Argument from Conscience

[Whateverist]

...Naturalism offers no value, no meaning, just depression and despair...

You may say, "I don't know" but when facing tough questions in life, the answers that a naturalistic framework offer are bleak.

The answers that certain interpretations of naturalism offer are bleak.  There are positive interpretations of naturalism, but even if there weren't, turning aside from naturalism because you haven't found comforting answers in it is a lot like turning away to "godidit" because the answers to the origin of the universe aren't forthcoming.  Both moves put an end to inquiry.  If naturalism appears bleak, turning your back on the quest for answers is even bleaker.  It assures failure by putting a stop to seeking.

Rather like looking for ones lost watch under the street lamp where the light is good, even though there is no reason to think it was lost there.

The Vinegar Tasters, is a traditional subject in Chinese religious painting. The allegorical composition depicts the three founders of China's major religious and philosophical traditions: Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. The theme in the painting has been interpreted as favoring Taoism and critical of the others.

The three men are dipping their fingers in a vat of vinegar and tasting it; one man reacts with a sour expression, one reacts with a bitter expression, and one reacts with a sweet expression. The three men are Confucius, Buddha, and Laozi, respectively. Each man's expression represents the predominant attitude of his religion: Confucianism saw life as sour, in need of rules to correct the degeneration of people; Buddhism saw life as bitter, dominated by pain and suffering; and Taoism saw life as fundamentally good in its natural state.

Wikipedia | The Vinegar Tasters

Thanks for sharing this.  I've seen such pictures but never knew the back story.  Confucius is seen as the control freak but I like his emphasis on finding the sacred in the mundane.  Buddhism is largely escapist but in Zen at least gives rise to "mindfulness", a useful notion.  But Taoism is the ultimate naturalist stance, and one built on realization rather than empiricism.  I wonder if I can incorporate a statue of this image in my garden somehow.