JohnnieNaked Posted May 28, 2012 Posted May 28, 2012 What's your ground for purpose or reason without god. Is it subjective or objectively based?
Guest wester Posted May 28, 2012 Posted May 28, 2012 Yes - as Confucius said : Never impose on others what you would not have imposed upon yourself. As Kant said in the Categorical Imperative: Only do something if you would make a universal law to allow that action. or Mill's idea of the greatest good for the greatest number. But the real purpose is to improvise, innovate and express yourself. And if you're lucky and brave you will take it as far as humanly possible - maybe following the example of John Coltrane in his last few albums. Cheers 2
Exevolt Posted May 28, 2012 Posted May 28, 2012 Pretty much along the lines of what wester said. It feels like it's along the question of "why are we here?" but less philosphyistic (See how I George Bush the shit outta words like a boss?). I just roll with the ideal of being good. 1
Adam5 Posted May 28, 2012 Posted May 28, 2012 The purpose is to learn to chill and do whatever you want all of the time lmao no seriously, doing some good and being happy. No need to imaginary beings in that equation.
Legion Posted May 28, 2012 Posted May 28, 2012 My purpose is to suck the marrow out of life. Curiosity continuously compells me.
GardenerGal Posted May 28, 2012 Posted May 28, 2012 What's your ground for purpose or reason without god. Is it subjective or objectively based? Both? I can't choose one. To quote Ellen: Be Kind To One Another. I'll try and do that!
Positivist Posted May 28, 2012 Posted May 28, 2012 Objectively speaking, we are placed here by a long evolutionary process. We are animals and as a society we must decide how to coexist with each other and as part of the ecosystem. Subjectively, I have to decide what I will do with the time that I have. I choose to make the world a better place with the decisions I make and the interactions I have. Grand purpose? No. Choosing to be good and kind? Yup!
merck Posted May 28, 2012 Posted May 28, 2012 Finding a meaning or purpose was a big part of my deconversion. I am particlulary fond of this quote from Neil deGrasse Tyson: "The problem, often not discovered until late in life, is that when you look for things in life like love, meaning, motivation, it implies they are sitting behind a tree or under a rock. The most successful people in life recognize, that in life they create their own love, they manufacture their own meaning, they generate their own motivation. For me, I am driven by two main philosophies, know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you. " 3
VacuumFlux Posted May 28, 2012 Posted May 28, 2012 I don't have a purpose for being here, I just am. But dying is something I have a basic drive to avoid, so I'd prefer to stay alive for as long as possible, and maximize my happiness and minimize my suffering. Since I find myself being a social creature who feels others' pain, and part of a society that affects me, I also want to maximize happiness and minimize suffering for other people. Other motivations, though I'm not sure if I'd call them purposes, are to find things that I personally like (so more like hobbies, not universal good things for every human) and set goals to make stuff and learn things and absorb myself in stuff that makes me happy. There are times when I could honestly say that I am living for my next art project, that it provides a direction in life and a target for me to work towards, and without it I would feel lost and depressed.
GardenerGal Posted May 28, 2012 Posted May 28, 2012 Finding a meaning or purpose was a big part of my deconversion. I am particlulary fond of this quote from Neil deGrasse Tyson: "The problem, often not discovered until late in life, is that when you look for things in life like love, meaning, motivation, it implies they are sitting behind a tree or under a rock. The most successful people in life recognize, that in life they create their own love, they manufacture their own meaning, they generate their own motivation. For me, I am driven by two main philosophies, know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you. " i like that
midniterider Posted May 28, 2012 Posted May 28, 2012 What's your ground for purpose or reason without god. Is it subjective or objectively based? You know, I wake up in the morning and I say, "What is my ground for being? What is my purpose for living without god?" No, wait I never do that. I wake up and enjoy the day. I play with my animals. Kiss the wife. Surf the net. Play games. Gonna work out today. Unstructured reasonless chaos is my purpose. Then again, I've never been goal oriented. :-) Praising god forever in heaven. That aint nothing to look forward to. 1
agnosticator Posted May 28, 2012 Posted May 28, 2012 Yes - as Confucius said : Never impose on others what you would not have imposed upon yourself. As Kant said in the Categorical Imperative: Only do something if you would make a universal law to allow that action. or Mill's idea of the greatest good for the greatest number. But the real purpose is to improvise, innovate and express yourself. And if you're lucky and brave you will take it as far as humanly possible - maybe following the example of John Coltrane in his last few albums. Cheers I rarely find another person who also likes Confucius, Thailand, AND John Coltrane!
Recommended Posts