Prof. Dr. Rens Bod

University of Amsterdam

What kind of knowledge is the pursuit of meaning?

Please register to attend here.

When:
12 December, 2023: 16.15 – 17.45

Where:
Room C.2.07a
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Pleinlaan 2
1050 Elsene Brussel
Belgium

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The history of knowledge has enriched the history of science and scholarship with a wide variety of new perspectives and knowledge practices. One type of knowledge-making that is still largely neglected is the pursuit of meaning and purpose, also referred to as meaning-making. While religious meaning-making has been widely studied, the pursuit of meaning and purpose can contain many other practices, ranging from “striving for beauty” and “reaching higher consciousness” to “pursuing a sustainable world”. A range of psychological studies has shown that people with more meaning-making activities are healthier, happier and more attractive. Thus knowledge of how to give meaning to one’s life pays off and may be part of an evolutionary strategy. 

In this talk I will present a longue durée exploration of meaning-making from a global perspective. I argue that a total of 185 distinct meaning-making practices can be discerned that can be grouped into 30 themes. I will discuss a number of general patterns and principles that can be found in meaning-making practices across the world and will go into the question as to what kind of knowledge meaning-making actually is. My talk is based on my recent (Dutch) book Waarom ben ik hier? Een kleine wereldgeschiedenis van zingeving, which is currently being translated into English as Why Am I Here? A Brief World History of the Search for Meaning and Purpose.