The meaning of life and conscious aging: educating through the perspective of the end

Abstract

In this chapter a broad analysis of the concept of meaning is done, where it can be assigned to the plant and animal life; the particular case of meaning given to human life is also analysed and discussed. From the conception of J. LeDoux, who asserts that human brain activity is synaptic, the question is raised of the human brain as that which discovers the various senses attributable to sensory perceptions, namely aesthetic, ethic and rational sense. It is proposed that the deepest sense assigned by the brain to human life is symbolic immortality, especially religious, according to Lifton, as hope in the life of the world to come. Finally, it is assumed that it is possible to educate for the end of the body’s life time, so that it is accepted as a significant time for the person.