Atheism seems to be the only logical choice in a world of religious insanity. Without a plausible religion out there I often turn to philosophy for happiness and guidance. I spend a great deal of free time thinking over famous quotes, Idioms, and Chinese proverbs (mulling over a good Zen story has great appeal). I wonder if any you have a particular life philosophy that you try to live by or just a few that “tickle your fancyâ€. I would love to read them.
Posted: February 24th 2010
logicel
I am just so thrilled to be alive. And that means, in this day and time, that I must die. Death is part of life, can’t have one without the other. Death is part of the bargain so to speak. In that light, I regard life somewhat as a lark, something that can be taken seriously if certain goals are to be achieved, but at the same time, not be, because of the ephemeral finiteness of my life. It is a marvelous activity to be constantly juggling those two aspects, which keeps me on my toes.
And what a lovely question, thank you!
Posted: March 8th 2010
SmartLX www
I try to keep in mind Jean-Paul Sartre’s position on personal responsibility.
In a nutshell, one is responsible for one’s choices and actions, and that’s it. Even when something seems an obvious or necessary action, or when you would seem justified in saying, “But I had no choice!” It might be a horrible choice which causes you great anguish, or one in which the alternative is great loss or death, but it’s still you making a choice and accepting the consequences. Therefore, until one is incapacitated absolutely, one is never powerless, one is never entirely a victim and one has at least a measure of freedom.
If one denies this, and sees oneself as a victim or puppet, one is using what Sartre called mauvaise foi or “bad faith” because one is ultimately deceiving oneself.
Posted: March 4th 2010