Practical Consequences (Humans)

by dhw, Thursday, October 29, 2009, 17:45 (5295 days ago) @ George Jelliss

George finds our current abstract discussions "pretty pointless", and asks if all this philosophising leads to any "definite views on practical issues".
On a personal note, he writes: "Despite the fact that he can't make up his mind what he believes, dhw indicates that he is in practice a humanist, like me."-For the benefit of newcomers, I should point out that George has contributed to this forum right from the start. Between them, he and David Turell have woven strand after fascinating strand within the AgnosticWeb, but now we have to decide if the new strands aren't getting us into a tangle! Thank you, George.-There are actually three issues here. The personal one is easy: yes indeed, I am a humanist*** in so far as I believe in the value and meaningfulness of human life for its own sake. In my personal behaviour, I try to act in whatever I consider to be in the best interests of humanity and of my other fellow creatures (I hope that doesn't sound too sanctimonious). Even if God exists - my form of humanism allows for agnosticism - I have no trust whatsoever in the human interpreters of his will, and I think society should be run according to humanist and not religious codes, although these often coincide. My own code is almost certainly a product of my nature and not of any philosophy, as it distresses me to see any kind of suffering. 
(***I've just read Matt's comment on humanism, and it looks as if we have yet another problem of definition here!)-Despite the fact that I can't make up my mind what to believe in matters of religion, I have very strong views on many other issues, but I consider each one individually. I have no allegiance to any political party, and am sceptical about the wisdom of giving power to people who want power. I don't think abstract philosophy plays any role in my decision-making on practical issues, but on many moral issues I'm usually aware that there are at least two sides!-As for the "pointlessness" of abstract philosophising, it all depends on why people join this forum. My own motive for setting it up was simply a desire to find out how other people fill the colossal gaps that I can't fill myself. I've learned an enormous amount from the discussions, but it's inevitable that the inadequacy of language leads us into problems of understanding. These do sometimes take us away from the actual substance of a topic into discussion of terms and their implications, but I find this interesting too. The very process of formulating ideas, communicating them, and then trying to put right the errors that have arisen is an education in itself. It can also be fun, as we spark off each other, but that depends on people entering into a friendly spirit of give-and-take, without resorting to the personal vituperation that I've seen on some other sites. For the most part, I'm delighted to say that this is what has happened. To sum up, I don't think the philosophizing is pointless if it leads us to a better understanding of one another's viewpoints.