Simply Me (continued)

In which out hero engages in some serious navel-gazing...

Topic #1 - Philosphy

“I yam what I yam and that’s all that I yam!” – Popeye the Sailor

philosophy [fi-los-uh-fee] Noun:   1.  the rational investigation of the truths 

                                                       and principles of being, knowledge, or 

                                                       conduct;

2.  a particular system of thought based on such study or investigation;

I promised some serious navel-gazing, so what better place to start our journey than in the Land of Navel-Gazing, Philosophy.

When looking at what makes a person what he, or she, is at the moment, this is a good place to start.  There really isn’t anything more personal than an individual’s personal philosophy.  It’s the summary of the Sum of all those myriad physical and metaphysical parts in the calculus statement of the Self that I mentioned in the previous post.

A person’s core philosophy is the foundation on which is built the structure of their Being.  In computer terms, it is to the individual what the Registry is to the Windows operating system: i.e. it contains all the configuration information that tells that person how to behave within certain parameters.  To use a business concept, it is their Mission Statement.  Even before you get into the meat and potatoes of someone’s core philosophy, just it’s general nature and structure can tell you quite a bit about that individual: is their philosophy ambiguous and unfocused, subject to a variety of interpretations or frequent revisions; or is it clear and concise, orderly, succinctly defined, and as difficult to modify as something engraved on a steel plate?  Without knowing any of the details of their personal philosophies, the first person I described would probably be viewed as capricious and flighty, possibly an air-head, and most likely prone to practicing ‘situational ethics’; while the second would most likely be viewed as focused, precise, maybe a little OCD (or CDO: those of us who have it understand), rigid and unyielding, most likely unwilling to compromise.

That, however, would be the epitome of ‘judging a book by its cover’.  Things aren’t always what they seem at first glance.  Look at it this way: the body of the car may have some dents, dings, and scratches in it.  There may even be a few patches of Bondo and primer.  But that doesn’t mean that, when you pop the hood, you won’t find a clean, carefully-maintained beauty of a supercharged V-8 purring like a kitten and ready to chew the rubber off the wheels when the throttle is opened up.  While your first impressions of Personal Philosophy 1 and Personal Philosophy 2 may be correct, the same two philosophies could be described by someone else thusly: the first person is open-minded and willing to embrace new cultures, experiences, and ideas; while the second person is concise, organized, and firm in their convictions.  In other words, the personal philosophy of the Observer often colors the lens through which the personal philosophy of the Observed is viewed.

So, where am I going with this?  Simple.  This is the introduction to me proffering my own personal philosophy for your perusal.  I briefly touched on some of it in the Prologue, but now, I’d like to provide to you my core programming.  So, without further ado, I present to you, dear reader, my Foundational Principles (in no particular order):

1.    I am a Christian in that I believe in YHWH, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Moses; and that the Lord came to Earth in the form of a mortal man; to live among the people and become the Sacrifice to seal a new Covenant with Humanity.  I’ve seen too many Wonders and Miracles in my life to not believe, particularly the two Miracles that were the births of my daughters.  We’ll get more into this later;

2.    I try my hardest to live my life by the Golden Rule: Treat others as you wish them to treat you, not necessarily as they actually treat you.  I don’t always succeed, but I do always try;

3.    I believe that Life is Sacred.  All Life.  Except cockroaches.  And spiders.  And mosquitos.  This may seem odd, even a bit hypocritical (except the creepy-crawly part), to those who know I support the Death Penalty and that I’m an unrepentant carnivore (okay, omnivore with carnivorous leanings).  I’ll also go into more detail in future posts regarding my stances on Life and Death;

4.    I love most people to some extent or another, but I have a completely Unconditional Love for my family and some very select, special friends.  I may not like some of the things they do, I may completely disagree with them politically, and I may even get angry with some of their actions from time to time, but it never diminishes my Unconditional Love for them.  You’ll notice I said “most people.”  This is because there are a handful of people sprinkled throughout my life who have earned my animosity.  This animosity has usually been rooted in feelings of pity and disappointment for that person, rather than hatred.  I have rarely felt true Hatred in my life, even though I have said, “I hate you!” in anger.  I must admit, though, that I have experienced a few times that burning, unbridled Hatred for another Human Being.  Thankfully, though, those instances have been extremely few and far between;

5.    My Loyalty is hard won, but even harder lost.  It’s been pointed out to me that I’m loyal to a fault; that I will often continue to stand by someone or something long past when I should have walked away;

6.    I believe that the primary thing that sets Human Beings apart from, and above, the animals on this planet is the gift of Free Will bestowed upon us by our Creator.  Free Will gives good ol’ H. Sapiens the ability to choose to act against his instinctual nature.  No matter how smart your favorite critter is, with the very few exceptions that prove the rule, animals cannot act against their instincts;

7.    I believe that we each have a Purpose in Life, and that it is our responsibility to discover it, set ourselves upon that path, and kick and scratch and claw to fulfill that Purpose.  As Aristotle put it, “where your talents and the needs of the world cross, there lies your vocation.” 

