for environmental sciences tomorrow...asked me to reveal my personal philosophy....
what do you guys think??? feel free to critique
Philosophy Position
Before I expose my thoughts on philosophy and its place in environmental situations, I must confess my faults. I haven't checked out an environmental science book yet, nor have I been paying explicit attention to your fascinating lectures. However, I do remember something about universalists and relativists. Therefore,I will combine these and my prior knowledge of philosophy to represent my personal philosophy.
I label myself as a Platonic theological existentialist who regards the Socratic method as the highest method of obtaining truth. Now I have the duty of balancing these stances into one stable, equilbriumed state of mind. Theology is centered on the belief of a God or diety that may encompass fate or judgement over all his subjects. Existentialists, however, like Nietzche, are most often atheist, and sometimes hedonists. Plato, a universalist, rivals Socrates' belief in relativism. However, I, a supporter, though not a follower, of the Baha'i faith, believe that tolerance and coexistence of even the most polar beliefs can occur.
I hold true that there are a set of rules or guidelines that are the upholders of morality or ethics. These rules are universal and eternal. For example, a lie is always bad. Charity is always good. Now there are situations in which an onlooker may determine that a lie may be acceptable, and charity may be unnecassary or even harmful. However, in the long run, say a millenia, if everyone donated 5% of their income to their poorer brethren, AND everyone abstained from telling even a white lie, the overall state of mankind would be marvelous. I guess you could say that l am more interested in the overall picture. In this light, l could be anticipated to relish the overall state of a certain environment, not the individual specimens. so l'm just gonna hop on the biocentric bandwagon on that one.
l am a huge fan of the Socratic method. The dialogue, I believe, is the only way to fully reveal the truth from within. A "scientist" is needed that has no interest in manipulation of words or ideas, but one that furthers his own agenda by breaking the Big Question into smaller questions. These questions may have nothing to do with the big picture, but in the end reveal some sort of truth when innately connected by the subject. I recently had a Socratic dialogue in which l was asked to define justice, mercy, and equality. The end result? I adopted vegeteranism.
I have also been labelled an anarchist. I do not pledge allegiance to any country; be it the land of my birth, Iraq, or the land of my residency, USA. l find that ever since the birth of modern government, persons in power have been corrupt. A prime example of this is the trial of Socrates. He was sentenced to death for corrupting the youth of Athens. However, in reality, it was Athens, in its campaigns for territory and ill-aquired wealths, that was corrupting the citizens of the state. Socrates was simply questioning Athenians innate beliefs of virtue, ethics, and beauty. Never did he reveal his beliefs or lean one way or the other. This governmental hypocrisy has been evident since the onslaught of democracy, communism, or religious states. And now l'm done ranting about that.....
My thoughts on existentialism or theology are not yet fully developed. However, l am gonna comment on a certain comment that you made. You made a certain remark that humans have a disregard of natural welfare because, according to Guinesses, God gave us dominion over the land, air, and water. However, l challenge your definition of dominion. A king has dominion over his subjects. However, a rightous king would never kill or eat his subjects. Instead, he would make sure that they would prosper and live peaceful, productive lives. Similarly, as humans, God gave us the duty to take care of the Earth he made for us. We should, as believers, keep the planet in a productive, healthy state.
I have revealed the bulk of my beliefs. However, my knowledge of environmental sciences is limited at best. Therefore, l can't give you much concerning by beliefs on it. However, hopefully by the end of the year, l will be able to do so in a more complete manner.