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The Absent Cat: Declining the Search for Cosmic Meaning
In this essay, language philosopher Bry Willis critiques Alfred North Whitehead’s attempts to integrate human significance and purpose into a radical reconstruction of science. The author identifies a shared axis between Whitehead’s optimism and the existential pessimism of thinkers like Zapffe, Ligotti, and Benatar, noting that both sides assume the universe must inherently provide or lack a specific cosmic meaning. Willis rejects this dichotomy entirely, proposing a posture of insouciance that treats the search for universal meaning as a flawed and unnecessary pursuit. By viewing value as…
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