What is it all for? I ask the Owner.

Philosophers’ answers to this question are numerous and varied, says the Owner, but Friedrich Nietzsche said the question itself is meaningless because in the midst of living, we’re in no position to discern what it is all for, and stepping outside of the process of existence to answer the question is impossible.

That is no help to a Moral Dog contemplating the Futility of Another Day, I say. Friedrich Nietzsche was a cheerless individual whose Philosophy is at best Tricky, I say. He never mentions Cheese, I say.

Those who do think we can discern what it is all for fall into four groups, says the Owner. Some are God-centred and believe only a deity can provide purpose. Some are soul-centered, thinking something metaphysical of us must continue beyond our lives. Objectivists say that there are Absolute Truths, such as Morality and the Value of Love. Subjectivists think that the purpose of life is the Experiencing of it. Life is meaningful, they say, but its value is made by us.

I see, I say. So the Moral Dog must Choose between a Dog-God, a Moral Soul, and Morality itself, or he can Define the Purpose of Life himself as Whatever he wants it to be?

That is About Right, says the Owner.

Then I choose the Latter Option, I say. It is Clearly the Best, I say. It offers the chance for Many Different Persons to find Meaning in the Simple Actions of the Day. In Visiting the Coffee Shop, in Sharing a Stick with Houdini, in Borrowing a Leaf from Jeremy the Beagle who things Property is Theft, in Colouring in the Front Teeth of an Image of Boris Johnson and Sticking it On the Fridge, in Performing Yoga in the Park wearing Pink Leggings, and in the Unaccountably Enduring Appeal of Abba. All of these things appear to give meaning to the Persons we Know, I say. Life is the Purpose of Life, I say. Moral Dogs and Persons find the meaning as they go along. Indeed Lao Tzu suggested that the Purpose of Life isn’t comprehensible, but Life itself is inherently meaningful, however little or much we can do.

Gosh, says the Owner. I am impressed that the Moral Dog is aware of Lao Tzu. What has the Moral Dog concluded gives meaning to his Own Life?

Cheese, I say.

The Moral Dog is Shallow and Cheese-Obsessed, says the Owner.

Thankyou, I say.

It is good to have an Owner so Understanding of the Moral Dog.

Categories: dignity dog dog philosophy

Hergest the Hound

I am a dog of many thoughts.