[J m HofMarN]

I suppose we all may as well slap a lable on how we think, here's a few if you're not sure.
http://en.wikipedia....of_philosophies


I myself am a romantic, for I believe in freedom, creativity, the meaning of all things and rebellion against social norms. However I am considering solipsist ideas. I also subscribe to existentialism though I hardly see how it corresponds to atheism, which I do not enjoy. I would also hold myself to be a pluralist as I believe dualist ideas to be oversimplified and monist ideas to take away from the intrinsic grace of humanity and the soul.

This post has been edited by J m HofMarN: 25 October 2004 - 05:30 PM

[Vwing]

Well right now I don't really feel like taking the time to read what all those mean, so I'm gonna go off the top of my head and say I'm a romantic, with a bit of existentialism, cynicism, and skepticism thrown in there. I know that seems contradictory, but I basically would like to believe in the good of things and the meaning of things, though many times I am very annoyed at the world for its idiotic ideals and thoughts.

And as for existentialsim and atheism, I think that most atheists are existentialist, but not all existentialists are atheist. Atheism I think is one step away from existentialism, once you're thinking on the track that this life is more important than working for an afterlife and that the meaning is when you are alive and not when you're dead, you're really close to just saying that there is no heaven and hell anyway and that we should just live well in and concentrate on this life.

[J m HofMarN]

Cynicism kind of contradicts with Romanticism but I can understand where you're coming from. I believe thoroughly in human goodness so I'm pretty far from being a cynic.

"I think that most atheists are existentialist, but not all existentialists are atheist."

I thoroughly agree. However I think that putting so much belief into either life or into death is kind of troubling. The idea that we should live our entire lives for the afterlife is silly. So is the idea that we should abandon the afterlife for our lives.

What I believe is very much like the body mind unity theory often espoused by Walt Whitman. I do indeed believe that enjoyment aught to be one of the principle aims of life but it is enjoyment for oneself and others, not just selfish gratification. The reason I like existenctialism is that it allows us to acknowledge the presence of a God or Goddess but at the same time to keep our minds in the here and now. The idea of final and complete judgement, while attractive, seems odd to me. The simple fact that existence, and thus essence is continuous kind of conflicts with Atheism.

I'm toying with the idea that perhaps existence is continuous between "life" and "afterlife" or, as I'm into reincarnation, "life again"

The theory I'm trying to squiggle with is that perhaps life really isn't all that reliant on whether one behaves or not and it's just a continuous existence towards some goal other than being a good little boy, which I think is an oversimplified reason not to be "evil", though I surely do believe in the possibility of good and evil.

[Jordan]

I plan on getting a degree in philosphy after I get my undergrade in Civil. Critical thinking, lateral thinking. It looks like important stuff to know. Civilian took some philosphy I think. That's why he sounds like a know it all, because those guys know how to debate and argue.

You can use philosphical guide lines to solve just about anything. Pure logic strings, inductive and deductive thinking. I've learned a minut amount of it in engineering. Obviously eng. is all pure logic, but It would be nice to apply that sort of thought process to other problems, not just physical science.

Basically it teaches you how to learn. Which is alot more important than memorization.

We go by the 'design process' or 'creative process'. According my teachers, every problem encountered in life is a design problem.

1. what is the need?
2. what is the problem?
3. what are the constraints?
4. analysis and sythsis
etc...


My philosphy is- numbers don't lie. And if it don't make money, it don't make sense.

This post has been edited by Jordan: 25 October 2004 - 06:25 PM

[J m HofMarN]

Jordan- I believe that makes you a Materialist/Rationist

[Jordan]

Really? Holyshit. Sounds awfully cold though. Who could love me?

This post has been edited by Jordan: 25 October 2004 - 10:37 PM

[Chyld]

Bloody hell, that's going to make my Philosophy coursework a tad easier. Thanx man!

...I'll actually work out what philosophy I follow when I've got a free moment.

[Amber-Nicole]

I'm a cynic. I enjoy making fun of things that are dumb, and whining about how much politics suck. I'm negative about alot of stuff, but not really depressing to be around. I'm like a smartass comedian, or something. Also, super perverted and sexual. I can make an innuendo out of anything.

[Slade]

I normally going about saying I'm an existential nihilistic cynical guy, but now I'm reading up on the philosophys, so maybe I can define myself better. I've always looked at nihilistic as the "We've got to tear things down and start from scratch to fix them" approach, but I'm too cynical about humanity to believe that we'd not just end up in the same mess we started with down the road. That's as opposed to the "We can't prove anyone outside of our own senses exist, so we'll assume that nothing outside of outselves does until proven otherwise." Back on the cynicism: "Time is a river, and history repeats."

Ok, updated list: existential cynic who is part romantic, and of course a dualist, because I always seek to cause cognative dissonance - my outlook on life tends to clash with itself. Like being a romantic cynic. I also carry bits of surrealism and Buddhism.

[Dragonspawn]

Im not in the mood to study them so ill describ my 'beliefs' and one of you can tell me what i am.
I highly believe that love is important, im not very materialistic, unless i put alot of hard work into getting it. I am an athiest. i am very rebelious against norms (I hate fashion and anything that is considered 'in' or normal). When i wanna say something i tend to tell it like it is, only considering people feelings when it seems important...
Not sure if that stuff is what you need to know, but thats me in a nutshell anyway.

[reiner]

Is there any classification for a hopeful cycnic?

[SimeSublime]

Or an optimistic one?

[J m HofMarN]

Hmmm Dragonspawn, I think you'd be under Romantic or Existentialist.

Also in the victorian era there were a lot of romantic cynics, contradiction is not necessarily a sign of foolishness.

[WalrusOfPlastic]

I don't believe in good and evil. At least not in the traditional sense. I will attempt to explain.

I'm going to start off with emotion. Emotion is created in reaction to how one percieves reality around them. For many, when they see someone they love die in front of them they feel sadness. Now if we took that same many and led them to believe that a loved one was dying in front of them they would feel the same sadness.
What I'm trying to say is that all emotion is good. It all serves a use. The problem is in the perception of reality.

Another example is Jim. Jim strongly believes that trees should stay upright. A tree in his backyard falls over. Jim feels angry. The anger in this situation is not the problem it's the decision he made that the tree "should" be standing.

Basically good and evil are odd abstract terms that have no real definition. As far as I can tell, and when I think about it and look at the world around me it actually seems fairly obvious, the term evil can be replced with flase beliefs. I don't believe anyone does anything that hasn't been added up in them to seem like the best thing they could do. I'm fairly sure of this.

Life is also pretty darn infinite and if you make any desicion and declare it permanent than you are wrong on some level. The way to avoid false beliefs is to let your mind constantly re-evaluate everything. I'm not saying one shouldn't act as if what was one way yesterday won't be the same today, but just be absolutely ready to accept if it has.

I don't know a name for this philosophy. I guess it's sort of an absolute agnosticism. I intend to keep working toward more and more open mindedness. So far I've experienced some incredible stuff working on this and life gets only more and more enjoyable.

[Slade]

I've always thought I belonged in the victorian age. Back when men were men, the law was a "constitutional monarchy," and everybody wore long coats and doublets. I'd dress like an 18th century nobleman, but I like my eccentricities to be more subtle.