Philosophy and Flourishing

I have been very fortunate to be afforded many wonderful social and educational opportunities within both secular and religious communities in my life.

One particularly fortuitous encounter was at the first talk which I gave for the Philosophy Matters group in Melbourne on Existentialism and Meaning in Life where Ken Young and I met and exchanged a few ideas.

Ken and I connected immediately over the benefits from actively considering one’s personal take on meaning in life as an integral part of living a good, happy life.

I’m especially pleased to have embraced the offer from Leslie Allan, the Philosophy Matters organizer, to present back in September 2020 – deep into Melbourne’s lockdowns – as we have over the past few years had the chance to not only work together but significantly deepen our friendship as well.

At my first talk for Philosophy Matters, I also had the good fortune to meet Usha Sista who has also become a close friend and happily a frequent collaborator as well on matters philosophical, starting with our first joint talk on The Good Life in November 2020.

Within the energetic ‘Melbourne Circle’ of community philosophers, which extends to Queensland, Sydney, Canberra, Perth, Singapore, Stateside, the UK and elsewhere at times, more than a few good friendships, shared exploration of varied philosophical matters, and strong community ties have been forged.

Along with many other participants who do likewise, I greatly appreciate the sustained efforts, social and philosophical leadership of Les Allan, noted briefly here, and David Miller the convener of the Agnostics Group, Atheist Society, Sea of Faith in Australia (SoFiA) and Existentialist Society for a remarkable 50 years.

Ken and I presented on Morality and Human Flourishing last month at the Agnostics Group.

Our theme was (and remains) that people making more moral choices increases human flourishing. You can view the presentation and read more about this possibly bold and surely important claim with lots of supporting material and further references on the Aspirationists website hosted by my valued friend Ken.

Do you agree that morality can and does reduce suffering and enhance human flourishing?

Would you like to connect with the philosophy community, wherever you are, to help drive change, share ideas or just listen and enjoy the company of friendly, reflective and passionate others?

If so, please do reach out, visit the aspirationists.com website, join the Meetup groups for Philosophy Matters, the Existentialist Society, and the Philosopher’s Bazaar, which I’ve been facilitating with Usha, and comment below to be part of the conversation.

https://www.meetup.com/philosophy-matters/

https://www.meetup.com/existentialist-society

https://www.meetup.com/the-philosophers-bazaar/

Mandela and Righteousness

This story relates to my Jewish, South African and now Australian heritage and picks up on several themes from my earlier Humanism: My Journey post.

Coincidentally, on Friday night I was scheduled to talk on Tzedakah or righteousness at SpiritGrow, the Jewish holistic centre I attend, and Nelson Mandela could not have fitted more naturally into my chosen theme when I heard the news that morning of his passing.

Jewish tradition-Torah teaches that the world is built on righteousness or justice, which is the literal meaning of Tzedakah, although this term is often translated as ‘charity’, normally understood as support for the needy.

The key Torah principle of healing the world, Tikkun Olam, is based on real concern for others and its connection to righteousness-Tzedakah will be evident from the comments below.

Tikkun Olam is the overarching principle in Jewish Ethics, based on the notion that if a person saves another human being it is as if they have saved the whole world.

Many will know the famous Talmudic story (Shabbat 31a) about the sage Hillel who is asked by a prospective convert to Judaism to teach him the whole Torah while standing on one leg. He replied: “That which is hateful to you do not do to your neighbour.” Hillel then added: “This is the whole of the Torah, the rest is commentary. Go forth and study.”

This statement of the Golden Rule is of course echoed in the foundation texts of most other religions and cultures. For example, Hinduism teaches “This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you.” (Mahabharata 5:15-17)

The same message is contained in Proverbs: “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.” (Proverbs 25:21)

Nelson Mandela, champion of justice and father of the South African rainbow nation, died on Friday morning Australian time. A steadfast campaigner for democratic equality, against poverty and for the needs of AIDS victims, Mandela’s life was devoted to freedom and justice for all in South Africa.

