When you become philosophical, do you try to take a god-like(ie omniscient & objective) view of the topic?

Question

If not, can you share and please describe the kind of perch (Point of View) you do your thinking or looking from?

YOu do realize the adj. god-like is a metaphorical term intended to draw people to the Q. Objectivity is the focal characteristic.

"In order to be philosophical, you need to have a clearer understanding of yourself." Yes! Especially understanding your limitations!( As Eastwood famously said in one of his Movies--"Dirty Harry.")

Answer 1

When looking at any topic, I think it is important to be able to see all sides of the situation from anyone's point of view. So my simple answer is "yes", a god-like perch is what I subscribe to.
Of course there are always some controversial topics that I might have a genuinely biased opinion on, but I have to remember that my personal POV is not the only one.

Answer 2

No, in fact quite the opposite. I take more of a Socratic, possibly Descartesesk approach by beginning with the smallest issue and break it down. Keeping what can be confirmed and dropping what can be disproved. But like Socrates I believe that my wisdom only comes from the fact that I realized and except that I am not wise and accept it as such. And therefore there is no topic not worth investigating no question not worth asking, and no conversation not worth having (guess you've have enough double negatives). Point is I continue to learn for no one can know it all. But I'm certainly going to try.

Answer 3

Well, God like in the sense that one strives for absolute objectivity.

Keep in mind though this is the SETI or Deistic God not the Judeo-Christian God.

Omniscient though is a bit out of reach. Think I'll go with Socrates on that one. The only thing I'm sure of is the possibility I'm wrong.

I suppose my perch would be best described as that of an extraterrestrial biologist.

Answer 4

In general, when we become philosophical, we admit how little our understanding of our universe is. We contemplate, expand ourselves, delve deeper into our own questions, share them with other persons with philosophical leanings who are in the same quandary. Hence being philosophical is far from being god-like, for if god-like is what philosophers are, they no longer question themselves and others of what is true, though they observe from a higher perch than other people whose purpose in life is to dream and live unmolested by the question of what life is all about.

One more distinction, friend, that you brought up in the other questions you asked, and I agree with you. A Philosophy question is one asked by the uninitiated. A Philosophical question is asked by one who is in the know.

What makes the question interesting is less in what the topic is all about than how we make it meaningful to the person who asks.

Answer 5

Objectively speaking..... It is something I endeavour toward, and I would say that on average I exercise a more objective judgement of situations than most people do.
I am however aware of my limitations, and likewise I am aware that I have biases... and do still bare the taint of subjectivity (and even subjectivity TOWARD objectivity could be considered a negative).

I certainly wouldn't consider it "god-like" though. The very concept of "god" seems painfully subjective... and I have no business dabbling in such things.

Answer 6

In order to be philosophical, you need to have a clearer understanding of yourself. Everything and everyone you see in the world is a reflection of yourself in them. To be philosophical, you need to identify your own investment in the topic, and identify who you are within it, if you get that right you can remove yourself and become objective.

Answer 7

Objectivity and insight have to combine to produce a truly philosophical thought..... must view it from a distance as well as look deeper into it.

Answer 8

i know i know nothing - so feigning omnisicience is not going to get us anywhere!

my perch is a 'valid search for the truth' and there's another budgie on my perch called 'like-minds'

we can start with your ascription of the quality "objective" to "god" if you like.
Buff.

Answer 9

brother..
philosophy is to love the wisdom.

"Allaah- there is no deity except Him, the Ever- Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Kursi (literally, a footstool) extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most High, the Most Great." [Quran 2: 255]

According to Islam, all religions revealed to the prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention, have the same essence and knowledge of Tawheed and unity of Allaah, but, with the time, the message was misinterpreted, mixed with superstition, and degenerated into magical practices and some rituals. That was the same message with which Aadam was sent down to earth, the same knowledge that Allaah revealed to Nooh (Noah), Ibraaheem (Abraham), Moosaa (Moses) and 'Eesaa (Jesus), may Allaah exalt their mention, and the last Prophet sent to humanity, Muhammad .

Islam rejects characterizing Allaah in any human form or depicting Him as favoring certain individuals or nations on the basis of wealth, power, or race. However, our human minds are often in search of understanding the concept of Allaah in materialistic ways, although we are not capable to completely comprehend this concept. When Prophet Muhammad’s contemporaries asked him about Allaah, Allaah revealed the chapter of Ikhlaas (Quranic Chapter No. 112) which is considered as the motto of Tawheed, Saying (what means): "Say (O Muhammad), “He is Allaah, [who is] One. Allaah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor was He begotten. Nor is there to Him any equivalent." [Quran 112:1-4]

The Creator must be a different nature from the things created, because if He is of the same nature as they are, He will be temporal and will, therefore, need a maker. If the maker is not temporal, He must be eternal. But if He is eternal, He cannot be caused. If nothing apart from Him causes Him to continue to exist, He must be Self-Sufficient and Self-Subsistent. If He does not depend upon anything for the continuance of His own existence, this existence can have no end. The Creator is therefore Eternal and Everlasting Allaah Says (what means): "He is the First and the Last" [Quran 57:3].

The Creator does not create only in the sense of bringing things into being, in other words, He is not only a Starter, He also preserves everything, takes them out of the existence, and is the ultimate cause of whatever happens to them.

'Ali Ibn Abu Taalib the fourth Muslim Caliph, is reported to have said: "He is being but not through the phenomenon of coming into being. He exists but not from non-existence. He is with everything but not physical nearness. He is different from everything but not by physical separation. He acts but without the accompaniment of movements and instruments. He is the One, only such that there is none with whom He keeps company or whom He misses in his absence."

In Islam, Allaah is known by His Names and Attributions and the manifestation of these names in the universe.

Another aspect of Tawheed in Islam is that it implies the equity and unity of all people in their relation with Allaah. Thus, people of different social strata were not created by separate deities with varying levels of power, since this would violate Tawheed by putting barriers between them. Instead, social dimension of Tawheed states that the same Allaah created everyone, and so all people have the same fundamental essence. In fact, the noblest person in Allaah’s Sight is the one who is most Allaah-conscious.

Prophet Muhammad said: “Your Lord is One. You are from Aadam and Aadam was created from dust. An Arab is not superior to a non-Arab, nor a white person over a black person, except for his/her piety and righteousness.” [Ahmad]

Answer 10

No, i just try to take the moral high ground..