Morality, Ethics, Religion; Philosophy, History, Science, and Politics 2.0
People are complex. People are simple. People are messy. People are orderly. People are shallow. People are deep. People are social. People are isolated. People are creative. People are destructive. People are all these things and more.
Life is synergy! For the most part, each one of us is more than just the sum of our experiences, our abilities, our nature, and our associations. Our consciousness is always, always, always, incorporating new input, new data, new questions, new insights, and intellectual connections into our perceptions. So every day, if we are receptive to new ideas, our perceptions, those filters of reality that are created from our experiences, our abilities, our nature, and our associations.
Let me propose a list of questions for you dear reader, for self-examination. Do not be afraid of what you may or may not find. For they are you. Qualities that make you up, which influence everything you hear, see, smell, taste, feel on your body, and sense emotionally. Emotions are visceral, invigorating, and/or exhausting… and all of this occurs, all the time… 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365/366 days a year… until all energy dissipates… and is transformed…
“Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over.” Failure is an opportunity to intelligently begin again. Provided you take the time to take the time to take an inventory of things you have at your disposal. Counting the cost is involved too.
To the questions then… their purpose is to discover who are you and what has your experience taught you.
What is behavior? That which we do. Our actions. What is morality? What we consider right and wrong. What are ethics? A code of conduct (a code of actions that we can perform without violating our morals) agreed upon by our associates (friends, family, coworkers, or fellow students.) What is ethical behavior? Actions that comply with our professed ethics. What is moral behavior? Our actions are based on our understanding of right and wrong. How are morality and ethics related? Our morality should inform our ethics. Could they be related? Yes or no? Should they be related? Yes or no?
What is philosophy? Philosophy is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, value, mind, and language. It is a rational and critical inquiry that reflects on its own methods and assumptions. What is religion? scrupulous or strict observance of the ‘’traditional cultus”. In classic antiquity, it meant conscientiousness, a sense of right, moral obligation, or duty towards anything, and was used mostly in secular or mundane contexts. Are morality, ethics, philosophy, and religion related? Yes or no? How are morality, ethics, philosophy, and religion related? They are first of all developed in one's mind by one’s experience. Could morality, ethics, philosophy, and religion related? yes or no? Should morality, ethics, philosophy, and religion be related? Yes or no?
What is history? That which has become a set of recorded facts to demonstrate or illustrate some point of a narrative. What is historiography? The history of writing history through the ages. Don’t worry, that’s not a typo. I didn’t know about historiography either until I got serious about learning history.
What is science? Science is a rigorous, systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the world. Modern science is typically divided into three major branches: the natural sciences, which study the physical world; the social sciences, which study individuals and societies; and the formal sciences, which study formal systems, governed by axioms and rules. What is the history of science? The recorded facts of science. What is the historiography of science? The writing of the history of science to demonstrate or illustrate some point of the proffered narrative. What is the philosophy of the history of science? The philosophy of the history of science is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, value, mind, and language. It is a rational and critical inquiry that reflects on its own methods and assumptions. Is there a science of philosophy? Yes or no? What is/are the relationship(s) between morality, ethics, religion, history, philosophy, and science? Yes or no?
After considering all of these things, how then should we be able to reflect these in our day-to-day interactions with our fellow travelers to the grave? More empathy. Less judgmentalism. More supportive and nurturing in our actions.
And then, let us not forget economics and politics… Yes, throw them into the mix and things get complex and messy… just like humans, are complex and messy. Because politics, politics charges everything up, energizes people, and influences people’s attitudes toward their neighbors. And economics includes more than money. It includes time, emotions, and social interaction with one another.
You see, we care for our children. We want a better future for our children. But what future will they have if they are returned to slavery, of any sort? A return to medieval feudal society… a moral slavery, forced into obeying the moral codes imposed on them who think they have all the ultimate truth that can be discovered. Economic slavery, forced into a zero-sum scheme that only includes food, clothing, shelter, work, and an idle upper class who survives on the sweat of those that labor…
Only when we can make “social room,” that is, at least tolerate worldviews that differ from our own, (except outright, antisocial, criminal, violent behavior as the basis of any of those ideas that we have explored.)
How we define those concepts mentioned above will determine the viability of the society we build, and quite possibly determine the existential destination of our planet and species.