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Life Worth Living is an initiative of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School.
What is a human being, and what is their place in the world?
Specks of Dust and Sacred Dignity—Susan Wolf and Abraham Joshua Heschel on Humanity
Ryan McAnnally-Linz is a systematic theologian and Associate Director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture.
It’s one of the most profound questions of all: What does it mean to be human, and what is our place in the world?
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It’s one of the most profound questions of all: What does it mean to be human, and what is our place in the world? Drawing on philosopher Susan Wolf and rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Life Worth Living author Ryan McAnnally-Linz explores how our smallness in the cosmos, our capacity for meaning, and our creation in the image of God shape the vision of a life worth living. From humility to dignity, this clip highlights how our understanding of humanity directly shapes how we live.
Highlights
1. “We come to the question of what makes life truly worth living as human beings. It’s inescapable.”
2. “We’re little specks of dust on a speck of dust in an immense, incomprehensible cosmos.”
3. “Meaningful lives are ones that engage in interpersonal projects of some positive value.”
4. “The human being is created in the image of God.”
5. “Our responses make a difference for how we live, and we need to wrestle with what it truly means to be a human being in this world.”
Notes
What it means to be human
- “We come to the question of what makes life truly worth living as human beings. It’s inescapable.”
- Why our definition of humanity matters for flourishing.
Susan Wolf’s perspective
- “We’re little specks of dust on a speck of dust in an immense, incomprehensible cosmos.”
- Lives gain meaning through projects of positive value.
- Why individual whims cannot be the measure of meaning.
Heschel’s perspective
- “The human being is created in the image of God.”
- Human dignity as sacred and given.
- The danger of wasting dignity through sin.
Implications for living
- “Our responses make a difference for how we live.”
- Dignity and responsibility intertwined.
- Wrestling with humanity as central to life worth living.
References
- Susan Wolf, Meaning in Life and Why It Matters
- Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism
Ryan McAnnally-Linz is Associate Director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture and co-author of Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most.
It’s one of the most profound questions of all: What does it mean to be human, and what is our place in the world? Drawing on philosopher Susan Wolf and rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Life Worth Living author Ryan McAnnally-Linz explores how our smallness in the cosmos, our capacity for meaning, and our creation in the image of God shape the vision of a life worth living. From humility to dignity, this clip highlights how our understanding of humanity directly shapes how we live.
Highlights
1. “We come to the question of what makes life truly worth living as human beings. It’s inescapable.”
2. “We’re little specks of dust on a speck of dust in an immense, incomprehensible cosmos.”
3. “Meaningful lives are ones that engage in interpersonal projects of some positive value.”
4. “The human being is created in the image of God.”
5. “Our responses make a difference for how we live, and we need to wrestle with what it truly means to be a human being in this world.”
Notes
What it means to be human
- “We come to the question of what makes life truly worth living as human beings. It’s inescapable.”
- Why our definition of humanity matters for flourishing.
Susan Wolf’s perspective
- “We’re little specks of dust on a speck of dust in an immense, incomprehensible cosmos.”
- Lives gain meaning through projects of positive value.
- Why individual whims cannot be the measure of meaning.
Heschel’s perspective
- “The human being is created in the image of God.”
- Human dignity as sacred and given.
- The danger of wasting dignity through sin.
Implications for living
- “Our responses make a difference for how we live.”
- Dignity and responsibility intertwined.
- Wrestling with humanity as central to life worth living.
References
- Susan Wolf, Meaning in Life and Why It Matters
- Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism
Ryan McAnnally-Linz is Associate Director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture and co-author of Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most.
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