• Home
  • RELIGION IS NOT. . .PART I
  • THE SEARCHER-SEEKER

Searcher-Seeker

Musings of a lifelong searcher-seeker

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« COMPETITION TRUMPS COMPASSION. . .
LIFE’S BIG THEMES-LIFE’S BIG QUESTIONS, PART II. . . »

LIFE’S BIG THEMES – LIFE’S BIG QUESTIONS, PART I. . .

July 26, 2019 by Searcher Seeker

The Questions we hold determine the Paths we take. –RWS

Good morning Gentle Reader.

Consider this: The ‘Themes’ and ‘Questions’ that follow are not the preserve of the specialist (although the specialist does preserve them).  These are the themes and questions that we humans have been holding for thousands of years.  Together they structure the ways we think about, interact with and act upon our world and one another.  They help determine our ‘place’ in our world (the macro-world – the global community and the micro-world — myself).

The great thinkers and the not-so-great thinkers have been holding and engaging these themes and questions for good and for ill.  Any person who holds and engages one or more of these themes and/or questions is ‘doing philosophy.’  These themes and questions form the mental models that we integrate and that directly impact the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of our lives.

THEMES: Here is a list of the big themes; a list that we humans have been holding for thousands of years.  THE LIST: knowledge, reason, truth, mind, freedom, destiny, identity, God, goodness, beauty, justice, mercy, compassion and empathy.

QUESTIONS: Here are the questions that anyone of us humans might hold and respond to or ‘live’ (Rilke counsels us to live the questions themselves).  Let us begin with the six questions that Socrates offered us to consider and hold: What is virtue? What is moderation? What is justice? What is good? What is courage? What is piety?

Here is a list of questions that we humans have also been asking/holding: Who am I?  What am I?  What is consciousness?  Will I survive my bodily death?  Do I always act out of self-interest?  Might I be a kind of puppet – programmed by ‘Fate’?  Am I really ‘Free’?  How do I know I have ‘Free-Will’? 

My goal is to seek to ‘understand.’  This is not easy for me – and I assume, Gentle Reader, that it is not easy for you.  For me, many of these questions continue to be baffling questions – they defy simple responses (although I often offer simple responses to them).  On the other hand, if someone were to ask me ‘When is it high-tide?’ I could set out to find the answer.  With some effort I would be able to answer the question with some authority.  This is a type of question that is called an empirical question.  It is a question that can be settled by means of agreed upon procedures – looking, measuring and applying certain rules.

The questions I framed above are not empirical questions – they are not ‘measurable’.  So if they are not empirical, what are they?

To ask new questions requires creative imagination. –Einstein

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in Uncategorized |

  • Recent Posts

    • SEEDS, SOWING & LISTENING, PART I
    • A TEACHING STORY-THE LESSON IS THERE
    • THINKING ABOUT ‘RESENTMENT’
    • WHAT MATTERS? ‘TRUST’ MATTERS!
    • CONSIDER: BEING ALERT
  • Archives

    • June 2022 (13)
    • May 2022 (15)
    • April 2022 (15)
    • March 2022 (15)
    • February 2022 (13)
    • January 2022 (13)
    • December 2021 (15)
    • November 2021 (10)
    • October 2021 (13)
    • September 2021 (10)
    • August 2021 (14)
    • July 2021 (13)
    • June 2021 (15)
    • May 2021 (15)
    • April 2021 (14)
    • March 2021 (15)
    • February 2021 (14)
    • January 2021 (14)
    • December 2020 (14)
    • November 2020 (16)
    • October 2020 (14)
    • September 2020 (15)
    • August 2020 (12)
    • July 2020 (14)
    • June 2020 (13)
    • May 2020 (12)
    • April 2020 (12)
    • March 2020 (11)
    • February 2020 (12)
    • January 2020 (13)
    • December 2019 (11)
    • November 2019 (12)
    • October 2019 (14)
    • September 2019 (11)
    • August 2019 (12)
    • July 2019 (10)
    • June 2019 (11)
    • May 2019 (12)
    • April 2019 (15)
    • March 2019 (13)
    • February 2019 (14)
    • January 2019 (10)
    • December 2018 (12)
    • November 2018 (10)
    • October 2018 (10)
    • September 2018 (7)
    • August 2018 (9)
    • July 2018 (12)
    • June 2018 (10)
    • May 2018 (8)
    • April 2018 (11)
    • March 2018 (12)
    • February 2018 (13)
    • January 2018 (12)
    • December 2017 (10)
    • November 2017 (11)
    • October 2017 (13)
    • September 2017 (14)
    • August 2017 (12)
    • July 2017 (12)
    • June 2017 (14)
    • May 2017 (14)
    • April 2017 (14)
    • March 2017 (14)
    • February 2017 (12)
    • January 2017 (13)
    • December 2016 (15)
    • November 2016 (15)
    • October 2016 (12)
    • September 2016 (12)
    • August 2016 (13)
    • July 2016 (9)
    • June 2016 (14)
    • May 2016 (14)
    • April 2016 (14)
    • March 2016 (15)
    • February 2016 (14)
    • January 2016 (15)
    • December 2015 (15)
    • November 2015 (15)
    • October 2015 (15)
    • September 2015 (15)
    • August 2015 (13)
    • July 2015 (11)
    • June 2015 (13)
    • May 2015 (11)
    • April 2015 (15)
    • March 2015 (15)
    • February 2015 (13)
    • January 2015 (16)
    • December 2014 (14)
    • November 2014 (15)
    • October 2014 (14)
    • September 2014 (12)
    • August 2014 (10)
    • July 2014 (13)
    • June 2014 (11)
    • May 2014 (14)
    • April 2014 (14)
    • March 2014 (16)
    • February 2014 (13)
    • January 2014 (14)
    • December 2013 (14)
    • November 2013 (14)
    • October 2013 (14)
    • September 2013 (13)
    • August 2013 (14)
    • July 2013 (16)
    • June 2013 (13)
    • May 2013 (23)
    • April 2013 (29)
    • March 2013 (31)
    • February 2013 (28)
    • January 2013 (31)
    • December 2012 (29)
    • November 2012 (30)
    • October 2012 (31)
    • September 2012 (30)
    • August 2012 (31)
    • July 2012 (31)
    • June 2012 (30)
    • May 2012 (31)
    • April 2012 (30)
    • March 2012 (31)
    • February 2012 (16)
  • Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 45 other followers

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Searcher-Seeker
    • Join 45 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Searcher-Seeker
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
%d bloggers like this: