Though I don’t believe in any religion,I nonetheless believe there must be a reason for the existence of humans or myself, and there must be something or someone responsible for our existence here.
Although the question why we exist here may be a question unanswerable by science, and philosophy answers no question,the question is nonetheless fundamental and significant.
Because I believe there must be a reason for my own existence, so I live my life without hesitation and since I’m doomed to die and have no other way to avoid that so I pass on my life to the next generation by procreation and tell them there must be a reason for their existence so to live their life never with hesitation and hope they’ll live better than me.
I think this may be a religion of my own.
Do you think there is a reason for the existence of humans and yourself or no reason at all?
As a naturalist, I would argue the only ‘reason’ for our existence is evolutionary, or physiological. That is, if one means ‘reason’ as synonymous with ‘cause’, then yes, there’s a reason for our existence. Yet as soon as one asserts any ‘greater’ reason than this - such as ‘fate’ or ‘destiny’ - one ventures into the realms of speculation at best, fantasy at worst.
And, by the way, what do you mean by this, exactly?
The ‘reason’ I mean here is not physiological cause,it is something or someone consciously or intentionally responsible for our existence here.
the evolution of all kinds of life is also intentionally caused by that
‘reason’.
I think philosophy is only a specific way of thinking.
What question has ever been answered by philosophy without controversy?
I understand. My response was meant to detail that I disagree.
Unless you’re talking about hard math or science - even then! - the term ‘philosophy’ in this question is virtually interchangable with ‘humanity’.
If we mean the ‘reason’ why we exist here as synonymouse with evolutionary or physiological cause,then the question why humans exist in this world could be answered by science.As I see ,such questions can’t be answered by science.
And thusly is metaphysics born. Again.
Metaphysics rules, doesn’t it faustest one? LOL.
pangheping, although it will be met with great derision and gnashing of philosophical teeth, this is the fundamental inquiry of all intellectual pursuits …
Who or what is the prime mover for physical existence? The causal agent.
The original “why”. The impetus of affectation.
Philosophy doesn’t answer questions, it only posits plausible possibilities from a logical perspective.
Bottom line:
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You assert the apodictic of life as genetic causation.
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You assert the apodictic of life as an ineffable agent of non-physicality.
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You assert nothing, in the hope that life experience and intellectual searching will reveal the final answer.
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You become an agent of the hordes of sheeple, and become a mindless watcher, and the Boatman takes you, without you ever having even had the cognition to inquire.
That’s my perspective.
I’d agree with what has been said in terms of the ‘cause’ of our existence, but I’m making the assumption we’re talking about ‘telos’ so I’ll throw my two cents in, though my opinion is no where near developed enough to be submitted as anything more than an opinion.
I don’t think that there’s any reason to think that there is some overall purpose for human life, it simply is. If however there is a human telos it is quite obvious that it is wholey ambiguous, there’s no big illuminated sign saying ‘this is what humans should be/do’. If there is some obscure truth out there about the purpose of humanity, it is not likely to have much of an affect on the life of a human. Only when the purpose is admitted into a religious context does it seem to be given any weight. For instance I might say: ‘Humans should eat 7 and 1/2 apples per day, there’s no reason for you to do this, but that is the point of life’ it wouldn’t be particularly convincing to anyone. However if I say ‘As a human your purpose is to live a holy life (whatever that may entail) because if you do you will be rewarded and if you don’t you’ll be punished’ it suddenly becomes a direction which someone might decide to take. The first is ridiculous, but if you threaten one’s soul, suddenly a purpose has weight.
Anyway that was my extreme ‘beat around the bush’ way of saying that a telos seems to be ineffectual unless it is placed in religious context. Because what will happen to you if there’s no God but there is a telos, and you don’t follow it? Nothing . . . well nothing different to what would happen if you stumbled across the telos. At best you’ll live a very happy life, achieve eudaimonia etc. etc. if you follow the supposed proper path for humanity, at worst if you don’t you’ll be as dead as anyone else.
Sorry, that wasn’t particularly enlightening I’m sure, but thanks for reading my humble opinion anyway.
