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(c.470-399 BC)
Socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living.
He also equated knowledge with virtue and ignorance with evil.
No argument here.
(c.428-347 BC)
Father of idealism and, ipso facto, archvillain.
Plato believed the objects of the real world as being merely shadows of
eternal Forms or Ideas. Only these changeless, eternal Forms can be the
object of true knowledge; the perception of their shadows (the real
world) is merely opinion. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Ideas exist, but only as
patterns in matter and energy. The world of ideas is supervenient on the
real world, not vice versa. Plato's effect on western civilization is
nothing short of profound which makes him one of most successful memetic
engineers of all time.
(c.384-322 BC)
Plato's student, Aristotle, initially followed his metaphysics,
accepting the Forms and the Platonic view of the soul. Empiricism and
reason, hallmarks of Aristotelian thought, brought Aristotle to reject
the Forms entirely and eventually all of Plato's "otherworldly"
metaphysics. There is a very appealing pragmatic quality to Aristotelian
logic which is essential to the Virian Stance. The importance of life
lies in our experience of it, not beyond it. Aristotle argues that
perception and belief are interpretive and selective and that the way we
order the world is inseparable from our conceptual model of
it. Understanding and accepting this fact is the key to true knowledge.
On scholasticism...
A philosophical and theological movement dominant in Europe from the
middle of the 11th century to the middle of the 15th. Its focus was on
using human reason as defined in the philosophy and science of Aristotle
to understand Christian revelation.
On Descartes...
(1596-1650) French philosopher, scientist, mathematician. Father of
modern philosophy.
Right in his method (skepticism), wrong in his conclusions (dualism).
On Kant...
(1724-1804)
On Hegel...
(1770-1831) Hegel has been called "greatest of the German idealists".
He claimed that everything is interconnected and nothing is unrelated,
the ultimate reality is the Absolute Idea. He equated Truth with System.
His method at arriving at the Absolute Idea is called the Dialectic.
First you have a proposition, the "thesis".
In opposition to this there is a contradictory position called the "antithesis".
Out of the opposition comes the "synthesis" which embraces both.
One way to look at Virus is the synthesis of religion (thesis) and evolution (antithesis).
On Kirkegaard...
On Marx...
On Spencer...
First one to come up with the idea of an evolutionary-based philosophy.
Wrong about evolution meaning progress and leading to perfection.
On Dewey...
On Russel...
On Wittgenstein...
He claimed that the meaning of language lies in its usage. This is
correct to some extent but doesn't go far enough. The meaning is in the
usage because the language is used to affect, to control, to influence.
On Husserl...
On Heidegger...
On Sartre...
On Searle...
The "chinese room" argument against machine intelligence basically says
that there is more to consciousness than merely following formal
rules. If that is correct, then computer programs can never be conscious
(no matter how intelligently they behave) because they are executing
instructions which is the same as following rules.
On Dennet...
On the Churchlands...
On Objectivism...
On pancritical rationalism...
On Extropianism...
On Vitalism...
A belief, now discredited, that there is a special quality about living
matter to distinguish it from non-living. Vitalism was long used as an
argument in favour of traditional religions and against evolution. It
was disproved when, in ..., the chemist ... successfully synthesised the
organic molecule urea from inorganic components.
Today, no scientist would admit to believing in Vitalism, though it is
still widespread in the population as an unspoken assumption. The name
"Vitalism" was chosen to indicate its similarity to many other forms of
prejuduce.
On neuro-linguistic programming...
On complexity...
On evolution...
While it is wrong to blindly assume the truth of any theory, it is
universally accepted by our members, on the basis of over-whelming
evidence, that evolution is the best explanation for the existence of
life on earth and for the current state of the human race. We are the
products of evolution - both genetic in our bodies and memetic in our
minds - and by recognising this we can gain a greater understanding of
ourselves.
Evolution by natural selection - the differential survival of members of
a population, resulting in gradual change to better suit the environment
- was first stated by Charles Darwin in his 1859 book,
On the Origin of Species. Since then, it has been broadened into
Universal Darwinism which applies the
principle to any replicator, memetics included. It is on this that the
principles of Virus are based.
On Paganism and Magick...
Paganlink,
which recognizes that there are many belief systems that fall under the
rubric of paganism, claims that the common theme is to honour and respect
the spirit of the Earth.
On Christianity...
On Satanism...
Satanism is surprisingly rational for a religion based on
mysticism. For instance, they advocate "vital existence instead of
spiritual pipe dreams" and "undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical
self-deceit". They also view humans as just another animal (albeit more
vicious than most). Still, it is difficult to reconcile their rational
viewpoint with their self-professed belief in magic and demons.
On Buddhism...
On Scientology...
On agnosticism...
On atheism...
On Socialism...
On Libertarianism...
On gun control...
On abortion...
On machine intelligence...
On cryonics...
On the internet...
The recent explosion in cheap, fast, long-distance communication made
possible by the Internet has created the perfect breeding ground for
memes of all varieties. This is good in that it widens a person's
theoretical gene pool by exposing them to ideas they would never
otherwise have considered. But it is also dangerous, in that any meme
which takes advantage of weaknesses in the human mind to gain following
can spread more rapidly than ever before.
More than ever before, it is vital for people moving in this world to
apply a rational and skeptical approach to ideas that pass their way -
analysing them for truth or likelyhood, and sending out replies as
appropriate when harmful ideas are encountered. This is why Virus was
created - to help its members make sense of the rapidly expanding
ideosphere, and exert a positive influence on the state of humanity as a whole.
Contributors
Marcus Downing
