Monday, September 12, 2011

Andorian Philosophy

I must digress from my discussion of chemistry to name my philosophy. I will call it Andorianism for reasons that should be evident.  I have tried to begin sketching Andorian metaphysics (the basis for physics and in fact all science), Andorian epistemology (a theory of knowledge), Andorianism as a basis for language, Andorian sociology, and a few other things.  
And now I may as well begin to sketch Andorianism as a basis for morality or ethics. For how, it may be asked, can science, or something that favors a scientific approach, constitute a foundation for ethics?  For some, my answer may appear unsatisfactory.  It may appear quasi-religious in a Platonic sense. (Plato spoke of a form of the Good, which some assert is God.)
 What we can say is that is that simplicity begets diversity, and when we can view this, when we see the diversity burgeoning before our eyes and see how it occurs, we encounter beauty.  We are awestruck. And this diversity is the closest thing to God, if it is not God.  And it is this that we can worship simply by seeing with no need for stories or fables.
And there is nothing that has benefited diversity more than the appearance of life.  Prior to the appearance of life, there may have been thousands or types of molecules.  From these thousands of types of  molecules have sprouted billions or trillions of life forms.  Thus, doing something that benefits the diversity of life is good.  While killing in order to eat and survive is essential, killing or needlessly causing pain is not.  And we generally view most killing of humans as heinous, as the human, so far as we know, is diversity's crowning achievement.  We are among the more complex life forms, and it is thought that only the human can grasp the experience diversity in all its splendor.   Thus, I add this to other arguments about the human ability to suffer, and his/her unique awareness of suffering.  So there you have it.

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