Feeling lost? This concept says this is part of the map

What if the meaning in life is not what we discover, but something we feel we enter?

A new philosophical study by Waseda University shows that meaning in life is generated through a perceived dialogue between ourselves and our life experiences, like the way a blind man taps himself in space with a crutch. Posted in philosophyThe study introduces a “geographic model of meaning in life” that uses phenomenology, burden theory, and enactmentism to argue how we approach life will shape the reward it reveals to us.

Landscape of meaning

Philosopher Masahiro Morioka suggests that we regard the meaning of life as geography: a changing landscape of emotions, emotions and actions, depending on our direction to it. Whether we are hopeful, desperate, provocative or indifferent, we react to the “worthy” experience of life. He believes that this experience is not fixed, but is carried out through current actions and attitudes.

“The meaning of life is an experience of life, a life of value, a life that is activated by the actions I detect and the actions of life now,” Morika wrote. “This action is similar to the actions of the blind man detecting his own way with a crutch.”

Burden and tender

To understand this perceptual process, Morika borrows concepts from psychology and embodied cognition. He introduced Life ability– The comprehensiveness that our lives provide us, such as love, sadness, dreams or regrets. These burdens are not only possible, but also due to how our lives “sentiate us” and sometimes powerful.

• Life may seek survival or surrender when we face despair.
• When we feel stagnant, it may solicit reflection or reinvention.
• Otherwise it may cause existing doubts after personal loss.

Morika believes that we will not passively perceive these invitations. We respond to them and produce meaning or loss in this reaction.

Starting a turn

This view of interaction is based on ImplementationismThis is a cognitive science theory that perception is shaped by our physical interaction with the world. For example, philosopher Alva Noë compared perception with blind people who were navigated by touch. Morioka puts it to mean that working in the same way: we explore our lives, and different attitudes reveal different aspects of the value of life.

Consider grief: If a person responds to the death of a loved one who is determined to continue to survive, the same event may eventually take the quality of redemption. However, if a person exits the reaction, it may enhance meaninglessly. Morioka wrote: “The meaning of life requires a corresponding attitude or commitment to my life.”

Draw the interior terrain

Thus, Morioka established his Geographical model of meaning: Conceptual diagrams produced by all life-related ways, consisting of all life experiences (implemented and imagined). Just as the mountain vision looks different from the way you face it, life will also be based on how we move ourselves in its direction.

“Each life experience includes a combination of my life’s practical experience and possible experiences in my life,” Morika wrote. “I can experience the meaning of life when I question my life tenders.”

New directions in philosophy and psychology

This approach marks a shift in the traditional philosophical debate about whether the meaning of life is subjective, objective or both. Instead, Morioka emphasizes that meaning is made in practice through a person’s continuous interaction with life. His geographical model blurs the boundaries between philosophy and psychology, providing new directions for both disciplines.

He concluded: “What we are trying to do is to illustrate meaningful life and meaningless life, meaningful life events and meaningless life events to create a single phenomenological geography.”

Looking to the future

Morioka hopes to combine this model with other philosophical approaches, including loneliness and reminiscence perspectives about meaning. His goal is to develop a more comprehensive framework to understand how people experience and build their lives.

For readers looking for meaning or struggling with absent, this study is not an answer, but a map. One reminder of us: our appearance changes what we see.

Magazine: philosophy
doi: 10.1007/s11406-025-00854-5
Publication date: June 4, 2025
author: Masahiro Morioka, College of Human Sciences, Waseda University

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