First steps: Stoicism

Check out the Wikipedia explanation of Stoicism. I liked finding out the origin of the name, which has nothing to do with being stoic. (That's a teaser - go read the article to find the answer.) Anyway, being called stoic sounds much better than being called a Zenonian, like you were an alien from the planet Zeno.

Stoicism seems like a coherent and understandable philosophy, although I have some trouble with this part: "The stoics considered passionate emotions to be the result of errors in judgment ... ". That doesn't seem right to me. I'm more inclined to take the evolutionary view of emotions. We have emotions because they perform a useful function. Of course an emotional response isn't always correct or appropriate, but sometimes it is. Sometimes it is important in life to respond emotionally, even passionately. I like the Mr. Spock persona (from Star Trek, not the baby doctor), but I wouldn't want to be that way all the time.

But the stoics had a lot more to their story. The stoic idea of logic or reason was much broader than what we think of as logic today. It incorporated the idea of understanding the natural world and how it functions. So when the stoics say that you ought to follow where reason leads, they are saying more than just use your head. They are saying that you should try to align yourself with the world.

From this point of view, people are unhappy when they willfully oppose or resent the natural course of events. Sort of like standing in front of a steam roller. Stuff happens and if you don't want to become part of the pavement, you should get out of the way. On the other hand, if you can arrange your thoughts and attitudes so that they conform with nature, then you can achieve happiness.

Another appealing feature of stoicism is their idea that all people should be treated the same, regardless of position or wealth. They had this concept of the universe as a single living entity, and individuals are manifestations of this universal spirit. So under the skin we are all equal, and we should treat each other with respect and mutual support.

Maybe this is the best feature of Stoicism. This idea, although a bit mystical for my taste, does provide a rationale for a humanistic morality. Each individual has intrinsic worth, because every one holds a share of this universal spirit.

First steps: Pragmatism

I wanted to start with pragmatism because of an idea that I remember as being associated with this philosophy. It is the idea that we choose a particular philosophy because we find it congenial, not because of its intrinsic merit.

I went looking on wikipedia for the reference, but I can't find it now. Anyway, here's a pointer to the wikipedia article on pragmatism.

What I like best about pragmatism is the idea that you can judge an idea or a philosophy by its results. If you find that adopting a particular philosophy leads to horrific acts or terrible depression, then just don't go there! No need to bogged down in long chains of logic.

But pragmatism, for me, doesn't really work as an axiom or a basis for philosophy. I see it more as a sanity check. Or perhaps as a tool, something to be used in philosophy like Ockham's razor for science.

The problem is that I am interested in issues of ethics and morality, and I would like to establish a philosophical basis for discussions on these topics. When the pragmatic test is applied, it pre-supposes some ethical or moral standards. So there is a problem of circular reasoning if I were to use pragmatism as this basis.

Returning to the first point in this post, pragmatism is a philosophy that I find congenial, so far as I understand it, but it doesn't seem to work for my intended application. So in subsequent posts I will attempt to identify a philosophy (or philosophies) that is both congenial to me and suitable for use in discussions on ethics and morality.

Dead blog?

OK, so I haven't posted here in over two years, sorry about that. I have some more time now, so maybe I will try to revive this blog. I would like to post some philosophical speculations here. If you have anything that you would like to say about people, the universe, or everything, this is the place.

- J.