The Faith of a Philosopher-2/09

When a friend asks what do I believe in? The reply is eudemonia, right action through right character; what Plato[i] called the love of the good.   The Greeks have the word philo; philosophy is the love of wisdom.  To love good one must love wisdom, for as Plato repeatedly wrote, we all love the good, but most people are very confused about what good is.  Hitler stated, for example, that he was pursing god’s will by exterminating the Jews, and Martin Luther’s recommendations were though less extreme, similar.  So what is the love of good things? 

            Let me being with a story.  In Brahms’ home is a marble bust of Beethoven which looks down upon the table where he composed music.  Brahms was given to chronically revising his works; thus delaying their publications often for years.  Many of his early works he destroyed.  When Johannes Brahms (1833-97) late in life was asked why he took so many years before he wrote his 4 symphonies (1876-1881), he replied:  “I heard Beethoven thundering behind me.” 

            I hear Christ thundering behind me.  It is not the Christ of the gospel fictions or the stern Christ of the orthodox Jew, Paul’s Epistles, but the Christ of the loving god[ii].  This is the god who commends us to be of good character, to act from eudemonia.  This concept comes not from the New or Old Testaments, for there is much in them that would be offensive to such a god, or gods[iii].  It comes from asking what qualities could not be ascribed to the gods:  anger, vengeful, vain, proud, cruel, bloody, demanding the performance of ancient rituals, upholding cruel laws, and the supporting a religious burea ucracy.  And what certainly could:  wise, kind, moral, loving, non-violent, generous, fair, and just, the qualities justified under the system of utilitarian ethics.  As is the god, so too would he wish that of us.  Other than this, there is nothing that I would ascribe to the gods--not even existence  

            To argue that there is salvation through faith is sophistry; it is set against the godly utilitarian essence.  The Christian gods and demigods (father, son, devils, saints, angels, archangels plus the heavenly beastly deities who guard his throne) are parochial, vain, and cruel.  As James Mill holds Yahweh is the cruelest of gods: “think of a god who would create the human race with the infallible foreknowledge, and therefore with the intention-that the great majority of them were to be consigned to horrible and everlasting torment.”  To suggest that we know the reward and punishment, this too is born of a chain of sophistries.  As David Hume said: “The Christian religion not only was at first attended with miracles, but even at this day cannot be believed by any reasonable person without one."[iv]  Moreover, the very argument is one of bribery:  it has the god telling us that if we genuflect often he will reward us with salvation.  Taking Pascal’s argument, I come to the opposite:  that the god is more likely to reward a skeptic with eudemonia than a Christian of similar character.  

            The love of wisdom (philosophy) is set against religion, but not against godly standard of eudemonia.  Does it matter what god is?  Being worthy as possible of them is all that matters.  The philosopher doesn’t need a promise of salvation, for eudemonia has its reward—ataraxia.  

            The Greek philosophers of the 4^th centuries came to consensus concerning the intrinsic value of the love of wisdom.  Giving oneself to the quest of wisdom not only brings us closer to the gods through eudemonia, but also the inner, enduring happiness of ataraxia.[v]  If we are measured, we are measured by the good in our hearts.  Among the good things is both a love of wisdom and the exposure of the foolishness that is dressed the clergy cloth.  I hear Christ thundering behind me dressed as 4^th century BC philosophers Epicurus, Plato, and Aristotle.  And as Aristotle said:  “A person is not a citizen unless he is counted.”  Let us all be counted by our oneness with wisdom.  Let us all pray:  “Gods let me know what good is and that I have the ability to pursue it.” 

Jk’s FAITH

(written 6/28/6)

It isn’t that deep down I believe there are god-like aliens of another dimension overlook our actions.  I give this under a 5% probability; thus that such gods would install a faith based reward system has an even lower probability.  That there is an incorporeal creator of the universe about one chance in a million, and zero probability if you add to the proposition omniscience, omnipotent, and perfect beneficent. Moreover, if there are gods of some sort, I consider it about a 5% chance that they want us to pray to them, and less than 1% that any one of the major world religions have been molded by such super beings.  Moreover, it is much more likely that they would reward an enlightened skeptic such as Bertrand Russell than a Martin Luther.  The analytic side concludes that religion is a human, social phenomenon, like the belief in alternative medicines, ghosts, and how wonderful our political-economic system is.   

Though a skeptic, I still cling to a set of imaginary deities, for such thoughts are pleasing.  I was raised without religion and the gods whom I have had the greatest exposure to are the Greco-Roman group. I studied Latin in junior high school, and first read the bible when I was eighteen.   I spent 10 years in studies at 3 universities.  I had completed 2 years of graduate school, 10 courses in science.  Moreover, I have a strong background in psychology and history, and I love to immerse myself in the classical world.  Given this background, I imagine the gods to be like the idealized Jesus, free of the hell and devotional demands.  The gods simply want us to promote the good—in the enlightened utilitarian sense of that word.  Now instead of just an abstract system of ethics (utilitarianism for me), I also have imaginary, anthropomorphic buddies; ones who chide me when I fall below the standards of beneficence, good example, and inner peace that their favorite humans have obtained. Such am imaginary friend helps me towards a good goals. 

  Foremost is the goal—again leaning on the Greek wisdom--that of the good life, which in Greek is eudemonia.  Central to such life is ataraxia (another Greek term that is part of the English language). It is an inner calmness free of fears and unbridled passions, for they would reduce the ability to obtain the purer pleasures.  Purer pleasures are those which have minimal associated discomforts, such as those obtained through studies and the association with friends having a similar view of the good life.  There are negative passions that are to be avoided include those associated with anger, loss of temper, cruel thoughts, and delight harm befalling others:  A loving heart is happier. Thus it is essential to maximize the ability of the rational side to control the animal side, but not to deny it.  Reason is the guide for obtaining the purer pleasures. The other major piece eudemonia is that of honor.  This conception of the good life I imbued my imaginary gods with.  This combination of ideals:  of reason, of calmness, of inner peace, of pleasant thoughts, of honor, of delighting in promoting the good, The gods are full of love.  I strive towards their perfection.  

This striving for god-consciousness is my religious quest.  I enjoy such thoughts and have written at length on this.  The love of all things is a central part of that path.  

Honesty is another part of that goal.  As Socrates said, know thyself.  Thus I ought to reduce the conflict between belief and action.  This website is part of my effort to live my faith.  Thanks for visiting.

            Steven Allen wrote is his autobiography that there should be a fourth R, reason, taught in school.  It was the Greek philosophers who stressed that the purpose of education was to give their students (since the philosophers were the teachers of young men) the ability to reason.  We would do well to follow their example and add a fourth R.

        I would add one more subject, the vision of utopia.  To understand how far we can evolve we would study the many ways in which harm is done.  I am sickened when I hear news of deaths and suffering.  I am saddened when I see a person limited by a wheel chair or gross obesity.  And I want to cry out THINK!!! when I observe how our people support the old apple cart of our political system.  I think about how much better our nation would be if our people would demand of our elected officials the assiduous promotion of the public weal.  I want to shout at the common herd concerning all their foolish beliefs.  This website is that shout.