What Is Your Philosophy?

[antayla]

I'm a chaotic. Everything is predetermined by free will >:) And it's completely pointless, unless you want it to have a point. There is no morality beyond survival. You are not seperate from existence, we form the sum and are the sum (each individual one of us) of all existence. And so is everything else. etc.

[Suburbanite]

I have my own little philosophy. I am too tired to explain it now, but I call it Abstraction(ism). It is very post-modern and I find it most interesting. More on it later perhaps =D

[sdcinder]

Since we are explaining what we believe and where we stand, I might as well tell you that I am a born-again Christian and well, I am proud of it. You can think me stupid or that I have a low IQ or whatever makes you sleep better at night. I KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that God exists. There is no room for doubt and I am completely of the mind that Faith is required for the duration of one's life.

IF all "Christians" believed and upheld only one verse from Scripture and that Scripture was "Love your neighbor as yourself," do you really think we would have all the problems that we have today with "religion"? Would the pedophiles in any church have done what they did? No. Would anyone that claimed to be Christian wontonly went out and killed anyone? No. Would the anti-abortion flake have killed the abortion doctor? No. There is a moral standard and since man has this problem with changing his standard so often to suit the loudest crowd, then there can be only One.

There is Absolute Truth whether we choose to believe it or not doesn't make it go away or not exist.

[Disinvented]

I'm a Zeroist, a philosophy of Militant Skepticism, Revolutionary Nihilism, and Radical Social Egoism. It is comprised of 8 basic principles:

1) The Agnostic Materialism Principle:
Either the universe is entirely material, or it is not and I am unaware of its other nature.

2) The Existential Principle:
The inescapable temporariness of life, and subsequently that of my existence, deems both to be utterly meaningless.

3) The Knowledge Principle:
Knowledge is only that which is directly observable, testable, or reasonably deduced through scientific methods.

4) The Semantics Principle:
Definitions are neither absolute nor objective, and set arbitrary boundaries that may hinder progressive thinking.

5) The Sovereignty Principle:
No being has any inherent authority to dictate the thoughts or actions of any other; every manifestation of authority is either cooperative or violent.

6) Social Deconstruction Principle:
All social systems and institutions that are exploitive, destructive, and/or founded on false assumptions—which includes all existing political, religious, and social systems—ought to be renounced and overthrown.

7) The Realism Principle:
Failure to accept the implications of existence, thereby succumbing to romanticisms, only serves to distract our attentions from reality—projecting emotions onto the material world, adding undue complexity—and as such is counterproductive.

8) The Social Egoism Principle:
The only logical pursuit is that of my personal survival and contentment, and I am justified in attaining these by any available and necessary means.

[ThorfinnSS]

Lots of secular humanists here I see. I've been on a spiritual quest for most of my life - at least since I read Bernard Shaw's 'Why I am not a Christian' when I was 13. As a personal philosophy I settled on Zen Buddhism a long time ago now - 1980 to be exact. My favorite maxim from that is 'First thing we do is kill the Buddha'. Fits in with my Plebiscitic, republican anarchy form of anti-authoritarianism. The above is probably fairly ho-hum in this forum, but lately I've been exploring a sense of unease I have had for some time about the practice of Zen. Zen really hit its heyday in the 1980s in the US, due particularly to some Soto Zen masters moving there. Note that Zen is still in its infancy in Europe and elsewhere. This coincided with a strong Japanese economy - remember the song from about then - 'I'm turning Japanese'? The Japanese lifestyle and art / culture are certainly impressive and elegant, but much as I try, I am not and never will be Japanese. In the last 4 years I have realised what the close connection between being Japanese and Zen is. In Japan, there really are two spiritual paths - Buddhist and Shinto, and the Japanese have no problems with using whichever one is appropriate in any given situation. I.e. for births, weddings etc, Buddhism, which celebrates life, is the preferred mode for ceremonies. Death and divorce and all other such rituals is where Shinto comes into play. So what is Shinto you may ask. Basically Shinto has developed from the old (very old) animist belief system, and is typified by reverence for ancestors and the old ways. Basically the Japanese tribalistic and shamanistic beliefs. It got me to thinking about what we have in the Anglo/Northern European derived world that fills that need in our psyche. Now I've been cynical about various Judeo-christian systems of belief for some time, so started researching what existed prior to christianity being imposed at the point of the sword just 1,000 years ago in Northern Europe (including England). Not surprizingly what predated this last gasp of the Holy Roman Empire's hegemony, was an animistic based, community focused ancestor worship. Over the next 1000 years, the dislocation between the eastern mediterranean 'desert' religion, and the old tribal beliefs of the northern germanic peoples, caused a large uptake of old comfort rituals (Christmas at or near the winter solstice, Lent aligned with the feast of Easter etc). Basically the gut need for tribalism and a sense of community could not be denied.

