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What Makes a Life Meaningful, Really?
Is meaning a mystery — or something we can actually measure?
In Part One of this special series on Matters of Meaning, Olivia Hicks is joined by philosopher Jeffrey Hanson, Senior Fellow at the Harvard Human Flourishing Program, for a deeply human and surprisingly practical conversation about what really makes life meaningful.
We often talk about “finding meaning” as if it were a lucky accident or an elusive and private inner feeling. But what if meaning has a structure — one that can be studied, clarified, and even measured?
Jeff introduces the Comprehensive Measure of Meaning, which he co-developed with Tyler VanderWeele at the Harvard Human Flourishing Program. The framework shows that meaning is not simply a by-product of happiness, but is built from three essential dimensions:
Coherence — making sense of your life and how its pieces fit together
Significance — feeling that your life genuinely matters
Motivational direction — having a sense of aim or purpose
Together, Olivia and Jeff explore how these dimensions work in tandem, why wellbeing alone is only part of the picture, and how this research can help us better understand what actually sustains us through complexity, uncertainty, and change.
A grounding and eye-opening conversation with one of today’s leading thinkers on meaning and human flourishing.
Further resources (from Parts 1 and 2)
Global Flourishing Study – a large international longitudinal study (≈220,000 participants across 22 countries) led by the Harvard Human Flourishing Program.
Hanson, J. & Tyler VanderWeele (2021).
The Comprehensive Measure of Meaning: Psychological and Philosophical Foundations.Harvard Human Flourishing Program – interdisciplinary research on human flourishing.
Joshua Seachris – What Makes Life Meaningful? (2020)
Roy Baumeister – foundational psychological work on meaning, purpose, and narrative.
Susan Wolf – Meaning in Life and Why It Matters (2010)
Jeffrey Hanson – Imagination, Suffering, and Perfection: A Kierkegaardian Reflection on Meaning in Life (2011), drawing on Søren Kierkegaard.
Hannah Arendt – The Human Condition (1958)
Thomas Nagel – The View from Nowhere (1986)
Hanson, J. et al. (2022).
Suffering, authenticity, and meaning in life: Toward an integrated conceptualization of well-being (Frontiers in Psychology).
View all episodes
By Olivia HicksIs meaning a mystery — or something we can actually measure?
In Part One of this special series on Matters of Meaning, Olivia Hicks is joined by philosopher Jeffrey Hanson, Senior Fellow at the Harvard Human Flourishing Program, for a deeply human and surprisingly practical conversation about what really makes life meaningful.
We often talk about “finding meaning” as if it were a lucky accident or an elusive and private inner feeling. But what if meaning has a structure — one that can be studied, clarified, and even measured?
Jeff introduces the Comprehensive Measure of Meaning, which he co-developed with Tyler VanderWeele at the Harvard Human Flourishing Program. The framework shows that meaning is not simply a by-product of happiness, but is built from three essential dimensions:
Coherence — making sense of your life and how its pieces fit together
Significance — feeling that your life genuinely matters
Motivational direction — having a sense of aim or purpose
Together, Olivia and Jeff explore how these dimensions work in tandem, why wellbeing alone is only part of the picture, and how this research can help us better understand what actually sustains us through complexity, uncertainty, and change.
A grounding and eye-opening conversation with one of today’s leading thinkers on meaning and human flourishing.
Further resources (from Parts 1 and 2)
Global Flourishing Study – a large international longitudinal study (≈220,000 participants across 22 countries) led by the Harvard Human Flourishing Program.
Hanson, J. & Tyler VanderWeele (2021).
The Comprehensive Measure of Meaning: Psychological and Philosophical Foundations.Harvard Human Flourishing Program – interdisciplinary research on human flourishing.
Joshua Seachris – What Makes Life Meaningful? (2020)
Roy Baumeister – foundational psychological work on meaning, purpose, and narrative.
Susan Wolf – Meaning in Life and Why It Matters (2010)
Jeffrey Hanson – Imagination, Suffering, and Perfection: A Kierkegaardian Reflection on Meaning in Life (2011), drawing on Søren Kierkegaard.
Hannah Arendt – The Human Condition (1958)
Thomas Nagel – The View from Nowhere (1986)
Hanson, J. et al. (2022).
Suffering, authenticity, and meaning in life: Toward an integrated conceptualization of well-being (Frontiers in Psychology).