This is a paradox that I came up with and first published on Facebook on June 28th, 2009.
The paradox takes the form of a religion, a religion that I have named Autodiathesism, or Diathesism for short, coming from the Greek word for self-determination.
Diathesism relies on two basic tenets.
1. God exists.
2. God wants his people to find their way independently, without believing in a God or other guiding spirit.
That is, he wants his people to find and live by a system of morality and ethics without thinking that a higher power is telling them what to do. Optimally, they wouldn't believe in any kind of God, and would be good people based on nothing but their own moral compass and philosophical musings.
The paradox lies in the second tenet, obviously, because a follower of Diathesism is essentially failing that tenet of the religion. At the same time, an atheist would be the greatest follower of Diathesism ever, except for the fact that he's an atheist, and doesn't believe in Diathesism.
Agnostics would make pretty great Diathesists as well, as would Epicureans and Deists. Pretty much anyone that either doesn't believe in God, doesn't know what they think about God, or believes that God doesn't give two shits about what people do, would be doing great in Diathesism, except they can't really be called Diathesists since they don't actually believe in Diathesism.
Because the moment they begin to believe in Diathesism, or proclaim themselves a Diathesist, they fail the second tenet and can't really be considered Diathesists any more. Or at least not very good ones.
So who can be a Diathesist?
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
The Epimethean - An Introduction
Hi,
The title of this blog may seem a little arcane, so I thought I'd do it the credit of a brief explanation. Most people have heard of Prometheus, the titan who created the first race of men from clay and disobeyed the god Zeus by bringing humans fire. Prometheus had the gift of foresight, which meant he could see into the future. Apparently he thought that an eternity of pain (each day a vulture or crow would peck out his liver; it always grew back because he was a titan and therefore immortal) was worth introducing us to combustion.
His less well known brother, Epimetheus, was another titan charged with creating mortal life on Earth, and it was he that created the myriad of animals that populate our planet (according to the Greek myths, at any rate). But it is not for that reason that I honor him in the blog title. Epimetheus had the gift of hindsight, seeing into the past, and in a way, all writing is a reflection on the past... it is the writer pouring his experiences and his ideas onto paper, all of which are influenced by the past. In addition, all writing instantly becomes historic, the moment it is written. (Unfortunately, no piece of writing can be made to be more modern and new with every passing day.) As humans, our only means of seeing into the future is by correctly interpreting the past...
...thus we are all Epimetheans.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Prometheus, but I think Epimetheus is underappreciated.
Seeing into the past and seeing the truth is more difficult than it might seem at first glance.
Now to the purpose: The purpose of this blog is to collect and publish all my short works and writings (those that aren't crap, that is) in one place. These writings include philosophical musings, short stories, poems, socio-political theories, and miscellaneous other pieces.
To those brave enough or bored enough to read, many thanks.
- Thomas Moore
The title of this blog may seem a little arcane, so I thought I'd do it the credit of a brief explanation. Most people have heard of Prometheus, the titan who created the first race of men from clay and disobeyed the god Zeus by bringing humans fire. Prometheus had the gift of foresight, which meant he could see into the future. Apparently he thought that an eternity of pain (each day a vulture or crow would peck out his liver; it always grew back because he was a titan and therefore immortal) was worth introducing us to combustion.
His less well known brother, Epimetheus, was another titan charged with creating mortal life on Earth, and it was he that created the myriad of animals that populate our planet (according to the Greek myths, at any rate). But it is not for that reason that I honor him in the blog title. Epimetheus had the gift of hindsight, seeing into the past, and in a way, all writing is a reflection on the past... it is the writer pouring his experiences and his ideas onto paper, all of which are influenced by the past. In addition, all writing instantly becomes historic, the moment it is written. (Unfortunately, no piece of writing can be made to be more modern and new with every passing day.) As humans, our only means of seeing into the future is by correctly interpreting the past...
...thus we are all Epimetheans.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Prometheus, but I think Epimetheus is underappreciated.
Seeing into the past and seeing the truth is more difficult than it might seem at first glance.
Now to the purpose: The purpose of this blog is to collect and publish all my short works and writings (those that aren't crap, that is) in one place. These writings include philosophical musings, short stories, poems, socio-political theories, and miscellaneous other pieces.
To those brave enough or bored enough to read, many thanks.
- Thomas Moore
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