What is philosophy?

What do you think my philosophy sounds similar to?

• I'd like to know what similarities to my philosophy you can find in the works of other philosophers, in other religions, and in other political philosophies. I'm asking this question for three reasons: 1.) Every philosophy must have some predecessors/inspirations, right? 2.) I would like an opportunity to share my philosophy in greater detail 3.) I find the results of my query interesting With that said here is my philosophy. I'll split this into sections. Be warned that it mostly consists of what you might call political philosophy, since I am mostly concerned with things related to human society. 1.) My view of true freedom, and the false freedom we believe: Individual freedom is an ideal that I value very heavily, and it is among the highest, if not THE highest, valued thing I believe in. I believe that true freedom cannot come from someone else. No one can set you free, no one can be trusted to protect your freedom or your rights, since those promises are always broken by the same people you trust to protect that freedom. If you want your freedom, you must protect it and stand up for it yourself, if you have any chance of remaining free from any authority or coercion. To be truly free means to be in charge of and responsible for every action you take and every choice you make. We are afraid of true freedom for the same reasons we are afraid of the unknown, and we are afraid to take risks and take responsibility for those risks. For that reason, we accept the false freedom, in which we don't have to take any responsibility because we live in a place where things/people take care of things for us. In order to truly free, we must abandon authority, and start learning to take of things ourselves, then, we can be truly free. So you can do whatever you want, but every action has a consequence, so don't be surprised if karma comes back to bite you if you do something bad (and I use the word karma quite liberally). I also emphasize the freedom to decide what is right and wrong for yourself, to find your own truth, and to live your own life in any way you choose, and I don't care what has to happen before we can have that freedom peacefully. 2.) My view on society, and why authority is invalid: I already stated that we should abandon authority, but now I shall tell why they deserve to be shunned and cast aside. Authorities, institutions, rulers, governors, leaders, religious leaders, all who dare to think that they have any right to control us share one pattern: they are hypocrites. They claim to have made it clear that we shall not coerce and kill other, but they do it all the time and they do not allow us to take a just revenge against them for their crimes. You've probably been told that without them we will become barbaric, but the truth is not that simple. In truth, anything could happen depending on the circumstances, but the people who want to control want to maintain their pointless existence by clouding us with false beliefs designed to make them seem important, just, and powerful. They want us to think that they and their laws have any rule tangible power, but in truth laws are nothing more than game rules that need to be enforced by humans. They will never give us freedom, not true freedom anyway. We as individuals need to learn to free ourselves, or the cycle of history and oppression will continue to repeat itself. 3). My ontological views and my views on morality: A big part of the basis of our culture is the question of "Where did we come from, and why are we here?". In my opinion, how we were created and why we were here are not important. The idea that it is smacks of human exceptionalism. There is no reason as to why are here, it's a matter of what you create for yourself. I do not believe in the existence of destiny and I do not, for the most part, believe in luck, choosing instead to believe in free will (just because creatures are unaware of it does not mean it does not exist). I believe order and chaos are essentially the same thing. I am not that concerned with good and bad, however, as all actions have consequences, you can safely judge good and bad based on the result of your actions (or, as I liberally stated, karma). Ultimately, morality is for you to decide. What do you think?

• Answer:

  Hey Aleph, I'm not sure you will find a label to encompass all of your views here. I'm not sure you would even want one if you really think about it. (I realize that is not all you're asking for with this question) You said yourself you are more interested in practical matters so I wonder if you'll find what you're looking for in "academic philosophy." You definitely hold some anarchist values. That is one word that generally invokes all kinds of negative images that don't necessarily apply. Again, that is one of the problems with labels, they carry baggage. (Think of the benefit for authority figures if everyone was afraid of the anarchists) Just look at all the "flavours" of anarchism described on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchist_schools_of_thought and I can tell from experience all different sorts of people identify as anarchists. I went to an "anarchist book fair" last year and I can tell you it was very interesting. Sure there were some loud "smash the state" types but there were others who more advocated a more personal anarchism and had more practical and positive ideas for changing the world around them. In general, the people I met were very welcoming and exceptionally kind and accepting. Maybe a group like this would be an interesting jump off point. Another issue is the context of what you've written. If you considered yourself an environmentalist, I'd suggest reading Derrick Jensen's "Endgame" as he is a big advocate for what you describe in #2. If you liked science or science fiction, I'd suggest Robert Anton Wilson as he'll introduce you to a number of odd and wonderful ideas in terms of alternative economics, magic and what it 'really is' as well as other concepts like E-Prime (a form of English without the verb 'to be' which forces you to think different) or neurolinguistic programming. Tom Robbins ("Half Asleep in Frogs Pyjamas") is another interesting author. You could probably easily relate to some of characters. There is generally one 'outlaw' who espouses the transformative power of chaos. These are all puzzle pieces and I can't even be sure they're from the same puzzle, that they'll ever fit together. I'm not sure you'd want them to either. If you think about it, in the context of what you've described about authority, personal responsibility, etc, wouldn't it be better to think about ideas rather than ideologies or the opinion leaders that hold these beliefs? Hope this has helped or at least given you something to think about. Breadcrumbs tossed in the forest, so to speak. Not to make a trail, just to encourage you to look under bushes you wouldn't look under otherwise.