Natural contracts

An odd ramble around ideas from the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes on social contracts and how this could relate to animist or polytheist ideas. Would a greater focus on mutuality provide a strong ethical basis within the smaller scale western polytheist traditions?

Jane Jacobs economic models explored the idea of reciprocity (she uses the term trader) as a basis for a healthier way of interacting than the more Nietzschean approaches that have been in vogue for at least a few centuries now. I wonder to what extent this approach can be extended into spiritual and social/moral realms. This can also link in to ideas on agency within animism, but I'll leave that to some future occasion to explore. 

The short version of all this waffle is for us to think of each of the living beings (human or otherwise) that we benefit from in some way, and then deciding on how to reciprocate so that we give benefit back to them in some manner. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Intro to Paganism

 The Ipswich Pagan Council is hosting an afternoon seminar/discussion to introduce interested newcomers to the different varieties of paganism that can be found in Suffolk. This will take place on Saturday 4th December, 12.30pm at the EEFA Centre on St Helen's Street, Ipswich. It is free to attend, refreshments will be provided (if you want to bring some lunch with you, feel free). We will look at the different traditions, theology, festivals, and moral codes found within various types of paganism. For further details see  Facebook Event for Intro to Paganism
Read more

Get my Meaning?

The meaning of life is a topic that has taxed the greatest (and the least able) minds since the dawn of human existence. It was brought to mind again recently in a discussion with a friend who suggested that having a meaning to one’s life was vital to good mental health. Numerous psychologists, philosophers and scholars agree both a sense of purpose, and the degree of spiritual reflection that precedes finding a purpose, are highly beneficial. It is better to have a sense of why you are here than to merely trudge from day to day in a largely pointless routine. In fact, many have argued that just having a purpose in itself is actually far more important than the exact nature of the purpose. One of the key questions in the matter of meaning is the source of that meaning and what is actually more than a linguistic nicety ~ do we discover the meaning of our lives, or create it? That is to say, is the meaning already determined (whether by a god, Wyrd, karma or anything  else) and ther
Read more