Main Philosophy
The Purpose of Life
Triggered by the constricting effect of “The Truman Show”, I announced earlier that I have hesitantly adopted skepticism.
The reasoning behind this decision was that I found it to be the most easily verifiable system, as it is unique in its concession of its own restrictions and contradictions.
As for the questions that arose from this transformation, most were related to the purpose and importance of my life. Sitting in my vast backyard, I began thinking about the effect I could have on only this small area. What could the purpose of a single life possibly be if the only imprint I could make was that of my own footsteps? Why should I worry about all the things in my life if it will leave no impact after my death?
I am obviously exaggerating a little, because I know that I have left an impression on many people, and I have been active in my community since I joined it. Even if my pounding could be felt in my community, the ripples would certainly not extend beyond the city.
So is skepticism a philosophy of the ego? I don’t think so. While Socrates believed that the unexamined life is not worth living, I simply feel that an uninfluential is also not worth living. Living only for one person (themselves) is the truly egotistical life.
Skepticism has created a new, enormously difficult goal in my life. I feel that my existence would be inconsequential unless I make an impact on…the world, and perhaps even that is insignificant on a universal scale.
The purpose of life itself is an almost impossible question to answer, but, for now, I believe that I have found the somewhat extreme purpose of my life. Upcoming articles will discuss how I will approach my goal and whether I have, in some capacity, already achieved it.
Philosophical Implications of <em>The Truman Show</em>
I recently caught the end of The Truman Show, but did not really think about it until I returned home from work today. It was a stunning day outside, so I chose to rest on our deck. As I watched one of the trees waving dangerously in the wind, I started wondering about the movie again.
I sat motionless for over half-an-hour, overwhelmed by a tremendous sensation of uncertainty and questioning. I’m sure that everyone has experienced something like this, but feeling was so powerful that I just had to write about it. I was entranced by doubts of my life, life itself, our world, our perceptions, and more. Am I officially a Skeptic? Although I hate being defined in any way, what I learned from my experience was that of everything that I perviously had faith in, nothing is as tangible as skepticism, and this is enough to attract me.
Here is a the Wikipedia Entry about philosophical skepticism and I hope to write more about this soon.
