1. PHILOSOPHY                                                                            Version 1.3 March 2012

We all face a dilemma that our beliefs arise due to causality or out of chaos, so they are not necessarily true, yet we do choose to seek the truth, and in so doing we must accept uncertainty that our choice is a leap of faith, and hence we must allow for diversity and respect others, but we must reason about faith and have faith in reason.

1.1 Epistemological Conclusions                                                                                   (Statement 1)

We live with the dilemma that our beliefs may or may not be true, because they are either caused by the laws of nature or they are not, in which case they are random, so:

●          No religion or philosophy can be completely certain they have the absolute truth;

●          There can be no ‘transcendental’ truth, and we all must live with some uncertainty;

●          However, we all follow some guidelines, reason, faith and emotions, to work out what we do believe.

●          Life is indeed a mystery, but not totally incomprehensible.

●          We can be sure enough, about enough things, so that we can live life, and still be reasonably content.

●          Despite that uncertainty, we can have faith that reasoning based on the evidence (including the evidence of our emotions), and reasoning about faith itself, can provide sufficient knowledge and useful guidelines for us to conduct our lives.

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Even if the universe is all one, either unchanging behind the appearances, or always changing (impermanent), we classify it into events continuing through time and space, we assume links between the events, and use language to think and talk about what we perceive, but sometimes we still experience the mystery directly, wordlessly.

Global Beliefs                                                                                                           (Statement 2)

1.2 Conclusions on Metaphysics

We live with the dilemma that classification is misleading, and all is impermanence:

●          on the one hand we must classify to understand, to communicate with other people about reality, and

●          on the other hand we sometimes glimpse the oneness of our universe.

The material world is what we have to work with.  Everything that exists is part of it.  This is not an assumption: it’s the way to find the best answers.

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There is no credible reason or evidence to believe in any transcendent god(s) or the supernatural, or any “force” (or whatever) that is immanent in the universe that is the source of goodness; and even if there were, that still doesn’t provide an ultimate meaning or purpose for existence itself, so we must accept natural reality.

1.3 Theological Conclusions                                                                                 (Statement 3)

We have to use reason to decide, because faith alone is not enough.

All the reasons suggested for believing in god are inadequate, and there are good reasons why we should not believe in God:

●         Existence itself is the ultimate mystery that is not resolved by any philosophy or religion – God does not explain existence itself, because it does not explain how God came to exist;

●         In a sense, everything that exists is part of reality, so there can be no ‘transcendental’ God outside of this reality;

●         There is no reason to believe in a God who is “supernatural” (not controlled by the ordinary laws of nature) or “transcendental” (somehow outside the universe). 

●         An ‘immanent’ god that is the good or loving part of nature could be defined but it is hardly worth calling God in the traditional sense;

●         There is no reason to believe God is anything like what people say, but an incomprehensible, indefinable God is not worth believing in, is no help to us.

●         God does not explain how the universe actually works: the design of the universe, natural events, apparently paranormal events, life, consciousness, religious experience, beauty, good and evil or meaning and purpose. 

●         The problem of evil is too great to believe in an all good, all knowing and all powerful god; God doesn’t really explain why we have good and evil;

●         The sacred texts that are supposed to promote a belief in god are too inconsistent between each other and within themselves to be the basis of a belief in God;

●         God doesn’t ultimately provide meaning or purpose, or explain why we are part of the universal narrative.

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Mental events are physical events, our minds and our consciousness are our brains working, physical processes subject to the natural laws of the universe, causal or chaotic: there are other minds like us, but no spirits, no soul, no reincarnation, no ‘transcendental’ free will, yet we struggle on and value this life.

1.4 Theory of Mind Conclusions                                                                           (Statement 4)

Our minds, our consciousness, are our brains working, subject to the normal laws of the universe, which are either fixed (A always causes B) or based on probability, or completely random, so:

●         There can be no ‘transcendental’ free will, but

●         There are still times when we seem to make meaningful choices, and

●         There can be no life after death, no soul, no reincarnation, but

●         We can still have mystical or so called ‘spiritual’ experiences.

When there are no obvious causes making us decide one way or the other then we could decide to call this some form of ‘restricted free will’.

Consciousness is not a special occurrence that needs a supernatural explanation. 

There is nothing unique to our “selves” that is permanent.

Some apparently paranormal events do need to be explained.

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Goodness must come from within, when we choose, despite the dilemmas, to follow our natural compassion, sense of duty, or enlightened awareness of self interest; we must accept personal responsibility in ourselves and others, and join with society to establish a system of justice tempered by mercy, based on the practical outcomes.

1.5 Ethical Conclusions                                                                                         (Statement 5)

The source of goodness is not some transcendent being or mystical reality but is within those of us who feel compassion, either instinctively or by choice.

●         Goodness is not ‘transcendent’, it is not an independent property of certain people or actions.

●         Compassion leads us to non-violence, minimizing suffering and promoting happiness. 

●         We cannot believe without question any book or prophet because we must judge whether their teachings are good or evil;

●         We still need to promote social controls based on personal responsibility, for those who behave badly, especially those who lack compassion, to the extent these are effective,

●         So while we may assign responsibility, where it is effective, we need to be merciful, because of the irresolvable dilemmas and constraints we all face and our uncertainty.

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Beauty , art, music, literature and culture in general, arises from our shared human nature, our sense of wonder at the universe, our innate desires for self expression and to communicate with others, shaped by our environment, our geography, families and histories; and we can debate endlessly about what is good or bad art.

1.6 Conclusions on Beauty                                                                                               (Statement 6)

The source of beauty is not some ‘transcendent’ being and beauty is not an innate characteristic of a thing independent of all sentient beings: but beauty arises from:

●         Our shared human nature,

●         Our shared history and culture, and

●         Our desire to express ourselves and communicate.

We can debate endlessly which specific things and events are beautiful and we must make such judgments in context, because our judgments depend on our personal history and culture.

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Part 1 - Philosophy: Conclusions

Philosophy tells us we all live with dilemmas.

●          There is no “transcendental” truth, no ‘transcendental’ or supernatural God, no ‘transcendental’ free will, no ‘transcendental’ source of goodness or beauty, from outside our universe.  There are no supernatural spirits, no souls, no life after death, no reincarnation.  The natural world is what we have to work with. 

●          The universe we see, the material world, is mysterious and wondrous, by its very nature, and everything happening within it is linked to other parts of the whole thing.  We categorize, classify and group events in our attempt to understand them and communicate to each other.  Doing so helps us to understand many things well enough to get on with life, but it can be misleading and it hides the underlying unity of the All, the One.  Our “selves” are an illusion but a persistent one.  Mental events are physical events, either caused or random, but we still have to work out what to believe. 

●          We must use the best ways we can, reason and evidence, with the least amount of faith, accounting for our emotions, to make our own decisions, else we cannot live.  Goodness arises within us, based on compassion.  Evil is often just a mistake, but inhumane people lack compassion.  So we need social controls and must assign responsibility, but we also need to be merciful.  Our shared human nature and our shared culture allow us to appreciate and debate beauty and the arts. 

●          Though we are forced to accept that life is full of uncertainty and that we are subject to maya , we are also forced to decide what is the truth, what is real, what is or is not worth calling God, what is good and what is beautiful, while also accepting a diversity of opinions.

●          The choices we make on these issues reflect our core values: wonder, truth, struggle, compassion, respect, responsibility, justice, mercy, liberty, equality, diversity, beauty, hope.  These are universal, absolute values.  They are everywhere – ubiquitous!

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