1) Refer to the Categorical Imperative by Immanuel Kant again. It is an objective moral theory, but never references a deity. It is fully possible to be an atheist and believe in objective morality. Moral objectivism or relativism and theism/atheism are separate discussions entirely. 2) Existentialism is not JUST "you choose your own purpose in life". It is a full philosophy which speaks of many different areas of life. Look it up on wiki to get a taste. But even on that point, you could be an atheist but think you derive your purpose from the state. You don't choose it yourself, you do what the government tells you, as is common in more communist states. Just because you deny God doesn't mean you can't turn to some other outside source for purpose. I mean, the government has no right to give you such a purpose, but according to existentialism, neither does God. The point is existentialism says you must choose your own purpose, regardless of what God (if He exists), the government, your parents, or anyone else tells you you should do. An atheist or a theist can reject this premise and seek an external source for their purpose. I disagree with that choice, but it is doable by atheists and theists alike. 3) Good 4) I must again refer you to Kant's system. It is an example of how objective morality is possible in an atheistic worldview. Yes, you would have to choose whether or not you wish to follow it, but a Christian has to choose whether or not they wish to follow the Bible as well. Just because it is possible to ignore the imperatives of an objective moral system doesn't mean the system itself isn't obective. Lastly, you must be able to see that the naturalistic account I have given is fully capable of describing a person living, and wanting to do so. There is no need for an eternal supernatural soul, to have a person who has a will to live. The two are just entirely unrelated. Why does having a will to live at all imply that life after death exists?
I don't like to wear my heart on my hand nowadays but here we go for a post. My beliefs are almost 100% based on science and I firmly believe in finding the truth. If the truth lies in various beliefs, ideas, and values from cultures and religions than I must accept it. I like to believe certain things, I choose to not believe certain things, I am not niave, and don't believe everything I read or hear or see. There are conflicts with beliefs all over the planet, and a handful of individuals respect that others have their views, beliefs, disagreements, and we can co-exist and cooperate together. We are all entitled to our own preferences and from that we find what we want to believe from what we don't want. What I say below is not all fact, but mainly opinion and belief. I believe, along with many others, that we are all connected on many levels. We learn early in our lives that all things are made up of forces of energy and energy can take many forms. http://www.iscid.org/encyclopedia/Law_of_Conservation_of_Mass There is a mind-body connection. The soul is the all encompassing system inside the personal boundary around the human body. The features of the soul are our character. When the body dies; so does the mind/consciousness and soul. What happens when you die? It is true that we are only going to be aware of what death is like when we experience it. Everything contained within the boundaries of our soul, or the energy that allowed us to exist, could disperse to join the rest of the energy that exists in the universe. It is the cycle of life and death that is partly responsible to the expansion of what is in our universe. We will come full circle and our energy will be transfered into another form. We come to learn that death will one day come for everyone. The busdriver who helped meet your needs by giving you a lift to your destination, and the old woman who looked as frail as ever as she struggled to walk what appeared to be one step every 10 seconds. Everyone you know is going to die. Death is a fact of life that we must accept, respect, and not fear. The future is inherently uncertain and unknown, while we can plan and figure out probabilities and possibilities using our brain power, death is too an unknown. We must move into the unknown with courage 24/7. And so we know we will all cease to exist in one weay or another, but as...cheesy as it sounds, we must live to reach durable fulfillment in what is our "snap of a finger" existence in the universe. If science can explain, one day, how we came to be or what was the most mysterious cause to the most obvious effect in the creation of our universe, then hopefully it can explain how we cease to be.
I haven't got a clue what I believe. Externally I'm a Christian... But that's a very lose definition for me...
Um...there are far too many people to quote for it to be efficient, so I'm gonna just say what's on my mind. There is no evidence that a higher power exists. You can show me various religious texts from all sorts of religions, and they will all just be words on paper. The only way we can no for certain if there is a higher power is by interacting with it somehow. Some people believe that they have interacted with a higher power, others believe that no one has. So be it. Wiccans have it right. "Do as you will, as long as no harm comes to others." I've paraphrased this, so I'm sorry if a Wiccan happens to be reading this and I butchered the quote. Essentially, as long as one does not cause harm to others, they should/can live their lives as they see fit. I am not Wiccan, but I can support this. I believe in immortality, or rather, life after death, in the form of a legacy. In religion you are taught to fear death (at least I was) because there you will face the consequences for your actions throughout your life. Too many people concentrate on doing the right thing so they can please their deity, rather than doing the right thing simply because it is the right thing. I've been told that atheists and agnostics, since they don't believe in a deity, must all be miscreants and terrible people in general, because they don't have the thought of almighty punishment hanging over their heads keeping them on the straight and narrow. But I am agnostic, and I live my life knowing that when I die, I will leave behind a legacy. Perhaps no one will know of this legacy, or perhaps the entire world will. Regardless, it is my duty to do what I can to leave a positive and lasting impression on the world. This notion is something that anyone can stand behind, regardless of religious preference and dis/belief in an afterlife.
I wouldn't say I believe in one theory... but somehow I'm pretty sure there is "something". Because my family isn't religious it's always interesting to talk about things like that. My mom once said this: everytime one is dying his/her "soul" or whatever you wanna call it goes to the person that's born in exactly that moment. I like that idea. even though it's hard for me to believe in any of the theories... for me it's like thinking about where the universe ends. it just drives me crazy^^
I bring this thread up again because I have more to add to the discussion. I was threading through THIS and they surprised me, and I'm honestly not sure what to think anymore. What do you guys think about that?
Hahaha. Those are hilarious to read. When you're on the brink of dying or already dead, your brain is going through tons of trauma, causing hallucinations and that "white light". There is nothing after you die. You just no longer exist.
I can't either. None of us know how to not exist or what it feels like. So we can't relate. Which is why people created heaven and hell. They are afraid of the unknown. They want to believe that there is something familiar once you leave this world. Early humanity's desire to know everything made them create things when there was no logical reasoning behind something they couldn't figure out. e.g., God, religion in general, the universe, evolution, etc.
I want there to be a afterlife honestly, even though its hard to believe, as I've said before because I can't imagine not existing in anyway.
Death: the only thing in life that scares the bejeezes out of me. As you can imagine, no religious beliefs attached.
What has me thinking about this is how we have no idea how life started. What happened BEFORE the "Big Bang"? Something had to start it....idk. I don't spend my life worrying about it.