The Challenge of Why

The Challenge of Why
A Secular Search for Human Purpose

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Part One: Purpose and Meaning
	Chapter 1 Philosophy and Truth We all need a philosophy to guide our lives. The search for truth is guided by an understanding of the nature of truth. Validity of truth: Truths are only true under specific conditions. Truths with narrow conditions are "small", those with broader conditions are "large". Larger truths are more abstract. Veracity of truth: The best test of whether a truth is true is finding empirical evidence for things the truth predicts. The ultimate test for a philosophical truth is whether it leads to a sustainably content society. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 2 Routes to Truth There are only three secular routes to truth: intuition, deduction, and induction. Each has its own strengths and limitations, so none can be relied upon to always provide truth. We approach truth most confidently when we use the three routes to cross-check each other. Deduction's foundation: Although deduction is generally considered the most powerful route to truth, the veracity of deductive truths critically depends on the first premise, which is necessarily a belief. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 3 The Premise Every philosophy must ultimately be grounded in a belief. This philosophy is grounded in the belief that life does indeed have a purpose, a direction we should go and a reason for going in that direction. That purpose is meaningful; we would approve of it if we knew it. Furthermore, the purpose applies to humanity as a whole and every human. Without a purpose, there would be no basis for moral judgements. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 4 Free Will Although there is no empirical evidence for free will, if human purpose is to be meaningful, we must have free will. Free will is highly constrained because it must act through by physical, physiological, and psychological mechanisms. It is therefore a week force. For it to act in the universe, it must work subtly through the brain's chaotic structure. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 5 Soul The physical universe is absolutely determined by the laws of cause and effect. That is, for any set of causes, there is only one possible outcome. Determinism in the Physical Universe: Statistical uncertainty, chaos, and quantum uncertainty only describe our inability to know something; they do not permit real choice. For free will to exist, it must arise from a non-physical substance, a soul. The Nature of Soul: Because soul is non-physical, it exists in a domain that does not allow something to be localized and does not permit change. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 6 The Role of Life Because free will is a weak, non-physical force. for it to act in the physical universe, it must have a long lever to exert its small power to great effect. Complexity is that lever. In particular the complexity of life can magnify the force of free will into action in the physical universe. Souls in Animals: the differences in the human brain vs. even that of our next nearest animal cousins provide us an enormous increase in possible complexity, so it is probably not worth while to consider whether animals have souls. Body with Soul Makes Human: we arrive at a dualistic understanding of what it means to be human. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 7 Soul Character The free will in a soul can affect on the physical universe. Let us guess that the physical universe can affect something about a soul. Let us call that something "character", and let us further guess that this character has something to do with moral qualities. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 8 Morality Morality arrives either as a command from some higher authority, as a feeling, or by calculating consequences. However, none of these approaches provides a satisfying answer to what morality is. What makes something moral: morality combines three separate moral tests: motivation means, and consequence. Morality involves good and evil, which are distinct from goodness and badness, and right and wrong. We also do well to remember that we live by non-moral values, such as law and ethics. The complications of morality make it a poor guide to discovering purpose. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 9 The Directionality of Time From the earliest moments of the universe, there has been an inexorable trend towards increasing complexity in the physical, biological, and social realms. This complexification has characteristics that allow it to fill the role of purpose. It seems to be inexorable. It is driven by subtle but pervasive motivations. It provides great benefits. Humanity is in the phase of complexification that propels us to further integrate our society. This provides us greater comfort and power. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 10 Whether to Integrate We must progressively integrate our societies in order to move humanity in the direction of its purpose. Integration vs. Individuality: Integration does not ask us to deny our individuality, rather to cultivate our own unique role in society. Integration and Centralized Authority: Integration does not require the surrender of autonomy to a central authority. Several metaphors from human physiology show how a complex system can be controlled without authority. Our success in complexifying our society will depend on finding the right approach to integration. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 11 Morality and Purpose Integration into a progressively more complex society can be built is built on coercion and/or trust. Trust is more efficient, but it requires moral behavior. Biological Roots of Immorality: Our vices derive from our biological nature; they helped our ancestors evolve. Spiritual Roots of Morality: Those moral impulses that propel integration by trust are counter-natural, so they must come from the soul. Moral Conflict: Body vs. Soul: Moral conflict pits the inclinations of the body against those of the soul. The body’s impulses are stronger and more compelling. Moral Conflict: Culture vs. Soul: Often a society's culture also stands in the way of a moral life. To lead a moral life, we must learn to heed our soul despite the urgings of the body and sometimes our society. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 12 Meaning in Life An individual life finds its meaning in striving for a moral life. Apparent Absurdity: Many examples of short and misdirected lives seem to imply that life is absurd, not purposeful. Life Cycle of a Soul: If a soul can have a multiple but limited number of incarnations, it will have the mechanisms to learn to recognize the soul's moral voice amid the distractions of life and temptations of the body. The challenge of learning to recognize and follow the soul’s moral voice brings meaning to each individual life. