life has meaning or purpose and that some people do live without meaning.

Human life is meaningful so long as humans act ethically. This is not to say that all ethical humans always act ethically. Rather, for the most part, their decisions should be ethical. A human should also actively try to act ethically every day. A human should not act as the sophists did and live only for their own gain. If more people shed the I dont care about anyone else as long as I get what I want mentality that so many of us harbor, human life would become much more meaningful around the planet. Yet, if there are many people who adhere to the I dont care mentality, it must be a human quality. I believe that humans are neither inherently good nor inherently evil. We are born as a mix of both good and evil and we can choose to act as an ethical being or not. The purpose of a human life is to try and act as ethically as possible. The fact that humans have a larger capacity to think and reason does not necessarily make them any worse or any better than an animal. Rather, all life should be valued by humans. I also believe that one of the major ways that a human can live a meaningful life is to take into account the emotions of those around him. I definitely believe that all life is interconnected. Therefore, if one person acts apathetically and acts only for his own gain, he injures the other parts of himself, his fellow beings. A human being acting selfishly can be compared to a man punching his face. While his hand may not directly feel the pain, it indirectly weakens himself as a whole. I agree with St. Ignatius Loyola in that we must choose among the goods of life. As many major philosophers have said, moderation is key. For example, while eating one donut may feel good, ultimately eating too many donuts does not. I believe that there are no absolutes in life. However, I do believe that there is no formula for choosing the goods. Even though one person may choose a good and feel happy, that some good may not be a wise decision for someone else. Because everyone is a unique person with their own personality, they must decide which goods to choose from uninfluenced by another persons goods. I do believe that the key to choosing rightly is to choose out of authentic freedom and not out of disordered affections. However, I dont believe that the moral life is limited to choosing goods. I believe that experiencing emotions to the extent that we can as human beings is extremely powerful. Therefore, being aware of others emotions can also lead to a moral life. I dont believe that the world is inherently evil or inherently good. Therefore the realities of evil, deception, and corruption exist because the world isnt a utopia. In fact, a good would amount to nothing if there were no evils. Evils can come in many forms and like goods, they can vary among different individuals. I dont believe experience evil for any reason other than that both good and evil exist in the world. Therefore, we are bound to experience our fair share of both. I dont believe that one can say that either good or evil will win out in the end. That is just it. There can be no good without evil and no evil without good. In order to get rid of evil, one would also have to completely extinguish good. We would have to become an apathetic people, which is very inhuman.