Bloke Posted September 9, 2012 Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 Let's not fall out over religion. Much as I hate to admit it, I had a bit of classical education and remember this quote (which I came across again recently): Marcus Aurelious (Roman Emperor and Philosopher): ‘Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.’ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanj Posted September 9, 2012 Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 We're simply here to reprocreate aren't we?There is no 'meaning' to it,we merely reprocreate to ensure the survival of the species,which is why the urge to reproduce is so strong within us.We're simply another species of animal,just like the others around us,albeit with a much more enhanced level of intelligence(?)but when you strip everything else away,what else is there? reprocreate ? ? ? ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laird Lugton Posted September 9, 2012 Report Share Posted September 9, 2012 Let's not fall out over religion. Much as I hate to admit it, I had a bit of classical education and remember this quote (which I came across again recently): Marcus Aurelious (Roman Emperor and Philosopher): ‘Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.’ I like that a lot! four-wheel-drive - Sorry to burst your bubble but if the person who dies is not a believer then you won`t see them and even some religions do not believe in any form of afterlife. Which makes the above, I assume, Christian comment most interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry d Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 Let's not fall out over religion. Much as I hate to admit it, I had a bit of classical education and remember this quote (which I came across again recently): Marcus Aurelious (Roman Emperor and Philosopher): ‘Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.’ However he does shoot his own foot with this other quote - "Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." He will however be very Stoical about it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloke Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 (edited) However he does shoot his own foot with this other quote - "Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." He will however be very Stoical about it :lol: Point to you sir, but just because he said some dubious things, doesn't mean he was always wrong, does it? Almost every major faith will contain some writings that may not stand to interpretation in the modern day. No matter what your faith or belief, I still think the quote stands up - after all, nowhere in it does he say you should/should not not worship - he just says "Live a good life" - not a bad suggestion for all of us, no matter where/who we are... Anyway, I would have thought some of the Stoic philosophy fitted in well with your beliefs around free will, duty, and 'it is your actions, not just what you say' - surely that is one of the basic tenets of the Christian philosophy. Not having a go, just genuine debate... Edited September 10, 2012 by Bloke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry d Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 If I`m totally honest, there is more in virtue ethics, which fits some of the stoic philosophy and christianity, than most of the other ethical approaches but it isn`t as simple as that and all have their failings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloke Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 (edited) If I`m totally honest, there is more in virtue ethics, which fits some of the stoic philosophy and christianity, than most of the other ethical approaches but it isn`t as simple as that and all have their failings. I agree completely, nothing is ever simple when you are talking about the field of ethics. Virtue ethics, with it's idea of an internalised system of values, has to be better than the purely deontological 'Rule obedience' proposed by the hard-line stoics. Edited September 11, 2012 by Bloke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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