This is where parenting phrases come in handy;
Humans exist because I said so. or how is this one; The reason is not important, just do it because I said so. / and / I am busy go play, wait; go clean your room instead. Why? BECAUSE I SAID SO!
The reason for human existance has many good plausable answers. Pick one or you don’t get your allowance
to quote a darling person here; " pick a card any card"
Dempsey,
No need for such humility - was a nice post.
Welcome to ILP.
met·a·phys·ics Audio pronunciation of “metaphysics” ( P ) Pronunciation Key (mt-fzks)
n.
- (used with a sing. verb) Philosophy. The branch of philosophy that examines the nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, substance and attribute, fact and value.
- (used with a pl. verb) The theoretical or first principles of a particular discipline: the metaphysics of law.
- (used with a sing. verb) A priori speculation upon questions that are unanswerable to scientific observation, analysis, or experiment.
- (used with a sing. verb) Excessively subtle or recondite reasoning.
Portent
The denial of all things beyond the observable has placed our current time period in a kind of dark age.
Kris
It is precisely this egotistical justification of ignorance that the horrors occurring within the world continue unaffected leaving “wonderful” thoughts as primary compensation.
LOL I love the way you put things they are soooo sunny and lighthearted thanks for the smile.
Now here is a quarter you can go get a gumball and think about my ego.
Hmm wait inflation: here is a dollar for that 25cent gumball.
True Kris, mass starvations are a real hoot. Just let them eat cake and lets get back to “wonderful” thoughts.
Well perhaps mass starvation is the reason we exist or part of the reason. And when was the last time you had one small meal aday bucko. As one of the few thousand USA citizens that suffered Katrina and living out in the back of nowhere that is all we had for over a month. One small damn meal each day. A cereal bowl of food.
And I will say it one more time Screw New Orleans, they were not hit the worst. But, they sure are getting the most help.
Don’t throw starvation or deprivation at me. I have more experience, I am more sympathetic and donate more time and money to help such causes then you ever will do, Bucko
So go get your gumball and chew on that for awhile before you make another judgement on people you don’t know. And while you are at it get off that prima donna high horse before you fall hard.
Kris
Well perhaps mass starvation is the reason we exist or part of the reason.
It also may be that mass starvation is a natural lawful manifestation of how we’ve come to exist and has nothing to do with the objective purpose of man’s existence.
You say I judge you but it is you judging me. You are unaware of my private life.
There is nothing wrong with providing help. But it also doesn’t do any good to become purposefully ignorant of the larger problem and try to cover it over with sugar and mayonnaise suggesting purpose to be irrelevant thereby denying any possibility of change.
All the change that occurs within the cycles of the human condition are just natural for it. At some points it seems better and worse at other times.
Real change if possible only comes from becoming aware of the human condition and not just blindly participating in its cycles.
If it puts me on a high horse to believe that mankind is capable of more than just blind participation in cycles as suggested by some of the great ideas in philosophy, I’ll gladly accept the accusation. Sugary mayonnaise won’t help. It will only come when an influential minority of mankind collectively appreciates its purpose. I’d rather support those efforts then escape in psychological mayonnaise. But how many have ever thought of the objective purpose of Man?
I’m curious to read how people understand purpose rather than just insinuate that it really doesn’t matter.
it’s simple really. before man there was no plastic.
-Imp

Though I don’t believe in any religion,I nonetheless believe there must be a reason for the existence of humans or myself, and there must be something or someone responsible for our existence here.
Although the question why we exist here may be a question unanswerable by science, and philosophy answers no question,the question is nonetheless fundamental and significant.
Because I believe there must be a reason for my own existence, so I live my life without hesitation and since I’m doomed to die and have no other way to avoid that so I pass on my life to the next generation by procreation and tell them there must be a reason for their existence so to live their life never with hesitation and hope they’ll live better than me.
I think this may be a religion of my own.
Do you think there is a reason for the existence of humans and yourself or no reason at all?
I believe I owe my existence to my parents.
LOL plastic and parents what would we do without them?

it’s simple really. before man there was no plastic.
-Imp
Hey! Stop stealing Carlin’s material.