So where does that leave us now? Christianity and the old ethics of the Holy Roman Empire seem to have lost their oomph and their moral high ground. A good excuse for a war perhaps (witness Iraq), but not something you can really believe in and be satisfied by. So what's an old viking derived person like me to do to feel like I'm satisfying my gut need for connection and continuity with my tribe? Well, it seems I'm not alone in seeking answers to this conundrum. Popping up all over the US and northern Europe, are various versions of recreated northern community-based, and tribal belief systems. With lots of fanciful names and varying degrees of attachment to the religious aspects of the old heathen belief systems, they are attracting growing numbers of people to their get-togethers.

So personally, I have found a great deal of reaffirmation of my own sense of where I came from, by integrating the tribal aspects of this belief system into my life. I see it as a natural complement to my own personal spiritual development via Zen, and I don't have to grunt 'hai' every few minutes to feel like I'm really getting it. In fact, drinking ale and mead sure does feel like a spiritual experience and always has done to me. I'm not ready to get into god belief as some do, preferring to view the old heathen gods (Odin, Thor, Freyr & Freyja, and my personal favorite, Loki) more as avatars. I.e. When I feel the need to work on my sense of honesty and personal integrity, then I spend time thinking and paying homage to the concept that Thos, the avatar, embodies. But thats getting a little esoteric. The main benefit I get from being a neo-heathen (and a Zen, yet), is the natural and unstrained way in which I can identify the coda for community based spirit and action.

For anyone wanting to lcheck this stuff out, I recommend doing a web search for Asatru and Northvegr. A criticism that has sometimes been leveled at this stuff is that Hitler was a big fan and therefore it must be a racist, neo-Nazi belief system. To counter that, I like to also point out that he was also a somewhat rabid christian, as were Cortez, the pilgrims and all those other wipers-out of aboriginal cultures.

Ves Heil!

[Disinvented]

</span><blockquote><span class="smallfont">Quote:</span><hr size="1" />Originally Posted by (ThorfinnSS,)
A criticism that has sometimes been leveled at this stuff is that Hitler was a big fan and therefore it must be a racist, neo-Nazi belief system.<hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>
Yeah, Hitler damaged Nietzsche's reputation as well.

[GeorgePotter]

I am a pragmatic individualist, and a Frontierist.

[PeterAngelo]

sdcinder:

Please explain to me how the Santa lie is a good christian example to children.

When a six year old finds out his/her parents have been lying about magic, santa, and probably god too - they keep up the lie as long as they can.

The lesson is that we live by keeping a silent conspiracy of lies - as a culture. A culture of liars.

The child also learns what every whistleblower learns. Truth will end the game and get you into trouble.

Whistleblowers are punished by management and peers alike because the mutual culture of lies is all we have.

As the Russians used to say - the government pretends to pay us and we pretend to work.

Christians who live any other way than Mother Teresa did - for an entire lifetime - are not Christians - they are hypocrits - pure and simple.

