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Friday Fun: Philosophical Quiz

By Fannie

What philosophy do you follow? (v1.03) created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Existentialism Your life is guided by the concept of Existentialism ?It is up to you to give [life] a meaning.? --Jean-Paul Sartre ?It is man's natural sickness to believe that he possesses the Truth.? --Blaise Pascal More info at Arocoun's Wikipedia User Page... Existentialism 90% Utilitarianism 70% Hedonism 60% Justice (Fairness) 55% Divine Command 50% Kantianism 50% Nihilism 35% Strong Egoism 25% Apathy 5%

Yeah, it's just a quiz with the to-be-expected problematic and poorly-worded questions, but I think it's fun and interesting anyway.

I suppose, of all the philosophies listed, it would be accurate to say that I "follow" existentialism- which was my top score. In general, I have agnostic tendencies that prevent me from accepting any supreme or transcendent set of morals as authoritative, universal, or "right." Note that that's not the same as saying that I don't believe universal truths exist. I'm just not sure that we as humans have the capacity to understand what these truths are. And further, we tend to get into trouble when we have various groups of people all claiming that their "truths" as opposed to other people's truths are the true ones and therefore everyone should follow them.

While I believe that, perhaps, we can catch glimmers of truth from various religious teachings, I also think that it is impossible to genuinely separate universal truth from man-made "truths." Humans have created religion and, accordingly, religious institutions, teachings, and "laws" are often more imbued with the human flaws of prejudice, bigotry, and ignorance than they are with divine insight.

I realize that uncertainty, especially regarding morals and the afterlife, is not acceptable for many people. In the face of an oftentimes harsh, unfair, and depressing world, it is comforting to believe in something greater than oneself. I want to believe in something greater than myself, and so I let myself. At the same time, I harbor no delusions as to being able to know exactly what that "something else" is. Furthermore, faced with the prospect of an unknown but certain death, it is perhaps human to want to take proactive steps to make the afterlife more certain. Yet, what I see as the flaws of many religion- their obviously man-made conceptions of "god," their rules that are imbued with bigotry and male privilege, and their juvenile and sometimes funny depictions of "heaven" and "hell"- don't allow me the luxury of "knowing" exactly what will happen to me when I die.

It's not comforting. But I think it's at least more honest and realistic than allowing my hopes for the afterlife masquerade as some ultimate truth about what the afterlife is really like. Whether or not these beliefs fall under the mantle of existentialism, which for understandable reasons is a pejorative in the minds of many devoutly religious folk, I'm not sure. But I do agree with Jean-Paul Sarte when he says it is up to us to giving meaning to our lives.

So, yeah. The quiz.

Take it if you want.

Full post as published by Fannie's Room on June 27, 2008 (boomark / email).