Forums / Discussion / Serious Debate

There are many philosophies in existence, such as existentialism, pragmatism, confucianism, altruism, etc. Which philosophy, or combination of philosophies, do you believe is most beneficial? Furthermore you don't have to but explaining why would be nice.

Personally I am a fan of pragmatism.

I don't know about most beneficial but personally I like the idea of Cynicism. It kind of strips away a lot of the bullshit and social artifice that you see in daily life. I don't necessarily agree with all of its tenants but I like that it examines our customs and beliefs and questions which ones are truly necessary.

I pretty much don't look for a specific philosophy to fit my world-view. This is mainly because I think putting labels on beliefs is just silly and makes you kind of want to stick to that label and make you less flexible or waste effort trying to find the correct label. It's also why I don't look for a name to fit where I am politically I just believe what I do when I do. That and I'm too indifferent and lazy to even want to research this kind of stuff, I've done some learning at school but every school didn't fit me completely and the whole time I just think what I described, which is that it's just all pointless personally.

However, one specific school did kind of stand out to me when learning about the bigger ones and that is absurdism which is basically the belief that trying to find a concrete explanation for the world while part of human nature is futile and well, absurd which is basically what I was saying above.

I like pragmatism quite a lot myself, although like Sam said, sticking to a single philosophy isn't the best idea. If I was not religious, absurdism would be my secondary close-match philosophy.

Objectivism mainly through if i had to stick to a single one I'd create my own.

You could always believe in the religion of philosophy. :D

Natural law
Virtue ethics
Neostoicism

Discordianism.

""Both order and disorder are man made concepts and are artificial divisions of pure chaos, which is a level deeper than is the level of distinction making. With our concept-making apparatus called "the brain" we look at reality through the ideas-about-reality which our cultures give us. The ideas-about-reality are mistakenly labeled "reality" and unenlightened people are forever perplexed by the fact that other people, especially other cultures, see "reality" differently. It is only the ideas-about-reality which differ. Real (capital-T) True reality is a level deeper than is the level of concept."

--Malaclypse the Younger, Principia Discordia, Page 00049"

Neither chaos nor order are intrinsically wrong; we need a balance of both. However, as modern Western life is arbitrarily structured to the point of madness, Discordianism stresses disorder. If we were living in utter bedlam, Discordians would be the ones forming courts and food banks.

We prefer creativity versus destruction. Both order and chaos can be creative, in which case they are good, but they can also be destructive, which for most people is bad. Depending on your view though, destruction can be a breathtakingly creative spectacle.

Personally, I fall under benthemic utilitarianism for ethical quandaries and a mix of absurdism and dudeism for everything else.

To explain, benthamic utilitarianism is an offshoot of ethical hedonism and consequentialism wherein an action is considered moral if it produces a net amount of happiness not just in regards to oneself but society as a whole. Actions in and of themselves hold no value, it's the results of said action that count.

In Jeremy Bentham's own words:
"Create all the happiness you are able to create: remove all the misery you are able to remove. Every day will allow you to add something to the pleasure of others, or to diminish something of their pains. And for every grain of enjoyment you sow in the bosom of another, you shall find a harvest in your own bosom; while every sorrow which you pluck out from the thoughts and feelings of a fellow creature shall be replaced by beautiful peace and joy in the sanctuary of your soul."

Uh… science, I guess. And skepticism, but that's of course inherent to science.

Whatever the "we're all gonna die and there's no afterlife so do whatever the hell makes you happy and find your own meaning even though there isn't really one, but you really shouldn't be a dick to other people because it makes them dislike you which makes your own life harder" philosophy is.

@Erin ◕ω◕
That's absurdism bro.

I dunno, but I've always been drawn to solipism. I wouldn't necessarily advocate it to other people (if they actually exist :P), but it works for me.

I believe Taoism is fine:

Let everything happen naturally and never force things since it shatters the balance of the Tao.