Although people have their own beliefs, philosophy is a universal study on how a rational mind works. A good mechanic will be apt to diagnose engine problems by having a good understanding concerning physical laws and how each component works. If a mechanic neglects physical study to give opinions on religion or debate about his favorite model, his work will suffer. The human rational mind knows to follow certain principles and it is much easier to get along with ourselves and others when we understand these underlying principles. It is much more enjoyable discussing things from a universal perspective that is absent the hype and passions people tend to gravitate to. Lets look at a few of these basic principles.

What we consider good behavior is based on how we handle pain and pleasure. The objective of a good functioning soul is to acquire enduring happiness. The ideal life is one where the pleasure never ends. Naturally our passions want to avoid pain and chase pleasure. We all know that some pain is necessary and we have to use self discipline to keep from seeking pleasure too much or it can destroy us. If a person wants to stay in shape there will be hunger pains and sore muscles but the goal is to have the pleasure of feeling physically well.This principle works when applied to anything we love and have passion for. To achieve the best in anything there will be periods of pain a person has to push through.

Hope is the state of mind where we anticipate something pleasurable. A person will endure painful experiences with the hope of a lasting pleasure. Fear is the anticipation of pain. It is a defense mechanism we have inside to keep us out of trouble. It is important to have hope for the right things and fear of the right things. It is also important to have the right amount. Phobias describe excessive fear while anxiety is more of a constant fear that can turn into to a loss of hope. When the proper things we hope for come to pass and when what we fear doesn’t happen, we experience joy.

Good things are acquired by pushing through fear of pain that could come by failure and moving on in hope of better things to come. False hopes, a lack of healthy fear (recklessness) or losing faith can cause disappointments and failure. Respect is what we call the healthy fears that preserve us. Success comes through hoping for the right things to the right degree and having respect for the right things to the right degree.

Forming the habit of chasing after the right principles is the basis of having good character. Children should be raised up to hope for and fear the right things. There should be a proper respect for good principles so they fear to disobey them and yet have the fortitude to move past unhealthy fears that hinder them. No one should be in the habit of chasing false hopes or fearing the wrong things. Confidence comes when the proper hopes and fears have been established in a person’s heart. A person of good character will boldly face the realities of every situation and persevere through pain until the good things he hopes for become an actuality.

In order for reason to exist in a rational mind, a person has to use judgement. The goal is to use good judgement. In order for individual people to exist, they must have unique characteristics. Having unique characteristics will result in people having their own preferences toward certain ones. If a person calls something beautiful it could be perceived to be offensive to the remaining things that weren’t called beautiful. Any preference can be perceived as offensive to those who don’t share it.

A person always has a choice on how to react to the judgements of others. It is normal and healthy part of reasoning to classify people and things as dangerous or useful through past experiences. These conclusions are changed by observing the same people or things behave in a different manner than what was experienced previously. Understanding this principle is key to having the proper reaction to the false judgements of others. Forgiveness is a common word used for the action of overlooking past perceived offenses, but there is a better way. It is the way that doesn’t take offense in the first place. One who maintains good character despite the characterizations of others is one who uses grace.  

Some are in the habit of taking offense at every slight. This allows them to always put others in the position of owing them some kind of debt. Bitterness is a way to keep oneself off the hook from personal responsibility. A bitter person has their sense of justice skewed. When people perceive they are at war, things that had been normal relational issues become terrible offenses in order to give the appearance of an injustice that needs to be righted. But vengeful behavior due to perceived injustices blinds a person to any real solution.

To actually be free from the prejudices and opinions of others one has to use grace. It isn’t the one that curses everyone and his circumstances that comes out of poverty and disadvantage with a clear conscience. It isn’ through killing scapegoats that one gets ahead. The one who moves ahead with good character despite opposition is the clear winner. There is little drama for those who use grace so their voice isn’t very loud. But if you think hard, there will always be those who gave you a break when you didn’t deserve it. Grace is the only solution for prejudice. Since preference and prejudice will alway exist, a graceful soul, one that doesn’t take offense, is the only soul that is free.

It is easy to say in general that we need a good government and good people in office. But when it gets down to the wire, the word good has to become specific. Having what are called goods or prosperity can go both ways. A person who is poor might be so due to a lack of diligence and self control and yet we see that wealth can ruin people also by the same lack of personal discipline. We can be just as anxious about lack regardless where we are in comparison to others. The cause of good in people’s lives has to do with something other than what they possess materially.

Plato gave hypotheticals in a dialogue form in his book Laws. The Athenian and others agreed that education needed to start when children are very young so they can learn how to value the use of self discipline and reward as early as possible. He presented the illustration of a person’s passions resembling a puppet in need of a master to pull the right strings. The correct string is considered golden. And students should be taught to reach for this one against all others. This must be where we get the Golden Rule. It is probably where we get the saying, “I will try to pull some strings to get it done”. Picture a marionette with a puppeteer.

The point in all of this is that a person who is good at doing what is right is the best person to have as a citizen. This is the highest calling of an educational system. Integrity is a product of a person’s youth and is very hard to change afterward. I just had training at work where they claimed that our personality is fully formed around ten years old. After that, we can make adjustments, but still relate to things like that kid.

