tired of talking about religion only?

whats your philosophy? whats your thoughts on philosophy? what are some philosophy's you agree with? what are some you disagree with?

 

If I were to pick a short description of my philosophy I would say its live and let live.

Philosophy is the study of ideas. I study philosophy not to learn what to think, but to better understand myself and humanity in general.

Relativism is of interest to me. So much in philosophy, theology and ideology is viewed by many as two dimensional. This is often way to rigid and is a principle cause of strife in general. To confine a philosophical, theological and or ideological argument to a binary answer is like only seeing black and white in a world full of color.

Perhaps Nihilism, but I have not read enough on it to completely through it out as a valid philosophy.

 

tell me about Relativism?

 

There are other varied definitions of meta-ethical moral relativism, but the following is the one I identify with most.

"Meta-ethical moral relativists believe not only that people disagree about moral issues, but that terms such as "good", "bad", "right" and "wrong" do not stand subject to universal truth conditions at all; rather, they are relative to the traditions, convictions, or practices of an individual or a group of people."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_relativism#Meta-ethical

I have been lucky enough to Live most my life in America, presently living for the past two years in Canada, have visited Mexico and Japan and I am here to tell you that there is no universal morality. Our morality comes from innumerable sources from the time we were born to the day that we die. Sources like parents/family, religion or lack thereof, culture, friends, teachers... etc. Because of this no two people will have the exact view of morality on all issues.

In philosophy I say that morality is subjective but am countered by those who say its absolute and universal. In theology some Christians will say that morality comes from God whereas an atheist will say it comes from logic based common sense. In ideology one will say its immoral to spank your kid whereas another will say I learned the difference between moral and immoral through being spanked as a kid. There are almost always at least two sides and often both will claim to have the right view of morality.

But who is right? Can both sides be right? Does one always have to be wrong? Can they both be wrong? It all depends upon who you ask... hence the subjectivity. We all have an internal moral compass but no two moral compasses point in the exact same direction. And when two compasses cross paths pointing in diametrically opposing directions strife is almost certain to follow.

People have been killing each other since the dawn of man over whose God is the real God... or whose political system is the right political system... etc. And at a more individual level we angrily argue here on the forums... theists vs atheists... Republicans vs Liberals... Nationality vs Nationality . Both sides stand upon their principles while lambasting their opponent for doing exactly the same thing. Both claiming the moral high ground in a land of 1000 peaks.

So I assert that outside science and academia in general there are very few absolutes. Binary absolutes like yes/no, good/bad, right/wrong, moral/immoral, ethical/unethical are often subjective and do not represent a universal truth condition. I have written in stone morality that I believe to be irrefutable. But once I express my objective morality to you it becomes a subjective opinion. Just because someone says that their moral view is a universal absolute does not mean it is... its still just an opinion... but that is just my opinion.

 

That's a very broad question. There are a lot of philosophical points that I agree with and points that I don't agree with, be it metaphysical, ethical, rational and so on.

 

Here is another good link if you want to read a more in-depth study of Moral Relativism. Just to warn you though, its a looong dry read.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-relativism/

 

In general, Skepticism.

I like it. I think it is informative on the potential of human understanding.

I agree with Methodology as opposed to Free Association. If there's anything that I've learned from Psychology, it's that our awareness is limited. And our awareness of awareness is limited.

As far as philosophies, lately I've been dabbling in Fatalism. The theological answer to this is Molinism. But I can't get past that it is an entirely ad hoc philosophy to explain why Omniscience and Free Will are compatible. I have been trying to get around determinism but am finding it difficult.

 

I live by a few simple philosophies.

* Give more than you take.
This is a multi-faceted philosophy.
It means that your family, subordinates at work, and trusted friends get into the serving line first, and you eat only when they have had enough.
It means that your lover's pleasure comes first, and your pleasure comes from the giving.
It means leaving things better (and cleaner) than you found them.
(If you borrow a friend's truck to haul something, you bring it back full of gas, the exterior washed & shiny, and the interior vacuumed out. If you are walking across the parking lot to your favorite supermarket, and you see some fast food trash laying there on the ground, you pick it up and put it in the nearby litter basket.)
It means that you will lay down your life for your spouse and kids if doing so will help to ensure their survival.

* Tell the simple truth, always.
No white lies, no half-truths, and no concealment.
Telling the truth, always, means never having to remember your lies later on so that you don't have to tell more lies to cover the original lies.
Once you become known for speaking the plain truth, always, you become a constant in the universe to your friends and family, and no one will ever doubt that what you say is the truth.
Don't be afraid to express the truth in your heart for fear of how other people might view it.
Example:
"I gave the paperwork to that new fellow in HR."
"Which new fellow? There are two new employees up there."
"The tall, good-looking guy."
"Dude. You're a dude. Dudes aren't supposed to notice if other dudes are good-looking or not."
"Why the hell not? If he was butt-ugly and buck-toothed, you would be comfortable saying that, wouldn't you? I was only trying to describe him in the most efficient way possible."
"Good point."

