- Question
Why do we exist?
Why do we exist at all? This entry maps the answers offered to one of the oldest questions — that we exist to procreate, that we exist because God wills it, and that the question of why ultimately does not matter.
We exist to procreate
Proponents of this position hold that the only answer the question admits is the biological one: living things exist because their ancestors reproduced, and the point of any organism, ourselves included, is to continue the line.
We exist because God wants us to
On this view existence is intended rather than accidental: a creator brought about a world and persons within it on purpose, so that each life has a given place in that purpose rather than one it must invent for itself.
Why we exist doesn't matter
This position holds the question itself to be idle. Whatever answer were given could not change how a life should be lived, so attention is better spent on what can be settled, and the demand for a reason behind existence is a confusion rather than a puzzle.