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1: What is the nature of the self?
“I think therefore I am”...my SELF is simply my physical being, complete with my consciousness and my memories. Even our physical being is not permanent, our body is constantly renewing itself, so rather, our SELF is our structure that is our body, regardless of its actual matter. It is undergoing constant change, and is never the same from one instant to the next. What makes it OUR self is the continuation from one state to the next.
2: What is the nature of the universe?
The universe is a system of rules, which have, as of yet, reamin to be uncovered.
3: What is the nature of consciousness?
Our consciousness is largely illusionary. It is the result of our evolution of thinking, memory and logic.
4: What are states of consciousness?
5: How can one explore various states of consciousness?
I am unsure what you mean by these questions.
6: Can we achieve some personal understanding
of the ultimate philosophical questions?
a. The ontological question: what is real?
We can not know, ultimately, what is real. We can simply base our knowledge on that which we can experience, and define that as our reality.
b. The epistemological question: how can we know what is real?
Logic and the scientific method. By defining our reality as that which we can perceive, in some way or another (directly or indirectly) we can examine this reality and attempt to explain it.
c. The ethical question: What is good?
d. The (a)esthetic question: what is beautiful?
“good” and “beautiful” are purely social constructs without any real meaning.
“beauty is in the eye of the beholder” Beauty is not a property of an object. We, through language, ascribe such properties to such objects, but in reality, it is only our perception of such object that makes them beautiful. To elaborate: To be more technically correct, we should say “I find this flower beautiful” rather than “This flower is beautiful”.
Similarly, we cannot project our own ethics onto systems, as ethics are purely subjective. So how do we construct a system of law? Well, currently, it seems that the most effective way is through the system of democracy. It is by no means perfect, but at least it works as well or better than any other proposed system.
e. The political question: How should we govern ourselves?
Again, it appears democracy is the most obvious answer. It is the “safest”, as it prevents (to an extent) the possibility of a tyrannical dictator, or an abusive aristocracy. But ultimately it is flawed. I propose an analogy in the following question: Is chart music, i.e. the top selling songs, representative of the “best” music which is available to us today?
7: What is the nature and purpose of life?
There is no prescribed purpose of life. Your purpose in life is what you make it. Your life, is nothing more than an experience. A very fleeting experience! It is your “purpose” to make the best of it, while you are here, because you only experience it once!
8: What is the significance and meaning of death?
No significance or meaning. It simply marks the inevitable end to your temporary experience, which is life. Get comfortable with your own mortality, because there nothing you can do to avoid it!
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