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 13 Societal Morality The structural choices or accidents of a society can make morality easier or more difficult for an individual. There is a strong mutual interaction between the individual's and the society's morality, and between a society's and its neighbors' societal morality. We must pursue human purpose together.The structural choices or accidents of a society can make morality easier or more difficult for an individual. Moral Environment: Society establishes the environment that makes morality easier or more difficult. Society may force, facilitate, or encourage evil on its citizens. It may wink at immorality or drive people to evil by desperation. It can also organize morally good activities that are not available to an individual. Interaction of Societal and Personal Morality: There is a strong mutual interaction between the individual's and the society's morality, and between a society's and its neighbors' societal morality. We must pursue human purpose together. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 14 A Soul for Society Without a soul to provide society its moral guidance, society must develop some organ that fills the functions of a soul in identifying societal moral issues, motivating the correction of societal moral problems, and instantiating moral memory. A survey of history shows that society’s culture fills these roles. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 15 Core of Purpose, Mantle of Meaning Human purpose provides the core motivation for morality and spurs us on to the greatest human achievement. The interwoven challenges of improving our individual and societal morality bring meaning to an individual's life. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
Part Two: Implications of Purpose
	Chapter 1 Pessimism and Suffering The existence of suRecently, thinkers have denied the existence of purpose by pointing to the massive suffering in the world that seems to make life absurd. But this conclusion does not respect the real progress that has been made in the last centuries conquering suffering. All suffering, even a travesty as great as the Holocaust, has a role in the scheme of purpose by motivating the development of societal structures that reduce suffering. Suffering is essential to the pursuit of purpose.ffering does not make existence absurd. On the contrary, suffering is essential to the pursuit of purpose. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 2 The Pursuit of Happiness Human purpose is not found in pursuing happiness. The pursuit of happiness for its own sake leads to hedonism. However the desire to be happy motivates us towards our purpose of complexification. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 3 Beauty, Truth and Goodness The pleasures of the flesh can tempt us to evil. To achieve a morally benign or beneficial happiness, we pursue happiness as the joy of beauty, the satisfaction of truth, and the gratification of goodness. Progression through these more esoteric drives can provide a progressive motivation for moral behavior. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 4 Goodness and Love Understanding the spiritual nature of the soul and morality, we see goodness as an expansion of the soul beyond the confines of the will and love as a real connection between souls. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 5 Agape The broad, selfless love of agape is the ultimate force for driving us towards our purpose, but it is also the most difficult to achieve. However, we can progress towards agape in small, reasonable steps in our response to people we know. The progressing involves forbearing them, tolerating them, respecting them, and liking them, to prepare ourselves to love people in the broad way of agape. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 6 Relationship The challenges of agape can also be practiced by mastering its lessons in progressively wider circles of relationship, centered on marriage. We can master the skills of agape by how we relate to our family, our friends, teammates, community, and our own kind broadly. These all bring distinct lessons that are needed for agape. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 7 Pride and Chauvinism Both pride and chauvinism serve the purpose of evolution, however they can poison progress towards agape. Their natural rewards make them serious obstacles towards agape. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 8 Religion The functions of religion have changed across human history. Today it plays an important role to play in assisting people to lead a moral life. Perhaps not all religions are equally good at this, and the arguments in this thesis can help sort out those that are more valuable at supporting morality without having to argue about doctrine. Furthermore, a person’s need from a religion will be driven by preferences that have nothing to do with morality, so a variety of religions will be necessary to support the variety of humanity. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 9 God This thesis has argued that goodness is a real substance and that love and agape are real spiritual connections. This allows an understanding of God as goodness bound by love. This God exerts supernatural powers through living beings, allowing people to act in ways that are far beyond the abilities of purely physical beings. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 10 Past, Future, and Present The understanding of our spiritual nature and the nature of God allows us to speculate on the possibility of a brilliant, transcendent purpose for humanity if we have the will to pursue it. We are on a path towards merging with God, to becoming God in a literal sense. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 11 What is Humanity does have a purpose, and the universe is perfectly ordered to encourage us to pursue that purpose, but our success is not assured. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
	Chapter 12 But Never Mind all That We must not take the ideas in this treatise uncritically but instead search for evidence of human purpose working in our own lives and our world. Moderator theauthor	0	0	No Posts
Archive
	Part I Archive Part I Archive Moderator theauthor	15	15	Fri Aug 24, 2007 3:14 pm bbsadmin
	Part II Archive Part II Archive Moderator theauthor	12	12	Fri Aug 24, 2007 3:04 pm bbsadmin

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