Happiness Was Never the Point! | Rebecca Goldstein on Mattering

Rebecca Goldstein is a philosopher/novelist who brings serious philosophical ideas to the world of popular discussion. A trained analytic philosopher, with an interest in philosophers such as Spinoza, Plato, and Aristotle; her writing takes up many of the most ancient of questions about human existence from a contemporary perspective. She recently developed the concept of "the mattering instinct" (which represents the core impulse or drive of humans to believe their lives have importance). Here, we talk about why being happy isn't the most important thing in the world and how people are actually motivated by the desire to be meaningful. Here we also examine how we create our own sense of meaning through what Goldstein refers to as 'mattering projects', why modern life makes creating this kind of meaning difficult and how the loss of traditional forms of meaning (such as religious systems) has moved responsibility for developing a sense of personal meaning to the individual. Along the way we will reference Aristotle's concept of flourishing, Spinoza's view of living with purpose, the distinction between information and knowledge and what does it mean to lead a life worthy of consideration.