Ernie : Question-- what is a philosophy ? In a sense we all know the answer. A few names we can generalize from pretty much say it all. Plato. Aristotle. Aquinas. Hume. Kant. Hegel. And I'd include Buddhist thinkers like Dignaga, etc But there is another sense of the word. I recall a course in Existentialism way back when, at Roosevelt University. I had a hard time understanding why Kierkegaard was included. After all, he would fit right in , in a course in theology, indeed, better in a theology class. It has taken all these years to finally get the point. What is the essence of religious faith ? No need to answer, this is rhetorical. For most people, though, belief is central, along with " spiritual experience." While Kierkegaard was anything but anti-belief and anti-experience, for him what mattered at least as much was philosophy. That is, Christian faith, as he understood it, had a 3-part foundation, with philosophy crucial to everything else. Crucial, not as an "add on" or part time pastime that kicks in a couple of times a year and forget it at all other times. Was there one Bible question he didn't consider as a philosophical issue ? This does not mean that this was the only way he thought about these things, but very much that he regarded the deepest possible questioning as vital. Necessary in all cases. Important. Never to be ignored. Tests of philosophic truth, then, are every bit as meaningful as anything else having to do with faith. So it was with Kierkegaard, and so it is with me. Can't say this is Pauline, sometimes it is, sometimes not, but regardless you can see that in Paul, also, there is this perspective. By philosophical tests what is not meant are only those tests that do not disturb any doctrinal positions ; the exact opposite is intended. Everything must go through the fire. Each and every idea in the scriptures, the Bible, obviously, but all the others, as well. For me this means that a number of doctrines have become null and void. They cannot --for me-- be defended by any kind of serious truth test of philosophy. OK, what do I do with everything else, which is most of everything even if far from all ? " I'm working on it," is the best answer I can give. But this is a far better answer than any other that has occurred to me so far. This is also really far from where most church members are. The philosophy part is usually MIA. And for most Easter / Christmas believers, it is not even a factor. What this also says is that traditional faiths of all kinds are in deep trouble, hence, while there is a good deal of life in them yet, the problems are only going to get worse --without a well grounded new philosophy that makes traditions relevant to the world we live in , viz, relevant to opinion leaders especially, educated people, or people who are self-educated in serous ways. Not for the sake of good PR, but to change lives. Not just to shore up Jonathan Edwards or even Roger Williams, but something that deeply speaks to our world of the 21st century in ways that are open to the best in Asia , in ancient history, in science and the arts, and so forth, by all means including the Bible as inspiration, but not only the Bible. Many ( most ? ) Christians don't see this , but for me it is absolutely essential. In the meantime, the secular world churns on, run by worker ants and their queens. These elites may well be smart, and worth hearing out, but they simply don't have all the answers ; hell, sometimes all they have are a few answers and, at that, answers that may be incompatible with other ideas with potential. Everyone else is part of the herd, in my candid opinion. Like listening-in to the comments of listeners on call-in programs. A minimum of 80 % of all questions are worthless and show only superficial acquaintance with the substance under discussion. That is, 4 out of 5 have half-baked ideas and have done little or nothing that qualifies as honest searching for truth or genuine quest for actual knowledge. Its primarily nothing but opinion, opinion, opinion, almost all of it with zero objective value. So it is with religion. But not for me. Kierkegaard has been the place to start. But he is anything but the place to end. He opens the door but beyond that is a near infinity to discover and , somehow, make sense of. More than make sense of, find the treasure we are all looking for. My definition of " philosophy." Billy ======================================================= message dated 6/13/2011 9:43:03 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
Among other things, I think this explains why Billy often finds my approach frustrating: he'd like to build a movement, whereas I'm busy building a philosophy. -- Ernie P. _Organization vs. movement vs. philosophy_ (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/sethsmainblog/~3/l5rqUISdggo/organization-vs-movement-vs-philosophy. html) via _Seth's Blog_ (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/) by Seth Godin on 6/13/11 An organization uses structure and resources and power to make things happen. Organizations hire people, issue policies, buy things, erect buildings, earn market share and get things done. Your company is probably an organization. A movement has an emotional heart. A movement might use an organization, but it can replace systems and people if they disappear. Movements are more likely to cause widespread change, and they require leaders, not managers. The internet, it turns out, is a movement, and every time someone tries to own it, they fail. A philosophy can survive things that might wipe out a movement and that would decimate an organization. A philosophy can skip a generation or two. It is often interpreted, and is more likely to break into autonomous groups, to morph and split and then reunite. Industrialism was a philosophy. The trouble kicks in when you think you have one and you actually have the other. -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: _http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism_ (http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism) Radical Centrism website and blog: _http://RadicalCentrism.org_ (http://radicalcentrism.org/) -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