[sdcinder]

Santa is not creation of Christianity and neither is the Easter bunny. Santa is an American formulation of Saint Nicholas. My children never have and never will believe in Santa. They have never celebrated Easter by hunting eggs and thinking that a giant rabbit lays colored eggs. I would say that I am able to get some nice dresses for them though due to the sales in various locations.

I found the Santa thing very revolting and several of our "believing" family tried to convince us that Santa was the essence of Christmas. Funny that the beginning of that particular work begins with Christ... Anyway, that was an interesting issue with them. Fortunately, my children are not kept in the dark about that at all. They are shocked when they see other children their age believing in Santa.

There is only One Truth. If we all abided by that One Truth, there wouldn't be any issues to discuss I suppose. So far as God being real, He is very much so. No, I don't hear voices in my head, but there are very real things that happen in my life that cannot be attributed to anyone or anything but God Himself. You can try to debate me on this if you want, you have obviously not been able to have the experiences I have had.

Hypocrits you say? I will admit that I have made wrong choices and I will also admit to you that I am the worst sinner. I do not deserve all the wonderful gifts that have been laid upon my plate. We are all hypocrits and to say that you have never said one thing and done another would be unbelievable on my part. We were not all called to do the same Ministry as Mother Teresa and if we were, there wouldn't be any procreation going on. I will admit that often times, I get in God's way in my life. Therefore, my ears are too plugged up, my heart too hardened, and my mouth not quiet enough. Because of my belief I am able to continue my marriage, continue to raise my children in a way that creates moral and ethical individuals whom are not a drain on society (not that a non-Christian couldn't do that), and I know that one day I will go Home. It is unfortunate that the negative is believed more often and quicker than anything positive.

One more thing I would like to mention is that I find it more of a miracle that a person who could be so deeply addicted to drugs, so deeply into seriously detrimental activity, and so screwed up could come to Christ and seek Salvation and God would change that person so much that they lose their addiction, turn from their detrimental activities, AND feel accepted by Someone that really does love them and care for them enough to die for them. Has anyone died for you lately?

[PeterAngelo]

If you understand the evil and hypocricy of the Santa lie - you are not the problem.

Has anyone died for me lately - YES.

My wife died two years ago and it could certainly be said she died for her family - especially me. She left me 6 beautiful, intelligent children, and enough money for life.

I believe in the CHOICES made by humans - the ones I can see and measure. So far religion has served the devil far better than god or man.

I am glad you make an honest effort to be a good person - that's all anyone can ever ask.

If our leaders would be as honest - we would be allright.

[Alex S.]

</span><blockquote><span class="smallfont">Quote:</span><hr size="1" />Originally Posted by (Disinvented,)
</span><blockquote><span class="smallfont">Quote:</span><hr size="1" />Originally Posted by (ThorfinnSS,)
A criticism that has sometimes been leveled at this stuff is that Hitler was a big fan and therefore it must be a racist, neo-Nazi belief system.<hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>
Yeah, Hitler damaged Nietzsche's reputation as well.<hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>

Damaged is an understatement. Nietzsche's The Will to Power was largely touted as Nietzsche's crowning achievement, particularly by a nobody Nazi philosopher Alfred Baumler, and his major systematic work (ironic, no?). Various quotes were handed out as propaganda leaflets to SS troops about the Ubermensch's duty to expand, conquer, destroy (destruction taken out of it's Dionysian context as a form of, or prerequisite to, creativity). After the war, Nietzsche's works were largely discounted among major philosophies, at least until Walter Kaufmann's translations and explanations of Nietzsche's works (even such an anti-Nietzsche critic as Schutte concedes that Kaufmann's defense of Nietzsche against the charge of Naziism is amazing).

[Impenitent]

and WTP was only his notes arranged by his sister after his insanity struck...

[Alex S.]

I had a longer explanation, but it was erased, somehow...

Yes, the Will to Power was published in 1901 by Friedrich's sister, Elizabeth Forster-Nietzsche. It was largely compiled from Nietzsche's notebooks from 1885-1888. Nietzsche actually intended parts of WTP to be an extension of the Genealogy of Morals (specifically the chapter on the history of European Nihilism), and he used much of the notes in the second book of the Will to Power in Twighlight of the Idols, and the Anti-Christ.

