If we united religion, science and philosophy, what would it offer
us? If we united religion, science and philosophy, what would it
offer us? What would if offer us as a speciess? It may provide us
with a means of coming to a consensus regarding what it is we
believe we are and why it is we believe we exist. It was Carl Sagan
who best expressed it when he said: "We are privileged to influence
and perhaps control our future. I believe we have an obligation to
fight for others, who came before us, and to whom we are all
beholden and for all those who, if we are wise enough, will come
after. There is no cause more urgent, no dedication more fitting
then to protect the future of our speciess. Nearly all our problems
are made by humans and can be solved by humans. No social
convention, no political system, no economic hypothesis, no
religious dogma is more important." The means of developing such a
consensus is through the development of a concept defined by
Stephen Hawking as a 'universal philosophy.' This 'universal
philosophy' could be achieved by using a process developed by
Husserl: using 'bracketing' and applying the process of 'reduction'
as outlined by Husserl. 'Bracketing' is the process of eliminating
any superfluous and irrelevant perceptions that are a part of our
everyday lives until one is left with life's primary essentials.
'Reduction' is the process of examining what remains, the primary
essentials - to make sense of ones 'intentionality'. In short, it
is Husserl's development of process that helps us to develop
Hawking's concept of a 'universal philosophy'. It is the process of
'bracketing' and 'reduction' that helps us to formulate answers to
the three basic questions: Where are we? What are we? Why do we
exist? In essence, it is Husserl who has defined the process and
Hawking who has named the product of that process. A search for
purpose is in essence a search for a 'universal philosophy' based
upon 'truths'. This 'universal philosophy' - this means of modeling
a 'universal ethic' upon which we and all life throughout the
universe can agree - needs to be found in order to resolve the many
socially divisive issues we confront as a speciess. Perhaps more
importantly, we need to develop this understanding, this model,
before we confront other life forms with which we may have
decidedly differing views. If our speciess does not put such a
consensus in place, we may once again find ourselves divided and in
conflict. As history has shown over and over again, we will find
ourselves at war with each other. We will be a divided speciess
attempting to cully favor with differing intellectual life forms
which we will undoubtedly encounter as we push the limits of our
presence beyond our earth, to the far reaches of our solar system,
our galaxy, and to the very edge of the universe itself. To prevent
this, we need to develop a 'universal philosophy' capable of
supporting and embracing all religions, scientific thought, variety
of philosophies, and perceptions that we as a speciess have so
uniquely developed. Once we have developed such a philosophy, we
will need to test it. ... We need to be sure it unilaterally
encourages the concept of creative thought and freedom of action.
For if a model of a universal philosophy does not take on this
characteristic of free action and thinking, it can never be
considered 'universal'. Once a model of a 'universal philosophy'
has been developed, it can be tested in terms of its validity as a
universal philosophy by observing the degree of constraint it
imposes upon God. The less constraining the model, the more
universal it will be. This process of building a model of a
'universal philosophy' - that will act as a foundation for our
present perceptions - is in essence a search for truth. Perceptions
are concepts we form regarding what we understand to be 'truths'.
As a speciess, we appear to have three means of forming what we bel
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