You: You have just made the same mistake again. All of the things you are talking about, justice, hope, and the meaning of life, are things that people would like to believe in but that do not necessarily exist. You might be able to show me that these things necessarily exist if there is a good God to cause them, but the whole purpose of your bringing up this topic was to prove that God exists in the first place.

Aaron: Your way of thinking is truly puzzling. I have shown you that each of these things is contingent on the next, so that if I can prove there is meaning in life I can prove that there is justice.

It is an obvious, irrefutable fact that killing one's self is wrong, wouldn't you agree?

You: I would agree that, as a general practice, suicide is wrong although I can imagine cases where it might be justified.

Aaron: I believe that suicide is always a mortal sin, but we are in general in agreement. Now, wouldn't you agree that, with out meaning, there is no reason to continue life? From this we can see that, unless there is meaning to life, we are all either deluding ourselves into believing that there is meaning, or just counting the days until despair takes control of us and leads us to suicide.

How do you respond?

  1. Aren't you listening to what I'm saying? Go
  2. Life can have non-metaphysical meaning. Go
  3. Lack of a "meaning of life" is no justification for suicide. Go