How to Live Well--My Philosophy of Life

Over the past decade, I have formulated my philosophy of life. The exercise has been very beneficial personally, and I hope that you will benefit from reading it.

A brief summary and link to the full 14-page document may be found here: http://philosofer123.wordpress.com

Constructive feedback is welcome. Thanks for having a look!

I have just glanced at your philosophy but this is mine

There might be some similarities between the two

Always strive to be open minded about all things

Avoid worrying about things beyond your control

Avoid other human beings as much as possible

Try to be as emotionally neutral as possible

Do not be afraid to confront your demons

Do not be afraid to admit to error

Try to learn as much as possible

Always live within your means

Exercise on a regular basis

Do not be afraid of death

Atheism : Your atheism is really a-abraham-theism … there are lots of other concepts of gods which could exist - Deism for example.

I don’t think that “God wants humans to believe in Him” . Why would He want that?

Afterlife skepticism : The problem with the lack scientific evidence is that two hundred years ago we had no evidence for black holes, superconductors, lasers, etc. We didn’t know much and we still don’t know much.

Ultimate responsibility impossibilism : What’s the difference between “ultimate responsibility” and “responsibility”?
You claim not to be responsible for anything that you do? That could be a problem in the context of society. :smiley:

Moral skepticism : If there are “evolutionary explanations for norms … of moral belief” then why is that not “a moral fact”? Those norms evolved and so why would we not consider them to be “good”? Evolution is ‘objective’ … right?

As long as you don’t believe in gods, you’ll be smart and well off.

Aren’t you the guy who believes in lots of supernatural entities?

Thank you for reading and commenting.

…and, as I note in the document, I have no good reason to believe in any other god.

The Abrahamic religions make it clear that God wants all humans to believe in him. Why this might be the case is irrelevant.

In addition to lack of scientific evidence for an afterlife, there is strong evidence and good arguments against it, as discussed in the document.

I do not define “responsibility” in the document, and see no need to do so.

How would that be a problem?

As discussed in the document, moral facts, if they exist, would provide normative reasons for action that transcend institutions and are independent of one’s desires and interests. Evolutionary explanations for moral belief do not provide such reasons.

Unless I missed it, you only gave reasons against the 3 omni Abrahamic God.

Where did He say that? In the OT, He was the God of the Jews. He didn’t say anything in the NT about universal belief.
Maybe He doesn’t care.

Oh, strong evidence. Must have missed it.

If you don’t define ‘responsibility’ then how can one say if it’s a problem or not? It’s impossible to discuss an undefined concept.

If evolution establishes a ‘norm’ then that would be a normative reason by definition. :smiley:

Transcendent and many-dimensional, yes. Not supernatural.
I was joking though.
If you’ve ever had a transcendent experience, or a massive experience,
you may realize higher forces etc.
But most people on earth are like insulated rubber.
The rays of light meet the old black rubber.
The light fades and becomes heat.
Too much light is blinding and because it is blocked by non conductivity
it is like fire. It gets burnt up. But if it was clear and transparent, it would not be harmed by the light.

This is part of why these super natural forces leave people in fear and baffled.
This is why our body suppresses too much growth of the energy system.

I like the whole negative hedonism thing in the OP.
But that doesn’t mean atheism = truth, or atheism = happiness.

I do not need to give reasons against other gods, because my position is merely that I have no good reason to believe in them.

My understanding of Christianity (and Islam) is that you will go to hell if you do not believe in the Abrahamic God. That is very strong evidence that the Abrahamic God, if he exists, wants you to believe in him.

I do not claim not to be responsible for anything I do, so your original question is moot. I merely claim not to be ultimately responsible for anything I do.

Evolution does not “establish” any norms. It merely explains the existence of belief in certain norms.

Yeah, that’s the part that I don’t get … why do you add the word “ultimate” to the word “responsibility” to form “ultimate responsibility”? Why not simply talk about responsibility? What’s the difference?
If you don’t believe in a god, then any responsibility would be to other humans either way.

Evolution is the process of adaptation of life forms to an environment and the “theory of evolution” is the description of the process.

If evolution(the process) established a “normal” human body, then it also established “normal” moral behavior in the same way.

The difference is irrelevant because I never refer to “responsibility” in the document. I define “ultimate responsibility”, and that is all I need to do.

Evolution may explain the existence of moral belief (and consequently the existence of so-called “normal moral behavior”), but that does not establish the existence of moral facts.

Actually, you don’t need to do anything. But you asked for feedback and I gave you some. You’re welcome. :wink:

My philosophy of how to live well is to not read long boring documents.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uZRYO8BcL4[/youtube]