President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela appreciated the worth of all peoples and cultures, and through his actions and words promoted the African value of Ubuntu, true respect for the humanity we all share.

The prerequisite for Tzedakah-righteousness is often said (by Rabbis, non-Rabbis, people with beards and those with no beards, this author being a bearded non-Rabbi) to be mercy–Rachamim or compassion, and this humane capacity was perhaps the moral essence for Mandela who even forgave his prison guards for 27 years of incarceration and other Apartheid oppressors.

This did not stop Mandela from hiding chapters of his biography, “Long Walk to Freedom”, in the prison garden on Robben Island as justice does require both truth and reconciliation.

The core value espoused with similar vigour by Torah and post-Enlightenment ethics is Tzedakah, righteousness, justice or Ubuntu. “The rest is commentary. Go forth and study.”

May we continue to be inspired by the legacy of Mandela and the values of Tzedakah-righteousness-justice-Ubuntu that his life of courage and principle embodied. These equivalent terms from different traditions all form part of the universal human experience embraced by humanism.

Humanism: My Journey

Following my Welcome to Humanism blog, some reflections on my personal journey to humanism – perhaps this basic concern for others is where many of us start, end up, or both (what do you think?) – may be of interest.

I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy many travel opportunities in my life, having lived in South Africa, briefly in Israel, then England for four years, and now Australia for almost two decades. Yet for some time now my focus has been on continuing a different and – very likely – far more important sort of journey.

This journey involves ruminating, communicating and deepening an appreciation for the shared humanity in all of us with its many positive cultural, social and religious expressions. Of course some human actions cause harm to others, so humanism does require clearly defined moral standards.

My journey within humanism is one I had the good fortune to start some three decades ago thanks to family influences, engaging teachers and friends at school, and challenging tertiary studies in several countries.

Living through Apartheid’s final years in South Africa gave me a truly complex initiation to a range of difficult social issues related to ethnicity (or ‘race’), cultural and language groups, disparate opportunities, and poverty.

Being one of just a handful of Jews in a small-town Methodist school taught me the necessity for religious ‘tolerance’ (or better acceptance) as being treated with disdain or ‘targeted’ for conversion by some devout Christians was both unappealing personally and not, I felt,  the right way to respond to religious difference. I will explore the importance of religious pluralism in later posts.

Thanks to my parents, brother and sister, I was exposed to secular, traditional, religious ideas and later philosophical education, from which I began to learn about culture, history, language, ethnicity and respect for human dignity.

Hence, like numerous friends, teachers, and others communicating openly and honestly in the blogosphere or elsewhere, I have many ideas and hopefully some productive insights to share about meaning and purpose in life, human difference, and particularly the common humanity that binds us all in this world.

What has been your journey to humanism, religion or other world views?

Humanism: Welcome

Welcome to my blog as ‘OzHumanist’ – viva Australian humanism viva!

Humanism is about discovering, respecting and celebrating what each of us share as human beings, irrespective of cultural, ethnic, familial, gender, genetic, philosophical, religious or other differences.

So, given this working definition, I am going to assume that you – like me – will endorse this view of humanism and may further choose to self-identity as a (socially and politically active) humanist as I’ve done in recent years.

This IS a blog so comments, dissenting views, questions or rejoinders are of course welcome contributions below.

In essence, humanism recognises the inherent dignity and value of all human beings, attaching primary importance to human interests – rather than various spiritual or supernatural matters on which people will disagree. Humanism can thus happily coexist with most religious beliefs, and being a religious humanist is not only possible but actually desirable, likely or even necessary.

One of my passions in recent years, indeed for several decades, has been seeking common ground between religious and secular views, which can often reach similar conclusions based on quite different reasoning and metaphysical assumptions regarding creation or the powers operating in world history say.

In fact, humanism remains agnostic, indeed sanguine or untroubled, about the existence of God or related supernatural questions. This is so as the practical focus of this philosophical outlook – which is not religious and not not religious, to paraphrase the Dao – is to promote the needs and welfare of all people through the use of reason and universal moral principles.

Are you a self-identifying humanist yet?