What Are Your Philosophical Assumptions? By Daniel Keeran, MSW Philosophers’ Cafe, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada The Search for Meaning http://goo.gl/CEmTp
Philosophy challenges and questions foundational values and assumptions. Everyone has formulated assumptions. Regardless of the topic or principle being discussed, it is possible to identify fundamental assumptions which may form an ascending or descending hierarchy of related ideas. Assessment of Philosophical Assumptions Directions: Enter True or False for each of the statements below each numbered heading. 1. Awareness of Human Life __My self-awareness exists and is known by my thoughts, emotions, senses. __The self-awareness of other humans exists, and they also have thoughts, emotions, and senses. 2. Value of Human Life __My value as a human exists. __The value of other humans exists. __My value as a human is greater than the value of other life forms. __All humans possess equal value because they are human (intrinsic value). __Humans possess different value depending on their attributes: intelligence, abilities, age, etc. (practical value). 3. Meaning of Human Life __My life has purpose or meaning (subjective meaning). __The lives of other humans have a meaning or purpose (subjective individual meaning). __Human life has a meaning or purpose in itself (intrinsic meaning). 4. Value of Human Behaviour __Some of my behaviour has the value of right or wrong depending upon whether or not it supports the value of my life and the life of others (relative practical morality). __Some human behaviour has the value of right or wrong in itself (intrinsic morality).
INTERDEPENDENT RELATIONSHIP OF FUNDAMENTAL IDEAS 1. Morality depends upon superior human worth assigned and defined by a Creator of humans, e.g. murder is the killing of a human, not the slaughter of a cow for human consumption. 2. The moral value of human behaviour depends upon an ultimate Creator judge and final judgment of moral conduct. Without moral accountability after death, there is no reasonable support for moral conduct. 3. Final judgment and moral accountability depend upon the existence of the individual soul and individual identity after death.
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