B447 Intro Philosophy
Instructor: R. Hick
Final Exam
My Own Philosophy of Life.
I do not believe in a certain god or superior being. But this does not mean that I am atheistic. To be an atheist means that you believe in no god. For me, I think that it’s best to say that I’m agnostic. I just don’t know what’s out there. Maybe there is a superior being or beings out there watching over mankind. Maybe there isn’t. I don’t know. And until I’m definitely sure, I choose not to have a specific religion.
I have been told by some rather wise men that religion is simply a psychological crutch that man uses. When he hits rock bottom and needs some sort of support to keep him going, he approaches a higher being and asks for help. When he is content and fortunate, he either praises and thanks that being or ignores him altogether because he is so wrapped up in his joy. Man needs someone to rely on and to even blame sometimes.
But there are some questions that religion answers, like the existence of good and evil and the sort.
One of the major questions is, “Where did we come from? Who made us?” To that I have no answer. I don’t have that much free time to ponder on such matters. But I can pretty much say that man just is. We are here, now, and we will be here for a pretty long time. We just are. The idea of a superior being just doesn’t fit into the whole shebang. To have someone in charge and controlling everything sounds a little out of place. If there is a superior being, where did he come from?
Good and evil is another big question. I think the best way to answer that is that good is something that seems to be pleasant and appealing to the senses. Good benefits almost everyone and causes little harm - from a certain point of view. Evil is the opposite. Whatever is painful, miserable, and threatening to others is pretty evil. The limits of good and evil are not fixed, since people have...