The Declaration of Independence recognizes that human beings possess the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” That particular list of rights, presented in that order, contain my argument as to life’s purpose.
Life comes first because life came first. Without life, the concept of “life’s purpose” means nothing.
Liberty comes next because it creates the potential for life to have meaning. Without liberty, life is just one more cog in the system of the universe, its meaning as deep and as absent as the meaning of a rock drifting through space.
When life rises us above the level of rocks and minerals, it finds liberty, the horizon-to-horizon emptiness that exists above the realm of mere matter, a realm of potential that creates, in effect, the very definition of life: Life is that which experiences potential.
But what is life supposed to do with that potential? The horizon-to-horizon space challenges life to become an active verb — to not just be but do. Life’s first question, then must be, “What should I do?”
Religion has long sought to answer this question, but the Declaration of Independence offers its own answer: life should pursue happiness.
Positive psychologists define happiness as “the experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile.”
To pursue happiness, one must pursue the good life, not just in the personal realm of sensuous experience, but also in the social realm where terms like “good” and “worthwhile” find their meaning.
This is life’s purpose. To do happiness.