My basic philosophy of life is, that Homo Sapiens is a biological organism as there are so many of us on this earth. He is driven by the will to survive. If you turn that 180 degrees, you also could say, he is driven by his fear of dying.
Closely related to this survival instinct is the behavior of seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. It is maybe a rather simplistic description of Homo Sapiens, but this is what it all comes down to in my opinion.
Many may object to this image of man, pointing to our culture, art, music, and literature, our ability to discern right from wrong. That makes us more than just biological organisms, doesn't it?
Of course... What we see is that in evolution we are the only species, in which the light of 100% self-awareness was turned on. We see it too in other animals, but not to the degree we enjoy it.
This has enabled us to create the word "WHY?" It can be used for really everything, from completely nonsensical to absolutely relevant. form "Why is a circle round" to "Why does the apple fall from the tree?"
And with this word we enter a twilight zone. Sometimes we don't seem to know for sure, whether a why-question refers to something relevant or is simply meaningless.
And here we are back at the beginning. Suppose you get as an answer to your question "WE DON'T KNOW". Big chance you are hit by fear. "What is around the corner?"...."I don't know....!" Oh my, suppose it is the killer......
We can take refuge to two options: one option is to take a small mirror and unobserved peek around the corner. Option two is, you proceed and are convinced that The Force is with you and will protect you.
Of course, again you can object that I simplify things, but from a materialist point of view, I'd say, we only have option one. Option two is this peculiar inclination of Homo Sapiens to believe in unprovable theories.
In the previous lecture, we noted that conspiracy theories have the same form as religions.
A conspiracy theory is an unprovable belief in a reality that rules man and the world. Most religions fit this definition, with unprovable claims that many believers believe to be true.
That seems to be the way out for us to deal with our fear. We only can survive when we kick out the communists, destroy the pedophile network,
have the Lord on our side, do what Jesus taught us....... This approach to reality is deeply rooted in our brains, it seems.
Today I can only end my lecture by quoting Bertrand Russell: The value of philosophy is, in fact, to be sought largely in its very uncertainty.
The man who has no tincture of philosophy goes through life imprisoned in the prejudices derived from common sense, from the habitual beliefs of his age or his nation,
and from convictions that have grown up in his mind without the cooperation or consent of his deliberate reason.
To such a man the world tends to become definite, finite, obvious; common objects rouse no questions, and unfamiliar possibilities are contemptuously rejected.
As soon as we begin to philosophize, on the contrary, we find, (...), that even the most everyday things lead to problems to which only very incomplete answers can be given.
Philosophy, though unable to tell us with certainty what is the true answer to the doubts that it raises, is able to suggest many possibilities which enlarge our thoughts and free them from the tyranny of custom.
Thus, while diminishing our feeling of certainty as to what things are, it greatly increases our knowledge as to what they may be;
it removes the somewhat arrogant dogmatism of those who have never traveled into the region of liberating doubt, and it keeps alive our sense of wonder by showing familiar things in an unfamiliar aspect. -end quote- ("Problems of Philosophy", 1912,1943)
Thank you for your attention again....
Main Sources:
MacMillan The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd edition
TABLE OF CONTENT -----------------------------------------------------------------
1 - 100 Philosophers 9 May 2009 Start of
2 - 25+ Women Philosophers 10 May 2009 this blog
3 - 25 Adventures in Thinking 10 May 2009
4 - Modern Theories of Ethics 29 Oct 2009
5 - The Ideal State 24 Febr 2010 / 234
6 - The Mystery of the Brain 3 Sept 2010 / 266
7 - The Utopia of the Free Market 16 Febr 2012 / 383
8. - The Aftermath of Neo-liberalism 5 Sept 2012 / 413
9. - The Art Not to Be an Egoist 6 Nov 2012 / 426
10 - Non-Western Philosophy 29 May 2013 / 477
11 - Why Science is Right 2 Sept 2014 / 534
12 - A Philosopher looks at Atheism 1 Jan 2015 / 557
13 - EVIL, a philosophical investigation 17 Apr 2015 / 580
14 - Existentialism and Free Will 2 Sept 2015 / 586
15 - Spinoza 2 Sept 2016 / 615
16 - The Meaning of Life 13 Febr 2017 / 637
17 - In Search of my Self 6 Sept 2017 / 670
18 - The 20th Century Revisited 3 Apr 2018 / 706
19 - The Pessimist 11 Jan 2020 / 819
20 - The Optimist 9 Febr 2020 / 824
21 - Awakening from a Neoliberal Dream 8 Oct 2020 / 872
22 - A World Full of Patterns 1 Apr 2021 / 912
23 - The Concept of Freedom 8 Jan 2022 / 965
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