Humanist Influence
I am reacting to a talk given by Güven Güzeldere here on the topic of human flourishing/Eudaimonics, some of this post will be paraphrased.
Two dimensions or goals of religion or other forms of philosophy competing for followers:
Human Flourishing
The importance of understanding individuals’ talents and what makes them happy reminded me of Robert M. Price’s book “The Reason Driven Life”. I think it was around chapter 32 where Price discussed the difference between he and Rick Warren on the issue. Warren talks about everyone having their own unique ‘calling’, but if you read between the lines it’s all about being a good christian and doing what god wants you to do. I appreciated Price’s description of his personal conversion away from christianity. He did not feel “fully himself” because of the constraints imposed by the ideology in which he had been entrenched.
On the Assumption of Theism
Consider the following thought experiment describing the “experience” of the color red by a human being.
Experiencing the color red starts with a specific wavelength range of light hitting the back of your eye, where rods and cones and various complexities convert the signal into electrical impulses which are then routed to the brain. Now, what [...]
