Chapter 5 asks two questions: Does finding a meaning for life prevent people from killing themselves? Do any of the four ways of acquiring meaning described in Chapter 4 prevent people from killing themselves? The first question has rarely been asked by philosophers. Albert Camus, in his The Myth of Sisyphus, was an exception, but his thoughts are limited only to the first way of acquiring meaning - achieving goals. The suicidal persons whose stories I tell in the chapter regarded only the last way of acquiring meaning - loving and being loved - to be what helped them deal with their suicidal impulses. They did so because the first three ways of acquiring meaning were largely irrelevant to their emotional pain. Chapter 5 also asks whether believing in God prevents people from killing themselves. The answer is that it can and sometimes does.

“Chapter 4 describes four ways philosophers have thought that one could acquire meaning - by achieving goals, being creative, having certain virtues and emotions, and giving and receiving love. One aim of the chapter is to show that each of these ways of acquiring meaning is made richer when accompanied by relevant emotions. Another aim is to show that all four ways of acquiring meaning are legitimate and that a believer in a divine creator can adopt all four. This second aim is relatively uncontroversial, though it is rarely stated.The first way of acquiring meaning - achieving goals - is defended against Arthur Schopenhauer’s critiques of goal-aimed activities. The validity of Kieran Setiya’s use of non-goal aimed activities (“atelic” activities) to respond to Schopenhauer’s critiques is also discussed. The chapter ends with seven observations about meaning after having looked briefly at conceptions of meaning that do not fit well into any of the four ways of acquiring meaning described in the chapter.”

Chapter 2 distinguishes everyday boredom from existential boredom. The former involves losing particular desires whereas the latter involves losing all desires - nothing interests one. The chapter describes the fright and terror that are often felt when existential boredom threatens. It also describes evasive tactics that are used to avoid that terror. Among these tactics are physical activities, mental activities, and moral and religious activities. Without these evasive tactics, one could experience dread, agony, despair, frustration, rebellion, or suicidal feelings. The myth of Sisyphus is used to illustrate rebellion. One can, however, deal with boredom in a different way by regarding it as what Soren Kierkegaard calls a “call from eternity.” The chapter describes five conditions that are needed for one to experience such a “call,” plus the differences between an activity that is used simply to evade boredom and one that alleviates boredom without doing so evasively.