Oh wow, I was not aware of a strictly materialist view being rather old fashioned now; the book I mentioned seemed to press rather spartanly on the notion of religion and the existence of a disembodied self as being outdated "folk psychology" concepts that would take a while before the scientific reality would erase them. I remember reading several chapters of the book and finding it to be too clinical and sterile in the way it kept focusing on the self as illusion, for one thing. Even with the positive thought perspectives offered, I still felt pretty irritated by how much it stressed on how neuroscience and the findings it offers to be the gospel truth. Having been raised in the Eastern Orthodox faith, I've always appreciated the moral and aesthetic beauty of religion (the frescoes of byzantine churches are hauntingly emotive in their more primitive style compared to the opulent Catholic style). Yet after a certain point I grew to believe, in abosrbing the teachings of modern science, that he most likely did not exist, although I still attended church with my family every so often and took delight in the moral edification of service and the entire church going experience. So I don't know where I really stand on the religion scale, but I do know that I think a culture without some form of spiritual purpose and edification is not a culture in its prime. I could go on forever talking about the ways in which "wantonness" (in the philosophical sense) has become endemic to my generation (I'm born in the 21st century), but I'll stop here. In any case, thank you for your links, I look forward to checking them out.
Oh wow, I was not aware of a strictly materialist view being rather old fashioned now; the book I mentioned seemed to press rather spartanly on the notion of religion and the existence of a disembodied self as being outdated "folk psychology" concepts that would take a while before the scientific reality would erase them. I remember reading several chapters of the book and finding it to be too clinical and sterile in the way it kept focusing on the self as illusion, for one thing. Even with the positive thought perspectives offered, I still felt pretty irritated by how much it stressed on how neuroscience and the findings it offers to be the gospel truth. Having been raised in the Eastern Orthodox faith, I've always appreciated the moral and aesthetic beauty of religion (the frescoes of byzantine churches are hauntingly emotive in their more primitive style compared to the opulent Catholic style). Yet after a certain point I grew to believe, in abosrbing the teachings of modern science, that he most likely did not exist, although I still attended church with my family every so often and took delight in the moral edification of service and the entire church going experience. So I don't know where I really stand on the religion scale, but I do know that I think a culture without some form of spiritual purpose and edification is not a culture in its prime. I could go on forever talking about the ways in which "wantonness" (in the philosophical sense) has become endemic to my generation (I'm born in the 21st century), but I'll stop here. In any case, thank you for your links, I look forward to checking them out.