I am not sure how firm the psychology is, but according to the aforementioned dialogue, a person who doesn’t know how to obey is a bad choice for a leader. The golden strings in politics is the law the people have put in place. A person who wants to be in authority is obligated to uphold and obey them. Electing a person who hasn’t perfected this is like having an unruly child in office. In the dialogue he likened a child’s behavior to that of a drunk adult. A drunk person loses the ability to discern things rationally and acts the same way a child would by acting on passions without thought. Along the same lines, when personal agenda (passions) come before obedience to the law of the land (the golden strings) a person is drunk with power. Like a child, they will make poor decisions and present all kinds of excuses to justify their behavior, usually through blaming others. The main virtue to look for in a good politician is the fortitude to follow  rules the citizens of that country have put in place.

The most important area everyone should master is politics since every area of our lives is affected by it. The trouble is that different views concerning situations, priorities and opinions become conflicts and wars. But that doesn’t make politics bad. Acknowledging the existence of a conflict is the first step to knowing how to resolve it. Everything in life contains a war to a certain extent.

To understand any topic clearly, one has to have a starting point where things are basic. When the first principles are understood, it is easer to move on to more complicated things. This post concerns these basic principles.

Inside every person there is a community of passions, ambitions and reasoning. The first conflict we have to master is the one within ourselves.When we say someone is confident, we are referring to the absence of conflict within themselves. This person is sure about the direction they are going. Someone who is confident in wrongdoing cannot be given responsibility. A person who has the habit of winning the war within themselves in favor of good behavior is a trustworthy person to have around. Temptation is the word we use for those passions that cause conflict within ourselves and if they win, can make our quality of life worse. Plato called these internal wars, civil wars. The conflicts we have with others are external wars and are much easier to resolve than struggles within. This principle follows into our community of associations.

Within a family there is a reputation that follows its members. In a small community, there is a certain culture that is somewhat predictable in their behavior in the same way an individual will have a certain character. A state will have a certain culture too. No one wants bad people in charge of an entire state because it reflects on everyone. In a similar way we have inner conflicts with passions that are detrimental, there are people in every state that are given to bad behavior and therefore shouldn’t be in control. If these people are in the majority and vote in someone of like character, the entire city or state suffers. Majority rule isn’t effective in this situation. History is full of examples of bad characters taking over countries through intimidation and convincing the majority that they must be in charge.

The ideal is that the best people are in control and the worse people are content along with having laws that keep them all out of trouble. This is the goal of a good legislator. A state or a nation with civil unrest cannot face the world with confidence. Some philosophers believed that good will always find a way to win and if a nation doesn’t follow good principles another will rule over it. It is much the same with a person who cannot rule himself. Another will have to take the reins of his life and steer him in the right direction to keep him out of trouble. There is an abundance of people  wherever you go who desire to control others. To remain independent, every individual, community, or nation must face outside hostilities with confidence. This only comes when good principled people are in control and conflicts with those who have overwrought passions are pacified somehow. A poor leader will stir up dissention and break unity and cooperation to cause civil unrest. A good leader will consider everyone’s wellbeing and enact laws that have the goal of bringing unity and goodness that will advance their country. This may start as a war against those who cause strife, but the end is peace. This is a conclusion found in Plato’s discourse on law.

Fault finders are a dime a dozen. A person can ruin any good thing by becoming critical. The virtue of having a rational mind is that it helps us rise above any faction through proper reasoning. It is a valuable part of us that cannot be stolen and every person has access to become rich in understanding.

No one wants to be treated like a child and yet there are always self righteous tenders who think they know what is best for everyone. Government is the perfect environment for those who have a superiority complex. In order to have a civil society, governing is necessary. The dilemma we face is how does one maintain order while keeping the meddlers at bay?

It is easy to get caught up in left and right: conservative or liberal. Any form of government ranging from monarchy to democracy can become abusive. Both have the potential of having one group meddling in everyone’s affairs. The real questions are about limits. One group might be stronger at law enforcement yet want less intrusion in business. The opposing group could want less local and more federal control. They all have pet areas they want either protected or expanded. When factions are formed there is far less consideration to particulars due to loyalties.

The purpose of a constitution is to limit intrusion. The ideal culture will have strong ethics therefore fewer laws. It is a burden on everyone to pay for excessive administrators and enforcers. A reasonable person sees that a certain amount is necessary as long as it doesn’t intrude to the point of producing a cowering society that has no honor. Honor is produced by voluntarily doing the right things. Hope and change is an internal state of being that is produced by virtuous individuals. It cannot be externally produced by virtuous factions or laws. Every good political discourse begins with this reality.

The human soul at its best combines our circumstances and passions to produce happiness. Happiness has an element of choice and while a slave can be happy in a personal sense, circumstances don’t allow a slave to pursue his own interests. Protecting freedom is simply allowing individuals more control over their choices. Freedom also has an element where good personal choices allow a person to pursue their own interests better. Interests vary, some people have pioneering personalities and others tend toward security. It is a fascinating combination of traits that make up each individual. The area ethics deals with is the part that makes a person feel good about themselves. There is a certain amount of honor and pride we should all have as we move through this series of moments we call life and in all our pursuits.

