A Journey into the Absurd: My Hopes and Purposes for this Blogspot

         

The intentions of this blogspot, and its ensuing posts, are partially selfish and partially evangelical. It will provide me with an avenue to publicly explore an entire array of philosophical concepts. The nature of those concepts will range from the religious to the unexcitingly technical. I anticipate that few of the ideas expressed here will be original. That, however, is not of concern to me.  What is of concern is that I have unhampered digital space in which to explore the mysteries of mind, existence, morality, knowledge, language, religion and God. Those who read my thoughts on these subjects ought not to expect flawless argumentation and continuity of models between the various posts—I fully expect to contradict myself along the way. What I say about the nature of religion on one post may completely override what I have said in an earlier one. The mind and soul are in constant process and I fully expect to see that process come alive and unfold within this digital workspace. I will be less concerned with logical and semantic perfection and more concerned with striking out into bold horizons. There will be an occasional logical fallacy and fuzzy definition. To the extent that these can be kept to a minimum they will be. However, I am not a first rate philosopher. I am a fallible man with finite cognitive capacities attempting to navigate the intense difficulty of this terrain. My hope is that this blogspot will become a silent conversational partner to the contents of my imagination; allowing me to develop and peruse them free of judgment and ridicule.

Next, this post is declaredly evangelical--i.e., actively disseminates philosophical ideas with the hopes of conversion. It is my belief that each and every human soul engages in philosophical reflection. If you are religious and have ever wondered how an all knowing God, who knows every act we will commit in our lives, allows us room for true freedom, then you have engaged in philosophical reflection. If you have ever strained at a decision, hoping to survey your options for the one which is most morally correct, then you have engaged in philosophical reflection. If you have ever wondered how Darwinian evolution leaves open space for divine action in the cultivation of species, then you have engaged in philosophical reflection. In short, if you have ever been met with a cognitive puzzle which has relevance for your life, the type of person you are or will become, and the belief content you will allow into your intellectual horizon, then you have engaged in philosophical reflection. I anticipate that nearly every one of you has ruminated upon philosophical issues. To the extent that each of us engages in these practices it is important that we do them well. Poor performance in matters philosophical can lead to undesirable outcomes. So, I hope that this blogspot will light the fires for a ‘love of wisdom’ within those who read it. Most importantly, it is my hope, that the issues explored herein will not require elaborate mental gymnastics, devolving into little more than a soduko puzzle with no relevance for lived existence. Instead, it is my hope, that the issues herein will require the reader to explore his or her own beliefs on the relevant matters and that those reflections will change the way he or she thinks about life, world, and God. 

Finally, the title of this blogspot is Ab Absurdo (Latin—‘from the absurd’)—philosophical tidbits. The reason I settled upon this title is because individuals find philosophical reflection, or at least the type that I engage in, to be absurd. To see why, I need give but a little background on my own beliefs, laying some of my cards out before the reader. I am unabashedly religious. To my friends and family I am God intoxicated. Consequently, for those of my friends who are atheist or agnostic, much of the underlying assumptions and eventual conclusions of my thought will be unsustainable. For those sober minded individuals it will often sound as if I am ‘going up in a balloon’—to borrow a phrase from William James. From their perspective my thoughts may appear genuinely absurd. Conversely, for those of my friends who are religious, it may be the case that my heightened critical analysis on a whole range of topics that have relevance for religious discourse, belief and practice, will come across as absurd. Religion is something to be lived, not reflected upon—they may say. Heightened analysis is corrosive to the vital life force of religion in the minds of many. I am sensitive to this concern and will try to lead on in such a way that religion is given room to breathe. Too often religion is taken as guilty until proven innocent. That will not be the case here. Religion is innocent until proven guilty within this blogspot—and proving it guilty of error is not, to my understanding, an easy affair. However, I will not be apologetic for using the tools of rational reflection for investigating religious concepts. I believe that God had purpose is bestowing the faculty of reason upon humankind—much as Prometheus had purpose in gifting men with fire. To the extent that reason is not respected and understood, it will burn us. So, extremes in either direction of requiring all reality to bow to cognition or of slovenly avoiding rational reflection for fear of burning oneself will be unacceptable within boarders of this blogspot. If this approach strikes the reader as absurd, then he or she can simply write of the entire enterprise as ‘Ab Absurdo.’ If however, the enterprise has value to you as a reader, then it may well be the case that you have transgressed the boarders of accepted thought and discourse from the vantage point of your community and have become someone ‘from the absurd.’ One way or another this blogspot will most likely appear to be ‘from the absurd’—either in the eyes of its readers or in the lives of those who take its content seriously.