Philosophy And Religion [SFI-6]

Almost all that goes by the name philosophy is just wrong. In the broadest sense, philosophy, as an attempt to make sense of the world and understand the principles by which one might best live in it, includes religion.

Throughout history, philosophy has often been antagonistic to most specific religions, though what it would replace religion with has usually been worse than those religions. Wherever philosophy has been successful at, “stamping out religion,” what takes its place is ultimately nihilism and hedonism, and frequently leads to a collapse of the societies and cultures that have lost the only source of values and principles formerly found in their religions. (See modern Europe.)

As a philosopher, I know every religion teaches things which are very wrong, and very dangerous to the individuals deceived by them, and when coupled with political power, they are a source of great social harm and evil. While I believe it is important to explain the errors of religion when they are encountered, I think any effort to eliminate religion is a great mistake, because it is wrong to take away from men that which is the source of their belief in absolute principles and values and provides a reason for living and aspiring to be the best kind of people they can. Even if the specific principles, values, and ideals are mistaken, to take away the fundamental belief in truth and principles, even if they are wrong about that truth, is to take away the possibility of meaning in people’s lives and to reduce them to a life of pointlessness, with nothing to revere or aspire to.

Whatever is wrong with religion, simply taking it away, is like taking a leaky boat away from those for whom it is the only means of keeping from drowning. The only correct way to eliminate the leaky boat, is to provide them a better one. Until the anti-religious can provide a better source of values and principles to live by than religion, religion is better than philosophy.

It is only in this sense that I would ever fight against religion. I have no means to deal with other men than by reason. It is my intention to provide those who want it with principles by which the world can be understood, and lived in successfully and happily. It is the whole purpose of my philosophy.

Is Any Philosophy Better Than Religion

Is there any philosophy that is better than religion? Yes there is, but it is not easy to discover, nor to understand. It is, in a sense, like a “theology,“very technical and requiring years to master, only the subject is not God, but reality itself. Most people are not going to become philosophical “theologians,” nor should they.

There is a great deal of philosophy that is correct, in spite of the fact that almost all of philosophy that is taught in the universities and is generally accepted as philosophy, is worse than total ignorance. What is correct in philosophy is almost unknown, and then only known by a handful of people who have an intense interest in the subject and have devoted their lives to studying it. What those philosophers never do is what the religious do, and that is to translate their philosophical principles into practical terms that can be understood and applied to the lives and understanding of those who have no interest in the technical details of philosophy. The intended purpose of these, “Sermons for Individualists,” is to provide philosophical principles in just such practical terms.

To give credit where it is due, though it was not her main purpose, Ayn Rand did provide a kind of “popular” expression of her philosophy of Objectivism in her novels and some of her popular prose publications. Still, the appeal of those works cannot be said to be a general one, and most of the applications of the principles were not particularly “individualistic” (even though individualism was at the heart of her entire life and philosophy), but social and political. As good as her philosophy was, and it is the best popularly known philosophy in history, it was incomplete (as she admitted) and contained some mistakes.

The Human Ideal

It has never been my desire to, “write a philosophy,” because I regard the principles of philosophy to be exactly like any other principles of reality, such as the sciences—discovered, not created. Those who “write philosophies”seem to have a view that they are creating something, as though truth could be created the way a novel or a symphony is. All of “my” philosophy consists of principles I’ve discovered on my own—I did not “write” it, I simply recorded it.

The one discovery that is above all others is what it means for a human being to be all that a human being can and ought to be, that is, what a human being is who fully meets all the requirements of his nature, and I call that, an independent individualist. I know the term is redundant, because only and individualist can be independent, but it is meant to emphasize the two aspects of the highest realization of moral values, total self-competence to live one’s life successfully, and seeking nothing but what can be achieved or produced by one’s own effort. My conclusion about this comes at the end of my philosophical inquiry, though I freely admit I have always been independent, and an individualist by nature. It is only after I had discovered the philosophical basis, that is, the principles of reality that require individualism and independence, that I could assert that the ideal human virtue is being an independent individualist.

No Need To Be A Theologian

Personally, I doubt someone can be converted to independent individualism as one can be converted to Christianity. All of the independent individualists I have known in life, or known about, seem to have been individualists from birth.

There is no reason, biological or psychological, why an individual could not choose to be an individualist, but the choice is a very difficult one, and always means giving up what one has come to value and is comfortable with as a collectivist at some level. The choice to be totally responsible for all of one’s choices, neither desiring or expecting anything in life except what one has earned by their own effort, not requiring the approval or agreement of any other individual to do what one knows is right, and never desiring anything that is not truly right, is a very difficult choice to make, with little appeal to those who have always found their personal sense of self-worth in the approval of others and would be terrified to be totally responsible for every aspect of their own lives.

Only For Individualists

These “sermons” are for those who already know they are independent individualists, that want nothing in life from others but what others are willing to share with them, because it is of value to them, and otherwise only want to be left alone, free to live their lives as they choose, having no desire to interfere in the lifes of anyone else.

They already know they are competent to live their lives without anyone else’s help or instruction, though they are always willing to learn from others, and are glad to pay for the services of others that are of value to them. These sermons are offered to any who are willing to pay for them, the price is expending one’s own effort to understand them and integrate them into the body of knowledge that are one’s own values and principles. It will not be easy, but the ultimate reward is one total freedom.