philosophical starting points

[True Scotsman]

Hi all,

I know I'm brand new here and none of you know me. One of the reasons I decided to join the forum besides being interested in philosophy is that I have been interested in asking a diverse group of people what their philosophical starting point is .

What I mean by that is what is your most fundamental principle. What is the first premise of your world view, the one implied and contained in all of the higher level concepts of your philosophy.

By fundamental I mean conceptually irreducible. Not defined in terms of any antecedent concepts. The broadest concept in your knowledge.

I'll go first and I'm really interested to see what you come up with.

Mine is the axiom "existence". This is a plural noun denoting everything which exists, including consciousness. Basically if it exists it is included in this concept. The only thing excluded is the non existent. That is my starting point.

What's yours?

 

[lesliedellow]

I would say that the world is just a little too complicated for everything to be reducible to a single premise.

Just to get mathematics off the ground, you need nine.

 

[RDKirk]

Hi all,

I know I'm brand new here and none of you know me. One of the reasons I decided to join the forum besides being interested in philosophy is that I have been interested in asking a diverse group of people what their philosophical starting point is .

What I mean by that is what is your most fundamental principle. What is the first premise of your world view, the one implied and contained in all of the higher level concepts of your philosophy.

By fundamental I mean conceptually irreducible. Not defined in terms of any antecedent concepts. The broadest concept in your knowledge.

I'll go first and I'm really interested to see what you come up with.

Mine is the axiom "existence". This is a plural noun denoting everything which exists, including consciousness. Basically if it exists it is included in this concept. The only thing excluded is the non existent. That is my starting point.

What's yours?

There is more than one kind of philosophy. You're in the realm of meta-physics. Is that where you intend to stay?

 

[True Scotsman]

Yes since I am interested in the starting point of knowledge I'm staying within metaphysics. We need to have fundamental concepts in order move on to epistemology and those most basic concepts are metaphysical.

 

[Tinker Grey]

Axiom: The root of axioms is induction, including this one.

 

[Eudaimonist]

Mine is the axiom "existence". This is a plural noun denoting everything which exists, including consciousness. Basically if it exists it is included in this concept. The only thing excluded is the non existent. That is my starting point.

What's yours?

Existence works for me too.

Basically, life experience reveals a realm of existence, whatever that may be.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[Usus Vox Tractus]

Sounds like an adventure True Scotsman!

My fundamental starting principle is an Infinite Saturate: One that is actually there and there is no room for anything else forever in all directions. The IS.

A scientist might call this a quark matter ocean: Billions of times denser and hotter than atomic matter, there is no room for any form of anything. All the space normally lofted by the electron and nucleus is taken up by quarks.

A religionist might call this the body of GOD.


Similar to your premise of "existence", this "IS" is all that exists and is the existent thing beside which there is no other before creation. There is no room for anything else.


The Saturate exist like a block of Swiss Cheese with no outer boundary. The cheese is not cut.

The uncountable universes are all bubbles in the cheese. All our lives...are just bubbles in the cheese.

=D

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Hi all,

I know I'm brand new here and none of you know me. One of the reasons I decided to join the forum besides being interested in philosophy is that I have been interested in asking a diverse group of people what their philosophical starting point is .

What I mean by that is what is your most fundamental principle. What is the first premise of your world view, the one implied and contained in all of the higher level concepts of your philosophy.

By fundamental I mean conceptually irreducible. Not defined in terms of any antecedent concepts. The broadest concept in your knowledge.

I'll go first and I'm really interested to see what you come up with.

Mine is the axiom "existence". This is a plural noun denoting everything which exists, including consciousness. Basically if it exists it is included in this concept. The only thing excluded is the non existent. That is my starting point.

What's yours?

Hello True Scotsman,

Interesting question?

My answer is: "human cognizance" (non-Cartesian); more along the line of Chomsky

Peace

 

[Usus Vox Tractus]

Ancient philosophers had a similar idea and called it the Prima Materia. The pure substance that contains the properties of all other substances.

Many ancient religions have a beginning scene in their creation story of God making space for creation by parting a watery chaos.

 

[True Scotsman]

I would say that the world is just a little too complicated for everything to be reducible to a single premise.

Just to get mathematics off the ground, you need nine.

OK, I see. Does that mean that you don't have a fundamental starting point and are you saying that knowledge is not hierarchical in nature?

 

[True Scotsman]

By the way folks, I really appreciate your replies and if I don't respond right away it is because I am out a lot working but I have already learned a lot from the responses so far.

Thank you,

Robert

 

[True Scotsman]

Existence works for me too.

Basically, life experience reveals a realm of existence, whatever that may be.


eudaimonia,

Mark

Yeah,

If you think about it existence is the first thing we all experience albeit sensory input only in the beginning. That's why I chose it as my first principle.

 

[quatona]

Yeah,

If you think about it existence is the first thing we all experience albeit sensory input only in the beginning. That's why I chose it as my first principle.

Does the wording "experience exists" make sense, in your use of words?

 

[True Scotsman]

Sounds like an adventure True Scotsman!

My fundamental starting principle is an Infinite Saturate: One that is actually there and there is no room for anything else forever in all directions. The IS.

A scientist might call this a quark matter ocean: Billions of times denser and hotter than atomic matter, there is no room for any form of anything. All the space normally lofted by the electron and nucleus is taken up by quarks.

A religionist might call this the body of GOD.


Similar to your premise of "existence", this "IS" is all that exists and is the existent thing beside which there is no other before creation. There is no room for anything else.


The Saturate exist like a block of Swiss Cheese with no outer boundary. The cheese is not cut.

The uncountable universes are all bubbles in the cheese. All our lives...are just bubbles in the cheese.

=D

Very interesting. That sounds something like the plank star from loop quantum gravity theory.

 

[True Scotsman]

Does the wording "experience exists" make sense, in your use of words?

Yes it does. I would call that consciousness. Consciousness is consciousness of some thing or an object. And we first experience the world through our senses. So I would agree with that but I would word it as "consciousness is consciousness of an object" because wording it that way ties into my fourth most fundamental concept. "Consciousness" is actually the second most fundamental premise in my world view.

I can see you and I think a lot alike so far.

 

[True Scotsman]

Hello True Scotsman,

Interesting question?

My answer is: "human cognizance" (non-Cartesian); more along the line of Chomsky

Peace

Hello PhiloVoid,

Would that mean something like the sum total of Human understanding.

 

[Paradoxum]

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking.

I suppose a foundational concept might be that I'm probably not insane, and so I'm capable of some level of decent reasoning.

Does that answer your question?

 

[True Scotsman]

I would say that the world is just a little too complicated for everything to be reducible to a single premise.

Just to get mathematics off the ground, you need nine.

yes math is a very high level concept so it makes sense that it would have that many supporting it.

What I'm looking for though is the first one in that chain of 9.

Robert

 

[True Scotsman]

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking.

I suppose a foundational concept might be that I'm probably not insane, and so I'm capable of some level of decent reasoning.

Does that answer your question?

Not quite.

Let me see if I can make it more concrete for you. Picture your knowledge as a sky scraper with the lower level concepts on the bottom and getting higher level as you go up each floor. Now What I'm looking for is not the basement or the foundation or even the footer but the bedrock the whole building rests on. Does that help.

 

[True Scotsman]

Axiom: The root of axioms is induction, including this one.

I like it!!

Robert