the value of meaningfulness
Motivation
Our need for meaningfulness is a neglected source of motivation in economic behaviour and collective action. The value of meaningfulness plays a role in practical reasoning by helping us to answer the question – ‘what ought we to do?’
Structure
Meaningfulness has a moral structure that can be described, institutionalised, and applied to meaning-making. People craft a sense of meaning and purpose from diverse meaning sources. By offering people an abundance of meanings, cities can provide inclusive and satisfying environments for creating life and work meaning.
Design
The value of meaningfulness can be designed into organisations, systems, cities, and economies, to create sustainable, resilient, and inclusive places to work and to live.
the philosophy of meaningfulness
Well-being
Meaningfulness is a route to well-being. Richard Arneson (2006), says: ‘nothing that an individual does or gets contributes in itself to her well-being unless the thing is both objectively valuable and positively engages her subjectivity.
Moral value
Meaningfulness is a moral value. Susan Wolf (2010) describes meaningfulness as a distinct value that integrates objective and subjective dimensions. ‘Meaning arises when subjective attraction meets objective attractiveness’.
Human need
Meaning in life and work is an important human need. People can derive a sense of meaning from their activities when these provide them with the goods of meaningfulness (such as, autonomy, freedom and dignity), are directed towards taking care of valuable beings and things, and are experienced as emotionally engaging and worthwhile.
Human flourishing
Meaning in life and work is a central component of human flourishing, and well-being. But our need for meaning has been neglected in public policy. The Meaningful City project aims to highlight the role that meaning can play in designing and implementing policies and practices that recognise the need we have to do good quality work in interesting and engaging places to live. Work and places where we have a sense of belonging, and a say over how these are developed.