When honor exists among a group of people it is enjoyable to be around them. A community that treats each other respectfully is where a good person wants to be. A work environment where people have a high regard for each other is one each employee will enjoy. Where citizens treat each other with respect and honor is a country that people will want to belong to. Those who lack ethics cover up their lack by pointing fingers and calling other people’s successes privilege. The truth is that those who choose to work hard, make fair exchanges and treat others with respect will create an environment for success and accomplishment for themselves and others.

When happiness is present, it creates an atmosphere where people get along well with each other. It contains a certain optimism that believes anyone can rise above social injustices through day to day application of hard work and honesty. Each individual has their own preferences concerning things they enjoy but what is common to all are the principles of ethics. No one wants to be burned or ripped off. Everyone wants to be treated with honor and respect. To put happiness in context, it is an environment where we feel safe and confident. People who feel safe and confident tend to make good choices and have a higher degree of productivity. Living and working among people you can trust without having to force them to do right through laws is the idea behind ethics. This creates the ideal environment for the pursuit of happiness according to each person’s passions.

The soul is the director that causes natural things to organize and to function a certain way. DNA is simply a record in a living cell but something must exist to imprint the genetic message in the same way a typed letter will require a programmer or a typist. Once this director is gone, the material decays back to a natural state. On this earth, there is a cycle of life entering and building and then leaving the materials behind to decay.

Complex animals have mobility and also additions to the soul’s faculties such as senses and knowledge. This allows for choices which are also a function of the soul. The animals with the most complex souls are Humans since they have the ability to make the most choices. They can override instinct and their environment to accomplish dreams. There is an advanced part of the human soul called the rational ability that follows the soul pattern of using raw materials such as a person’s passions and interests to build an object. The ultimate objective for a seed could be a beautiful flower. Of course this involves a process of time and work. The ultimate objective for a human soul is a happy life for the human that has it.

A flower that will reach its fullest potential by virtue of a good root system. It will grow by virtue of good foliage. The word virtue is used to describe something that is functioning at its best to help accomplish the soul’s ultimate objective. Virtue in a human sense describes areas that help a person achieve the most happiness in ways that last the longest. The word vice is used for the things that pull them away from the ideal. The ideal can be described as a target and there are a million ways to miss. To stay on track is more difficult but will give a person a better life.

To hit the target of virtue with our passions and actions, a person avoids having too little or too much. There is a zone in between that benefits the most for the goal of happiness. Depravity describes a state where a person loses the ability to see the target because they have gone so far to an extreme. Most of what is described in ethics applies to those who have a will to hit the target. It helps us understand why we miss at times ourselves and why others do what they do. Understanding produces empathy and having this skill is how we get along best with others. Virtues aren’t there to point out shortcomings but to give us a map to the target of contentment and happiness.

What does it mean to have a soul? Religion and philosophy alike exist to answer this question. We are going to approach it from a logical standpoint and I hope you enjoy the journey. Understanding this subject is the foundation to numerous topics of study. Enough with the introduction, lets get started!

It starts with a seed. At face value, it can look like any dead chaff blowing around. Once planted though, a change takes place. The question at this point is what causes the change? It will pull the right amount of nutrients from the soil and build a structure of a certain kind. So you have the structure, the proper application of nutrients and a certain plant that is going to be built. Who directs all of this from deep inside a seed? We see chemical reactions that build crystals, but it is ridiculous to compare the stacking of energy charges to something that gathers, reproduces and grows into a complex structure of a certain kind. The Greeks believed that anything that starts out simple and gathers nutrition to conform to a certain image must have a soul. A soul is the leader that orchestrates all the complex processes to make something alive.

In the 19th century, there was a fascination with electricity and microscopes. In the same ways that uncivilized man tried to explain life by equating it with familiar things such as trees, the sun or the moon, scientists tried to dismiss all life as the product of an electric charge on a single cell. Either way is too simplistic to explain the complexities of life as we know it now. We can only observe and document the habits of certain forms of life, but the origin and destination of each soul escapes us. A soul will come and do its job and then leave. Once the soul leaves, the form it built will decay and go back to the earth.

This is a good starting point for philosophy where we want to explain what is observed. When describing the soul of most plants, there is little sensitivity or mobility, but it has the three properties mentioned above. A soul in an animal is more developed, has instincts and perception. The soul of a humans has all of the above yet has the addition of advanced reasoning and character. Virtue is the word used when the raw material from life is organized into the best form possible. A beautiful flower from a seed is considered virtuous and we can say the soul did a good job. A healthy adaptive animal would be considered virtuous. This can be applied to human behavior; when raw emotions are combined together with circumstances and knowledge to form good character it becomes virtuous. This is one of the complex functions of the human soul; studying the habits that get us there is what this site is about. I hope that understanding the concept of souls and virtue will make it easier to figure out what I am talking about in the future.