Mike McClure

Pantheism.

MrKap

Not familiar with too many different schools of thought, formally.

Fond of this concept which is said to have begun with Aristotle.

Consistency, validity, soundness, completeness

Logic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I certainly haven't mastered those rules. However I do like the concept of striving for non-hypocrisy.

Although I can certainly be a hypocrite every now and then

Libertarianism is appealing as well. Don't consider myself a role model libertarian, but its highly interesting.



And probably Christianity, not a practicing one, but do appreciate the human value system, so long as it doesn't turn fascist.

Kuon

GEX - The work of Genis Carreras

Thessalonian

I forgot to mention atheism too...

abvgd

As a practical guide to living, Stoicism with some influences from Epicureanism... I find these two philosophical schools as relevant today as they were some 2300 years ago. They complement each other quite nicely if you disregard some of their more abstract elements and focus on their practical advices. Stoicism focuses on how to face adversity and challenges in life, while Epicureanism focuses on how to enjoy the good things in life with moderation. Maybe a little bit overly simplified, but I think that it's not too far from the truth.

I find it somewhat strange in fact, given the current fad with Buddhism in Western societies, that Stoicism hasn't received more mainstream attention than it has. In terms of philosophy, Buddhism and Stoicism are superficially similar and I think that what many Westerners on a first glance associate with Buddhism is in fact closer to Stoic ideas than to Buddhist ones. I don't believe for a second that karma, rebirth and extreme asceticism is what attracts these Westerners. On a second thought, this lack of attention is probably due to the lack of meditation and yoga in Stoicism. Stoicism, as practical as it is, is still a pure philosophy and it doesn't come with any prescribed excercises or "quick fixes" apart from self-reflection. Maybe things would change if some feel-good guru bundled Stoicism with pilates exercises

On to more abstract philosophical schools... I've always been utterly fascinated with the obsessive goal of Western philosophy in general, starting with Plato and Aristotle, to categorize and label just about everything. I like Plato's theory of Forms and his search for universals. He tried to do with philosophy what Einstein (partially) managed to do with physics, i.e. find a short and elegant solution to all the outstanding issues of his time in his field. OTOH, I equally admire Aristotle's approach in boldly discarding his teacher's idealism and making some headway with a more realistic methodology to metaphysical issues, first and foremost his system of logic. I'm not that well-versed with all the more recent philosophies, but I find myself largely agreeing with Kant's metaphysics and ethics.

As an agnostic, I even admire the contributions of Christian philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas, since Christianity IMHO is the only religion that tries really hard to make sense. In my case that effort doesn't quite go all the way obviously, since I'm still an agnostic, however I give credit where credit is due. Christianity could have stayed with dogma and revelation, but it accepted the challenge of Greek philosophy and I think that the whole world is a better place because of this. I essentially treat Christian philosophy as a thought-experiment, much like the thought-experiments that physicists construct or like some of the mathematical constructs that mathematicians come up with. They are all building a house of cards that will fall flat if a simple premise turns out to be false, but even in the worst-case scenario it's still an intellectual exercise that offers you the possibility to view things from a different angle and perhaps use those insights somewhere where it will matter. Mathematicians do this all the time, they construct seemingly purposeless theorems that sometimes centuries later prove to have a deep impact in some real-life application. The development of non-Euclidean geometry is a great example of this. Who's to say that some unexpected philosophical insight won't have a similar impact in the future?

Rosi

Umm, what's yoga got to do with Buddhism?

Naomasa298

mingming

Taoism. Be content with life and let the world be the world. Ignorance is bliss.

Rosi

^lol! The above reminded me of this picture:

(It's real, a Brazilian yoga teacher in NY. The asana is unsupported headstand. )

http://www.jobriga.com/journal/wp-co...photos0712.jpg

@abvgd. Yoga and Buddhism are two completely different things. Just to clarify.

Crystal Rainbow

I am a great believer in reincarnation, past lives and Theosophy. I think you learn more with an open mind. I can not stand anyone or anything telling you how to think, we should be able to have the freedom to make up our own minds when it comes to philosophical thoughts.