“There is no universal goal. It is not satisfactory to include what one ought to do in your definition of what one is. Ayn Rand tried to do this with her concept of a ‘proper man.’ There is no goal prescribed by properties of the universe. No scientist will ever deduce what one should do from discovering the properties of elemental components of the universe. Nor will a religious person ever satisfactorily discover a worthwhile goal from some proposed God. Lacking evidence, a religious person accepts a proposed God’s moral commands. They then frequently claim that a non-believer lacks morality. But their reason for acceptance of the moral commands are baseless: still the same problem. How do we come about acquiring a goal, one’s first goal, one’s primary goal, and have a satisfactory logically valid reason for having it? It is impossible, unless you finally accept that your first goal is baseless. The meaning of life only exists as chosen by the individual.” (10/06/08)