Merely because the notewere arranged by Nietzsche's sister doesn't mean one should not read The Will to Power, however. There are some amazing conclusions and clear explanations of Nietzswche's philosophy in the book (for example, the distinction between active nihilism and passive nihilism).

Neither does Nietzsche's insanity detracy from his philosophy, at l;east in my opinion. He wrote Thus Spoke Zarathrustra after he went insane from seeing a horse flogged, and it is probably the book that most helped spawn the next existentialist authors and thier fictional works (people like Sartre and Camus).

[Comrade]

My personal philosophy is...

Do not be fake

[the_anawim]

I am starting to see that I have at least some philosophical grounding in post-modern thought, but I don't at all resonate with the extreme relativism that carries over from modernity. I am pretty interested in moral philosophy--the kind espoused by Aristotle, Aquinas, and (recently) Alasdair MacIntyre. MacInty'res "After Virtue" is an excellent work for anyone interested in how the Enlightenment and the "emotivism" theory has shaped our contemporary culture, and how that relates to the moral chaos we experience today.

Scott

[Automatic Nate]

I'm Christian, but I have a hunch that sdcinder and I would disagree on a number of things. I've read some of Ayn Rand's essays but neither of the famous novels (assuming "The Fountainhead" is a novel--I haven't even tried to start that one).

I've found that the most metaphysically assertive folks are those who assert that there ain't no metaphysics. Myself, I've been convinced that there is a divine path and that the road signs, if not a distinct line pointing to one point on the horizon, were revealed. For that matter, the ineffability of God makes more sense if we take it as a kind of analogue to calculus--something breaks down if you follow things out of our human computing capabilities, but what we've got within those bounds turns out to be right handy.

Ethically I'm an eschatological pacifist--I don't have to kill folks to make things right because God will make things such in the end. In the mean time, easing the misery of the suffering until that time comes makes quite a bit of sense, and given that people have killed quite a number of people in the pursuit of making things perfect on earth (that's communists, anti-communists, fundamentalists, and all kinds of -ists), pacifism itself seems to make some sense as well.

[Gracchus]

On the principle that if you are going to steal, steal the best, I submit the following:
"A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest-- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." - Albert Einstein

[PeterAngelo]

Amen Einstein - and thanks for the bomb - the barbarians are using it to send us to you - then we can all be one big bag of floating energy looking for a place to land.

Whatever!!

[the_anawim]

Indierockboy: I think you contradicted yourself--you said you didn't want to gauge the value of life, and then want on to talk about doing less damage through things like pacifism, veganism, etc. I'm not faulting how you live (I'm a pacifist and vegetarian, and concerned with economic justice as well)--but I just wanted to point out that you obviously do operate out of a set of percieved morals, as does everyone else.

Automatic Nate: I'm a Christian pacifist as well. I'd probably call myself a "christological pacifist" before an eschatological one, but eschatology is central to my system of belief. I just don't want to slip into the Niebuhrian fallacy of thinking that peace is an unattainable ideal on earth. I don't know if that's what you were implying, I was just stating my case.

At any rate, a great site dealing with violence/politics from a Christian perspective is The Ekklesia Project, if you're interested.

Take care.
Scott

[terstorm]

My philosophy:

1. do unto others as you would have done unto you. (can be seen as pacifism, but if someone punches me, they're getting their teeth knocked out..)
2. respect human dignity in all its forms always


rather simple. I'm not atheist or agnostic but I don't really belong to any real religion. I was bought up Southern Baptist by the way. I will never go back, too damaging an experience in my opinion. Others will disagree and that's fine, I'll listen. But I won't give it another chance.

oh and the Nazis totally and selectively used Nietzsche for their philosophy. Utter bastards they were, thank God they're mostly gone and dead now.