8.    I do not believe in predestination; that little Free Will thing makes it impossible.  But our Free Will means that we can actually choose to turn our backs upon our “First, Best Destiny,” as Mr. Spock put it, at any time and tread upon a different path;

9.    Again, because of Free Will, I believe that everyone, no matter how low they sink or how far down the path of Evil they go, experiences critical “pivot points” in their lives, to co-opt a term I first heard used in this way by Glenn Beck.  These are moments that present a person with choices they can make to turn their lives around, to grow and make themselves a better person, and to redeem themselves;

10.  I believe that, in addition to Free Will, we have another characteristic that differentiates us from the animals: the ability to Reason.  Our Creator granted us with the acumen to look at the Universe around us and gradually discern its inner workings;

11.  I believe in personal Honor; that an individual is only as good as his word.  I strive every day of my life to uphold this principle, so that those who have dealings with me know that they can count on me to always honor my commitments, even if those commitments leave me holding the short end of the stick.  People of ill will and intent can take away a person’s property, freedom, or even his life, but the only way a person can lose his integrity is to willingly surrender it;

12.  I believe that all people, but especially children, must live with the consequences of their actions; though the consequences can be somewhat mitigated for children.  Even if they apologize and are honestly contrite, everyone must learn that they can’t make the consequences of a poor choice just go away by saying, “I’m sorry”;

13.  I believe that Right is Right and Wrong is Wrong and never the twain shall meet.  Many people today place great stock in the concept of compromise in every situation; the philosophy that everything is shades of gray … that there are no absolutes of Right and Wrong.  There are two old adages that describe how I feel about the via media: “If you sit in the middle of the road, all that’ll happen is you’ll get run over;” and, “Anyone who won’t stand for something will fall for anything.”

14.  Further, I believe that it is just as important to do the Right Thing when no one is looking as it is to do it when being observed, maybe even more so;

15.  I also believe in the dichotomy of Good and Evil.  The Universe abhors a vacuum; for Good to exist, it must be balanced by Evil, and vice-versa.  The problem is that this is another area where our modern society has blurred the boundaries; painting every conflict in the gray shades of compromise, if not completely reversing the roles of these ancient adversaries.  Ayn Rand expressed it best when she wrote in Atlas Shrugged, “In any compromise between food and poison, it is only death that can win.  In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit.”

16.  I believe that most people are born with an equal propensity for Good and Evil, and that, with the exception of an extremely rare few, the environment in which a child is raised is what ultimately determines how Good or how Evil that child will become;

17.  I firmly believe in Soul Mates.  I should, I married mine.  I believe that, somewhere out there, in the big, wide world, there is a special someone for everyone.  A partner with whom you will create a special synergistic spark that, without your specific pairing, the world will lack; 

18.  I do not believe that marriage is a 50-50 endeavor.  I believe that it is a 100-100 endeavor.  Both parties in the marriage must give 100% to their partner.  Any marriage where both people are only half-way trying is doomed to failure;

19.  I also believe that, in addition to your Soul Mate, there are several people out there that I like to call, “Soul Buddies.”  These are people you meet with whom you have a special connection … people with whom, for no known reason, you just hit it off from the start.  After meeting, you may not even see your Soul Buddy for years at a time, but when you do, it’s as if no time at all has passed;

20.  I do not believe that the end ever justifies the means.  If something is morally or ethically wrong in one situation, then it is wrong in all situations.  Claiming a noble motive for ignoble actions is just an attempt to legitimize bad, lazy behavior;

21.  I believe that the United States of America, warts and all, is the best thing to ever happen to the Human Race.  We may have hit some bumps and taken some wrong turns along the way, but our Constitutional Republic has provided more Freedom and created more general prosperity than any other system of government in Human History.  I’ll get into how I came by this conviction in future posts;

      So, there you have it: me, in a very large nut shell.  Or is it?  We actually have quite a bit more to cover; this is just the Foundation of the Structure-That-is-Me.  Why, in the subject of Philosophy alone, we’ve barely scratched the surface.  It is much, much more than an individual’s Core Personal Philosophy.

      Next time, we'll start looking at the three traditional branches of Philosophy: Natural Philosophy; Moral Philosophy; or Metaphysical Philosophy (or simply Metaphysics).  Until then, Be Well...

© James P. Rice 2011, 2016