Preliminary Background:
What is your age? 55
What is your current academic status (student, former student, alumnus, etc.)? Graduated 30 years go. BA history/philosophy JD
Why are (were) you in college?
Because that was what the children of college educated people did. I liked it and enjoyed being a lawyer afterwords.
What are your future plans/goals?
These days I paint. I plan to go on doing that.
Briefly describe your family background.
My parents were middle class college educated protestants with working class immigrant parents. My childhood was steeped in religion.
Social Structures
Describe your current relationship with your family.
I am close to my husband and kids, also my mother. My father is dead.
Describe your social life.
Home bound mostly. But with a very close girl friend.
Are close relationships with friends/family important? Why or why not?
Of course.
Which is more important: the personal life or the professional life?
Yes
Ontological
What is the source of power and success?
Who's power and success? And at what? Generslly, intellegence, physique, education, inherited wealth, country, country of origin, health, talent, and luck all play a part.
What is the origin of the universe?
The last best guess is the Big Bang.
What is the origin and destiny of humanity?
Home sapiens evolved from other hominids. Destiny is not a word I use. I can't predict the future. If past history is any indicator, we will go extinct sometime before sun goes nova, but probably long before that.
Is there any form of spiritual dimension of reality? If so, briefly describe it.
I very much doubt it.
Do incorporeal beings exist?
What exactly would an incorporial being be? Seems more than unlikely.
How do you define ‘God’?
I don't. Most religions don't either. "I am who I am is hardly a definition."
How do you define ‘truth’?
Abstract or emperical? One need only be consistent with itself, the other must be consistent with the actual world.
Epistemological
How do you know what is true?
Observation and experience. I act as though I know more than I do. Everyone does, or we'd never get from point a to point b for all the time wasted testing the bridges.
Is there an objective standard by virtue of which one can distinguish truth and falsity, and if so, why is it a reliable standard?
Only if the proposed truth is falsifiable.
Assuming no objective truth exists, how can you correctly form and evaluate truth claims?
Mostly I rely on past experience and others, see note above about bridges, If it's important I research.
Axiology
Are morals and ethics subjective or objective?
Wrong question. Morals and ethics are valuable human constructs. They make society work. But they differ across the spectrum of humankind and from individual to individual.
How do you know right from wrong?
I consult social norms and my own sense of what is best.
Can science explain the origin of moral values and concerns? How so?
Evolution. Also societal history.
How would you describe a “good person”? A “bad person”?
A good person treats others as people and not as things and attempts to better rather than worsen the lives of others. Bad is the reverse.
What would an “ideal society” look like?
Everyone would have equal opportunity, and would regardless of health talent or wealth live a happy and productive life with many opportunities to express themselves.
Do people act purely out of self-interest?
Not nearly as often as you might think.
What is the most important moral attribute (i.e. love, justice, equality, selflessness, etc.)? How do you define it?
Wrong question. All of those are important. Love more so in interpersonal relationship, justice and equality (You can't have real justice without equality) in government. Selflessness is not necessarily always moral. It's most useful in times of great crisis. You forgot responsibility for others, and leaving others alone.
What is mankind’s single biggest problem?
Tribalism. That is my kind against yours right or wrong.
Is there a solution to this problem, and if so, what is it?
Not that I'm aware of.
What is your age? 55
What is your current academic status (student, former student, alumnus, etc.)? Graduated 30 years go. BA history/philosophy JD
Why are (were) you in college?
Because that was what the children of college educated people did. I liked it and enjoyed being a lawyer afterwords.
What are your future plans/goals?
These days I paint. I plan to go on doing that.
Briefly describe your family background.
My parents were middle class college educated protestants with working class immigrant parents. My childhood was steeped in religion.
Social Structures
Describe your current relationship with your family.
I am close to my husband and kids, also my mother. My father is dead.
Describe your social life.
Home bound mostly. But with a very close girl friend.
Are close relationships with friends/family important? Why or why not?
Of course.
Which is more important: the personal life or the professional life?
Yes
Ontological
What is the source of power and success?
Who's power and success? And at what? Generslly, intellegence, physique, education, inherited wealth, country, country of origin, health, talent, and luck all play a part.
What is the origin of the universe?
The last best guess is the Big Bang.
What is the origin and destiny of humanity?
Home sapiens evolved from other hominids. Destiny is not a word I use. I can't predict the future. If past history is any indicator, we will go extinct sometime before sun goes nova, but probably long before that.
Is there any form of spiritual dimension of reality? If so, briefly describe it.
I very much doubt it.
Do incorporeal beings exist?
What exactly would an incorporial being be? Seems more than unlikely.
How do you define ‘God’?
I don't. Most religions don't either. "I am who I am is hardly a definition."
How do you define ‘truth’?
Abstract or emperical? One need only be consistent with itself, the other must be consistent with the actual world.
Epistemological
How do you know what is true?
Observation and experience. I act as though I know more than I do. Everyone does, or we'd never get from point a to point b for all the time wasted testing the bridges.
Is there an objective standard by virtue of which one can distinguish truth and falsity, and if so, why is it a reliable standard?
Only if the proposed truth is falsifiable.
Assuming no objective truth exists, how can you correctly form and evaluate truth claims?
Mostly I rely on past experience and others, see note above about bridges, If it's important I research.
Axiology
Are morals and ethics subjective or objective?
Wrong question. Morals and ethics are valuable human constructs. They make society work. But they differ across the spectrum of humankind and from individual to individual.
How do you know right from wrong?
I consult social norms and my own sense of what is best.
Can science explain the origin of moral values and concerns? How so?
Evolution. Also societal history.
How would you describe a “good person”? A “bad person”?
A good person treats others as people and not as things and attempts to better rather than worsen the lives of others. Bad is the reverse.
What would an “ideal society” look like?
Everyone would have equal opportunity, and would regardless of health talent or wealth live a happy and productive life with many opportunities to express themselves.
Do people act purely out of self-interest?
Not nearly as often as you might think.
What is the most important moral attribute (i.e. love, justice, equality, selflessness, etc.)? How do you define it?
Wrong question. All of those are important. Love more so in interpersonal relationship, justice and equality (You can't have real justice without equality) in government. Selflessness is not necessarily always moral. It's most useful in times of great crisis. You forgot responsibility for others, and leaving others alone.
What is mankind’s single biggest problem?
Tribalism. That is my kind against yours right or wrong.
Is there a solution to this problem, and if so, what is it?
Not that I'm aware of.
If there is a god, I want to believe that there is a god. If there is not a god, I want to believe that there is no god.
