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A man who strives after goodness in all his acts, is sure to come to ruin , since there re so many men who are not good.
Niccolo Macchiavelli, 1469-1529, Political philosopher and diplomat

I don’t think there is much point in bemoaning the state of the world unless there’s some way you can think of to improve it. Otherwise, don’t bother weiting a book; go and find a tropical island & lie in the sun.
PETER SINGER - 1946 , Moral philosopher

On the other hand, each little life is a small cosmos on itself, a litlle world.
That little worls is our oyster. Where our small acts of kindneas do make a difference.

The ripple effect: every little thing we do, has repercussions that can reach far.

“The wonderful life theory”: a social-behaviour variation on the Butterfly Effect. I.e. the flap of a butterfly’s wings in one part of the globe can be the determinjng cause of a hurricane in the other side of the globe. A small event can generate big changes.

DAVID HUME (1711-1776) - British empiricist, philosopher

The Life of man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster.

It implies that our individual lives are so puny against the backdrop of the huge cosmos, as to be utterly meaningless. Not worth more than the oyster.
But perhaps, there is another way of looking at it.

ARISTOTLES (384-322BC), Greek philosopher
Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting 2 bodies. Soul mate implies: Complete friendship.
Instead of “friendships for utility”, nor
“Friendships solely for pleasure” !
It’s a good feeling & idea to find a relationship in which you just naturally want to be good to eachother. A relationship in which you can do good to the ither aimply by being yourself.

PAUL TILLICH (1886-1965) , Theologian
Our language has wisely sensed the 2 sides of being alone. It has created the word “loneliness” to express the pain of being alone. And it haa created the word “solitude” to express the glory of being alone.

Albert Einstein: I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.

It is better being a human being dissatisfied, than a happy pig satisfied. Thinking is a pre-requisite for a gratifying life. The unexamined life is not worth living (Socrates). Phylosophical thinking is life enriching; the big confronting questions enlarge our universum.
Philosophy = the residue of unanswerable questions.
Philosophy keeps alive our sense of wonder by showing familiar things in an unfamiliar aspect.

BERTRAND RUSSELL (1872-1970)
British philosopher, humanist & logician

“ The goods of the mind re at least as important as the goods of the body”

“Thinking” supplies us with one of life’s greatest pleasures. I think, therefore I feel good = Cerebral hedonism.
Thinking is a delight in itself !

“He who has the courage to laugh, is master of the world, much like he who is prepared to die.
If all you seek from something is pleasure, you’ll never find it. All you will feel is existential boredom up to disgust. To find & feel real pleasure in any act or activity, you have to oursue some greater purpose !
The pursuut of happiness is a dead end; but if you give up on that pursuit, you find pleasure.

GIACCOMO LEOPARDI (1798-1837), poet & philosopher, pessimist

Nature, with her custom beneficence, has ordained that man shall not learn how to live until the reasons for living are stolen from him, that he shall find no enjoyment until he has become incapable of vivid pleasure.

He sees life as a joke: we’re handed a life full of promise, but all we end up with is desillusion & disappointment.

How to live your life ? Be true to yourswlf !
What is the nature of the true self that the daring man seeks ? If i am diligent, in my depths i will find the madman, the artist, the immoralist etc not all pretty !

To think for yourself, you must question authority & learn how to put tourself in a vulnerable state of openmindedness, confused vulnerability to inform yourself, a state of chaos.

FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE (1844-1900)
PHilosopher & social critic

“the secret of the greatest fruitfulness & the greatest enjoyment of existence is to live dangerously”

His book: Thus Spake Zarathustra

We can all create our lives but nit all chosen meanings of life can be xonsidered equal in value.

Core xonxepts:
* existence precedes essence
* core freedom
* total responsibility
* anguish

JEAN-PAUL SARTRE, Existentialist (1905-1980)
“Existence precedes Essence”

First we exist, then we create ourselves.

A20th-century philosophy stating that human beings exist first without a pre-defined purpose, and they must create their own meaning and identity through absolute freedom and personal action.

Q: if there would be no such thing as “free will”, how can we be held accountable then for our deeds ?

Debate “free will” vs “Determinism”

Cutring edge discoveries in brain acience give the upper hand to the Determinists: e.g. brain maps reveal a lot of cause-and-effect actions in our skull, also decision making. What we would call making a “free decision”, is primarily bouncing atoma doing their random thing.

WAT IS PRAGMATISME ?
Legt de focus op het verbinden v praktijk & theorie, die niet los van elkaar staan. Waarheid wordt gedefinieerd adh van praktisch nut en maatschappelijk voordeel. Waarheid is niet iets dat vaststaat, maar iets dat mee-evolueert md inzichten ve samenleving. In het pragmatisme staat de mens als handelend wezen centraal, en staan handelen & denken in dienst vh oplossen v praktische problemen.

WILLIAM JAMES, American (1842-1910), Pragmatist

“My first act of free will, shll be to believe in free will”

Only human beings are anle to contemplate and varry out suicide as a conscious decision.

Camus: you will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life. The meaning of life is not smthg we “look for”. It is something we create !
Choosing to remain alive = choosing life - is the prelude to creating one’s own meaning & prupose in life.

WHAT IS EXISTENTIALISM ?

Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence.[1][2][3] In examining meaning, purpose, and value, existentialist thought often includes concepts such as existential crises, angst, courage, and freedom

ALBERT CAMUS , Existentialist (1913-1960)
There is but one truly serious phylosophical problem & that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamentl question of philosophy. All the rest - whether the mind has nine or twelve categories - comes afterwards.

Schopenhauer: Parerga & Paralipomena
Mostly, it is loss that teaches us about the worth of things.
Each day, is a little life.
Every waking & rising, a little birth.
Every fresh moening, a little youth.
Every going to rest & sleep, a little death.
Honor & integrity do not have to be won.
It must only never be lost !

ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER, German philosopher, metaphysician & ethicist (1788-1860)

Life oscillates like a pendulum, back & forth between pain and boredom.

Oscar Wilde: we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars 😀

David Pearce, British philosopher (1960-), Hedonist

Genetic engineering & nanotechnology will abolish suffering in all sentient life. This project is technically feasible. It is instrumentally rational & ethically mandatory.

Pears compels us to examine the foundation of hedonism i.e. “Is pleasure all we really want in our lives?”

Aristippus (Greek/Lynyan Philosopher, Hedonist)

The art of life lies in taking pleasures as they pass, and the keenest pleasures are not intellectual, nor are they always moral.

Hedonism is the belief that pleasure and happiness are the highest good and the main goal of life.
+ Ethical Hedonism: The moral idea that actions are right if they bring pleasure and wrong if they cause pain.
+ Psychological Hedonism: The theory that humans are naturally driven to act in ways that seek pleasure and avoid pain.
+ Everyday Hedonism: Living a life focused on self-indulgence and sensory enjoyment.

EPICURIS, Hedonist

Do not spoil what tou have by desiring what tou have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.

De constitutionele democratie m haar rechtsstatelijke garanties zal steedq meer terrein verliezen tov absolustische interpretaties vd democratie.
Europa als laatste bastion vd vrijheid. Loopt het risico verkruimeld te worden d Russische desinformatie & sabotage; & dh zelfzuchtife cynisme vd Amerikaanse regime dat meer respect heeft v autocratische regimes en de mcht vd aterkate dan vd rectaataat en rechtvaardigheid.

De geschiedenis wijst uit dat oorlog uitbreekt wanneer aanvallen goedkoper wordt dan beschermen & verdedigen.