Yogan's Journey to Life

Many of us want to have a good life. To find happiness. To live well. One of our dreams is to be just happy for no reason. There is a problem with being happy for no reason. In religion, if we connect with God or if we attain enlightenment, we are in bliss. We are happy for no apparent reason, needing nothing more.There is a problem with this. If we somehow simply discover a way to just be happy whenever we want for no apparent reason, because we can choose to, there is a problem with this. There is a phrase that exists: There is nothing wrong with being happy, but... So here I am saying that there is something wrong with being happy, if you do not include oneness and equality, or everyone/everything in existence at the center of your life and living. Because look at what happens: someone who attains the god-like state of bliss, of being one with God, of having their soul attain enlightenment, will literally just sit there and preach for others to do the same, and say that t...

Where and When to risk your life for someone. So the perspective I am about to give, is based within the point of measuring each person by whether they stand within principles and values that considers everyone/Life. Because such people would have greater value than someone who stands within disregarding everyone. And so, in essence, people who have greater value through who they are, should be safe guarded and protected above all others. And so when you see someone in trouble where you have to risk your life, you have to assess your own value and that person's value, along with any and all relevant practical considerations, and side effects. One example is children, since they are still in the process of developing themselves and are not as set in stone as adults in their ways. Also, to consider whether they are someone that is integral in some project or endeavour which grants them value. So all of this you would have to consider, and ideally be aware of BEFORE the life-thr...

So Im continuing with the ethics series, and after I plan on making a series where I qualify the theories and bring up some common objections or problems with them. Today we'll look at Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. Here's the wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicomachean_Ethics#Synopsis I won't copy and paste the entry this time, simply because there is no quick and dirty section that explains the heart of the philosophy well. I must also remind the reader that this text was written a long time ago, about 2000 years ago, and it was written what was then Greek. So it of course had been translated, and so their will always be translation issues, as with the original bible, for example. Having said that, the text does provide some useful insights into human nature, as well as uses some commonsense points to express how to act/live, which is my opinion/perspective (from here on out I won't express this, since it should be assumed that this blog is my p...

So I will be continuing with the Moral Philosophy theme that I started yesterday with a post on Kant's Categorical Imperative .  I mentioned Mill's Utilitarianism, which was another topic covered in my introduction to Ethics course in Reed College. Let me say that Mill's writing is much more clearer or easier to read than Kant's writings. I copied and pasted this from wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism_%28book%29  ~~~~~ The essay is divided into five chapters, namely General Remarks; What Utilitarianism Is; Of the Ultimate Sanction of the Principle of Utility; Of What Sort of Proof the Principle of Utility is Susceptible; and On the Connection Between Justice and Utility. In the first two chapters, Mill aims to define precisely what utilitarianism claims in terms of the general moral principles that it uses to judge concrete actions, as well as in terms of the sort of evidence that is supposed to be given for such principles....

  I attended Reed College. In my freshman year I took the introduction to ethics course. In the course we covered Mill's Utilitarianism, Kant's Categorical Imperative, and Aristotle's Nicomachean ethics. I would like to share what I saw as important for human beings to be aware, which I received from reading the works done by these men. These important things are still relevant today in my life, and how I live. I copied and pasted a section from wikipedia on Kant's Moral Philosophy. I suggest for the reader to read through it, even if you may not understand everything completely, so to at least have an idea. I will then explain how I understood Kant's philosophy in my own words, and by examples.     Section from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel_Kant#Moral_philosophy Kant is known for his theory that there is a single moral obligation , which he called the " Categorical Imperative ", and is derived from the concept of duty . Ka...

I was in my final year of college. I felt nervous about the whole thing. I was mostly nervous about my senior thesis, which is this year long project. I felt nervous about picking the right topic for me. I felt that I had the obligation to do something that was personal. At the same time I felt scared because I was already expecting that the people in my life would not understand why I am picking something so strange or unusual. Why not pick something easy? Why not pick something you know you can finish? Why not pick something that uses the available resources in front of you? Because those things should not ultimately decide what it is I will do. Because the most important thing is picking a topic that I would be glad fighting tooth and nail for, because it has something of value to offer to everyone. And I felt scared, and I knew that it was alright because I was standing up. So I learned to let no one, nothing, not fear or anything define me. That I must define m...