* Life is a song. Sing it.
Express joy in creative and/or musical pursuits.
Rock and roll, loudly.
Visit the old folks home, and sing oldies to the geriatric women and men there.
Write, draw, paint, create, happily and unabashedly.

* Ride motorcycles.
You never see a motorcycle outside a psychiatrist's office.
Think about it.

 

philosophy

thoughts

Christian Humanism or the philosophy of the enlightenment for example

Abortionism for example.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfQI_yEiuY0

 

If you're talking about philosophy as in the way I usually like to tackle problems, rather than which schools of formal philosophy do I find persuasive, I guess I'm going to have to say that my philosophy is to make sure that I understand something before I make statements. Surprisingly often, I don't even have to get into my beliefs and thoughts, the issue solves itself, either by pointing out that an intellectual opponent has misunderstood something, or the solutions to the problem becomes obvious or something like that.

 

By and large I consider myself a materialist, but a pragmatic one. For example, I recognise that all the choices we make are determined entirely by our chemical makeup combined with our experiential inputs, but at the same time, am happy to consider those choices to be made of our own "free will". Humans are nothing more than sacks of meat with some very complex chemistry and physics going on inside - but that doesn't mean I make any attempt to fight my nature, which is a product of that chemistry and physics. And so on.

 

philosophy is rational to you?

- - - Updated - - -

what is Abortionism?

 

What I mean is that philosophy discusses, among other things, what is rational. If you talk in general, I would have to say that it is not always rational, but it can be.

 

unless I specifically reference a "school of thought" I am always referring to personal philosophy and most often want to know what someones thoughts are because that's what philosophy is, thoughts.

 

The primary definition of philosophy is, and I quote Google, "the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline", or wikipedia, "Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language". I seem to remember a quite well cited article a few months ago vehemently arguing against the use of philosophy to mean personal outlook, but I can't seem to find it now.

That being said, there is nothing inherently wrong with using the word philosophy the way you do, but I would be careful with which one you use and certainly not leave the issue uncommented on.

But that's just me being a language nerd.

 

The thing is that most people on this board, as with the general population, are not educated enough or simply not intelligent enough to discuss philosophy, which is why it never pops up here.

 

We have 2 words for rationality "Verstand" and "Vernunft". If I use the word "Verstand" then I have to say philosphy is the art of rationality - If I use the word "Vernunft" then I have to say not every philosophy is rational (=vernünftig).

The ism (=ideolog-y/-ies) behind abortion. Life should not deny to live and to let live.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KKQDotECdg

 

There will ALWAYS be cases were abortion is necessary and Morally the right decision....and the vast number of abortions could be dramatically lowered by simply educating young girls to Plan B and Morning After as these drugs will not allow the implantation of a fertilized egg cell into the uterine wall if take asap after unprotected sex.

Making such drugs easily available as they are now becoming and available for all women of any age as well as covered by Medical Insurance is the first step to lowering the number of abortions done by 90%.

AboveAlpha

 

Except in case of [extended] self-defense I would say there's no reason for abortions at all - also today. No one has any right to kill a human being on no reason to do so. But the problem is deeper - it's a problem of the human mind in general to try to justify what's not justifyable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBQ-IoHfimQ

 

What are you talking about?

There are several types of situations where an abortion is absolutely morally justified.

In cases where a Doctor determines a Fetus to be NON-VIABLE....as many...many abortions are done when it has been determined a Fetus is improperly developing such as a Fetus developing without a Head...or Lungs...etc.

In cases where the woman's life or health is at stake.

Rape or Incest.....and these two reasons for abortion could be handles by the taking of Morning After or Plan B the next morning or asap as this will not allow a woman to become Pregnant.

Now although I find the idea of Abortion abhorrent and that women who have unprotected sex and have no desire to have a baby should immediately use Plan B or Morning After....there are going to be women who are confused and desire to terminate their pregnancy.

If it is too late for Drugs....such an abortion should be done asap as a clump of cells implanted in the uterine wall certainly does not have the same Moral Implications of being aborted as a Fetus over 23 weeks.

Still 99% of all abortions are done before 21 weeks and in reality Fetal Sentience does not begin to develop until about 1 to 2 weeks into the 3rd Trimester.

AboveAlpha

 

I don't discuss about abortions any longer - specially not with members of the english speaking world. In think it's absolutelly senseless to do so. My view on the unalienable natural human rights of still not born human beings is not compatible with abortions in general. The only exception is [extrended] self-defense - and also in this case like every other case is every abortion always a tragedy only. I don't discuss about wether horror is better than depression or something in a similiar way. The effects of abortions are not positive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HEDs2PI-T0

 

I disagree as in many cases Abortion is a very positive procedure especially when saving the life of a woman and preventing the birth of a baby without lungs...etc....thus preventing suffering.

AboveAlpha

 

I know. Once a groom said to me: "Only the first hundred years are a problem - afterwards it will become more easy." From time to time I remember his words.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0d1dFD_xIE

 

I take it you are equating this to it somehow being easier to abort?

There is ZERO logic to that analogy.

AboveAlpha

 

What do you not understand if someone says to you "I don't discuss about abortion"? Abortion was only an example here for a "philosophy" I'm not able to accept.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ssi55d4Jw64