The Philosopher Cafe

 

                                            October 18, 2006

 

I.                   Book/Media Discussion – 6:05 – 6:10

o       Movie:  The Matrix – “Because I choose to.”

o       Movie:  Gattaca - “There is no gene for the human spirit.”

o       Movie:  Dark City – You are more than your memories.

o       Play:  Hamlet by William Shakespeare

 

Essays in Radical Empiricism, James, William

James argues that the purpose of consciousness is that it serves a function, survival. 

Consciousness allows us to decide what we need and to select and apply things from

the environment towards that end. 

 

Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche, Friedrich

A gospel like account that expresses many of the philosopher’s ideas including ‘God is dead’

and living beyond a life of religion without embracing nihilism.

 

The Virtue of Selfishness,Rand, Ayn

The theme is that you have a right to live and further you have the right to live

for yourself, your own benefit.  There is no guilt is living a life that pursues your

own happiness but you must respect that others do the same. Others have

natural rights and pursue “rational self interest” which is morally good.

 

II.                 Introduction – Theme is The Meaning of Life  6:10 – 6:15 PM

 

III.               Discussion Question:  What do we mean when we ask

                   ‘What is the purpose or meaning of life?’  6:15 – 7:15 PM

- Translation is ‘What should we do?’

- Questioning what we see, questioning everything – assumes we can answer the questions.

- Life has no inherent meaning, we give it meaning.  It is relative.

- The meaning of the question changes over time, i.e. period and culture.

- Although people come from different cultures and different times, there seems to be a common nature.  As a man with a family in the US, I can relate to a man with a family in China, even in a previous time.  There are many differences but there is also common ground to the human condition. We are still both people trying to get by in the world. 

- The purpose is ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ via rational self interest.  Ayn Rand cited.

-  Goals, achievements, growth is the purpose. 

-  But what is the purpose of all these goals, even growth? Everything is impermanent.

-  I disagree. There are things that are permanent.

-  There is no thing we observe that does not disappear in time including ourselves.

-  Our senses could be wrong or perhaps we are in a sort of group self deception. Consider how our senses can fail us, i.e. optical illusions.

- Yes, but those are rare.  If you do anything such as coming to this meeting, you must trust your senses at least that much.

- The goals is the after life, heaven. 

 

 

 

Thought Experiment: Would you agree to be a brain in a vat if you could have the perfect virtual life? 

           

-          Utilitarian must say yes because the goal is the greatest happiness.

-         Most said no but some said yes.

-         How do we know we are not already just a brain in a vat?

 

IV.               Philosophical Perspectives

 

The End of the Road: Pessimism

 

§        Hegel’s Dialectic – A Tour de Force of Fatalism

o       Over time a clash of ideas emerges called a dialectic.  Either one idea will win out or a synthesis of the two emerges.  History is an evolutionary process in which it keeps improving. The collective human spirit replaces God as the driving force.

o       Problem with Hegel’s system.  How can he see the system if he is inside it?  Is he not assuming the position of God?

§        Schopenhauer – Making Buddhism Look Optimistic

o       Buddhism identifies suffering as the primary of the human condition and offer the path to enlightenment which is the way out of suffering. The idea is that attachment to things, all of which must pass, causes suffering so eliminate the attachment.

o       Schopenhauer agrees about the suffering but does not offer any permanent remedy.

§         Freud – Sex, Passion and Man Out of Control.

o       Freud believes that people are driven by primal urges, sex being the strongest. But we cover this up to our own consciousness called repression. But the idea that we are in control is an illusion.

o       The problem is Freud’s approach known as psychoanalysis has had limited success and after a century of many different psychological models including Freud’s, none have come close to explaining the human mind. 

o        The other problem with Freud is that his ideas disagree with our experience.  I don’t feel like I am out of control.  I chose what I want to do as far as I can tell.  Freud has not proven it otherwise.  

§         B. F. Skinner – Avoid pain, seek pleasure.

o       Another painfully simple model that fails to cover the range of the human mind.

§         Darwin – Going Beyond Evolution

o       Darwin established the theory of evolution but this theory is now being applied to all kinds of unrelated areas from economics to political theory.   These applications of evolution are unproven. The effect though is to say humans are not in control.

 

Other Perspectives

 

§        Nietzsche – A Passion for Life

o       His message is to grab life and go for it.  Do not conform but question everything and become who you really are.

 

§        Aristotle – The Golden Mean

o       Live a life of balance.  Do not be foolhardy nor a coward. Do not be cruel nor give everything you own.  Always balance between two extremes.

§        Plato/Socrates – The Examined Life

o       Question things and get to the right answer via reason.  Go where the argument leads, fear not.  

§        Epicureanism and Stoicism

o       Epicureanism is a weak form of hedonism.  Enjoy life and avoid pain.  Sipping wine from your comfortable villa overlooking the ocean on a warm summer evening fits the bill.  You want to work in a low stress but good paying job.  You have friends because you never know when you might need them and they are fun to chat with. Enjoy but do not get too attached to things because you can lose them at any moment.

o        Stoicism is like Epicureanism with a sense of duty.  You avoid attachment and so you are less affected by the tribulations of life.  You do what is morally right no matter what and always.  In the larger order of things, you have a place and all will work out as it should. The philosophy of the Jedi Knights of Star Wars are a caricature of stoicism.

§         Ayn Rand – Living Life for Yourself

o       Rational self interest is the best way to live.  You seek your own benefit using reason as your guide.  You live for no one else and no one else lives for you as this would be a form of slavery.

o       Two principles permit this way of live: Natural rights and capitalism.

o       Natural rights are the inalienable rights expressed in the Declaration of Independence, i.e. the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

o        Capitalism is the economic system that supports natural rights.  You sell some good or service to another. They are free to choose to buy or not buy. You must market to the other’s self interest and they must do the same.  I do not steal money from others, they willingly purchase from me. Therefore, I have earned my wealth and I am entitled to it.  

 

Life vs. Existence – Are they the same?

 

-         If you do not believe in an after life, then this life and existence are the same.

-         If you believe in an after life, then your existence goes beyond this life.

-          The purpose of this life may be seen as securing a good after life but

what is the purpose of the after life, i.e. existence?

 

Bottom line: If you make the wrong choice about the belief in an after life, then you could be wasting this life.

 

Other questions to consider:

 

Do religions answer the question ‘What is the purpose of life?’ or do they just defer it to a God or gods?

 

What are the stakes of your philosophical decisions?

 

Can more than one religion be true?

 

 

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