Note: The most necessary parts of my worldview are: metaphysics and epistemology (to help me understand), ethics (to help me act), and poetics (to help me create better). A good way to balance these three is to prioritize understanding and living and let writing follow naturally.
I started a self-directed study of philosophy. My main goal for studying was not to acquire a broad knowledge of the field but enough knowledge to answer a question that I feel like I was asking my whole life: “How should I live?” I believe we need to philosophize to live deliberately.
There are so many angles to answering this question. However, I think I have come to a very useful and really basic truth, which helped me see through the question more clearly. And that truth is this:
majority of life is subjective experiences.
I’m tempted to say, “Life is ALL about subjective experiences,” but I feel like this undermines the importance of the little objective truths that we are capable of accessing.
Metaphysics
The subject of metaphysics is at the core of any philosophical inquiry. Religious or spiritual inquiries are also philosophical so they can never escape metaphysical questions.
Obviously, there are lots and lots of metaphysical theories. But all of them try to answer a single question: “What exists?”
I am persuaded with the following conclusions:
- an external objective physical world exists.
- The external physical world is made up of countless individual units of matter.
- Apart from these countless individual units of matter, Minds exists.
- Minds make sense of the external objective physical world.
- Minds are unique to each human being. Therefore, subjective experiences are unique to each human being.
- The interaction between the external objective physical world and the mind creates subjective experience. This interaction is explained by the Indirect interaction theory per Patterson of minds.
Metaphysics is a difficult topic to navigate because we agree about what we want and disagree about metaphysics and epistemology. This is why buddha avoided metaphysics. But metaphysics and epistemology can help us be kinder.
Others
Epistemology
- Foundations necessarily exist and are inescapable
- Focus on foundations, not conclusions
- It is impossible to arrive to true conclusions using flawed foundations
- The longer a worldview goes unexamined, the more difficult it becomes to revise
- Discard a worldview with a mistaken foundation
Ethics
- We act based on practical rationality
- life is inherently meaningless.
- meaningful living is possible despite meaninglessness.