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MANIFESTO
RELIGION SETS THE WAY, BUT
ONLY THE MIND CAN FLY THE
PLANE


LVARO JOS ANDINO
NEZ

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2014




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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

- ABSTRACT .. 3
- INTRODUCTION . 4
- CHAPTER 1: FREUD & OCKHAM 5
- CHAPTER 2: MY TAKE ..... 7
- REFERENCES 9
















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Abstract:

Individuals must learn to drive their thinking instead of letting someone else
take control of their mental cockpit. The analysis regarding the human
consciousness, or rather unconsciousness, conducted by Sigmund Freud, along
with William of Ockhams study on logic have led humans to understand that life
and its parts can be understood and dealt with through the mind. Moreover,
individuals must embrace knowledge and logic, but also understand that the some
aspects of life are inexplicable, and that is when religion takes a huge part. In life
everything has to be approached with a logical standpoint, making sure that you
can find your own explanation for occurrences; yet, some things just cant be
explained, and for such cases individuals must seek for answers in religion.















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Introduction:

Only the mind can drive a car, and your life, for that matter. Religion locates
people at the starting point for the marathon of life, but it is the mind that gets you
through the race. Religion sets the bases for all human knowledge, and answers
what seems to be impossible to figure out. Furthermore, the mind has the greatest
influence over human action and thought, much like Freud explained in his theory
of unconscious. Furthermore, the mind manages to be successful because of its
property of applying logic to answer questions and solve issues. It is the mind that
drives our life even though we learned the basic knowledge for driving from
religion.

















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Chapter 1: Freud and Ockham

Sigmund Freud managed to challenge all previously accepted theories and
findings about the human mind and its works. His study of the mental process went
on to explain how humans live unconsciously manage to act how they do in
society.

Freuds theory of the unconscious, then, is highly deterministica
fact which, given the nature of nineteenth century science, should not
be surprising. Freud was arguably the first thinker to apply
deterministic principles systematically to the sphere of the mental,
and to hold that the broad spectrum of human behavior is explicable
only in terms of the (usually hidden) mental processes or states,
which determine it (Thornton, 2013).

His theory rapidly went against all former knowledge in which consciousness was
directly related with the mind. It was practically a synonym to use the term mind, or
to use the word conscience. It was said that:

An unconscious mental process or event, for Freud, is not one
which merely happens to be out of consciousness at a given time,
but is rather one which cannot, except through protracted
psychoanalysis, be brought to the forefront of consciousness. The
postulation of such unconscious mental states entails, of course, that
the mind is not, and cannot be, either identified with consciousness,
or an object of consciousness (Thornton, 2013).

Along with his idea on unconsciousness came his idea of instincts. He believed
that human decisions were, in the most part, taken because of instincts. Two types
of instincts are the ones that drive life. Eros is considered to be the instinct of life in
Freuds theory. Furthermore, Thanatos is the instinct of death. Many argue that
Freud thought that all of human actions were driven by sexual motivations or
purposes, but this is actually false. According to (Thornton, 2013):

() it is a mistake to interpret Freud as asserting that all human
actions spring from motivations which are sexual in their origin, since
those which derive from Thanatos are not sexually motivatedindeed,
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Thanatos is the irrational urge to destroy the source of all sexual
energy in the annihilation of the self.

Adding on to the mind and its effect on human action, I believe it is
important to talk about William of Ockhams approach to knowledge. He was a very
important philosopher in the field of logic. He stated that with logic, people can
become more efficient and successful in their craft. Specifically he went on and
said: () logic is the most useful tool of all the arts. Without it no science can be
fully known. It is not worn out by repeated use, after the manner of material tools,
but rather admits of continual growth through the diligent exercise of any other
science (Vincent, 2011). Logic can lead someone to be good at something he
could have never imagined he could accomplish. For logic is an exercise that is not
theorical, but rather practical in its use and application. The best example of this is
a situation everyone must have gone through at some point in life. When you didnt
have time to study for an exam, or just decided not to, the only thing that can save
you in that situation is you memory and logic. Logic can lead you to finding the
right answer, or something close to it because you will be making connections that
have meaning in order to reach a solution. This experience can be connected to
what Ockham proposes in his book In Summa Logic.
Ockham acknowledges four different kinds of signification, although
the third and fourth kinds are not clearly distinguished. In his first
sense, a term signifies whatever things it is truly predicable of by
means of a present-tensed, assertoric copula. That is, a term t
signifies a thing x if and only if This is a t is true, pointing to x. In the
second sense, t signifies x if and only if This is (or was, or will be, or
can be) a t is true, pointing to x.
[
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These first two senses of
signification are together called primary signification (Vincent,
2011).







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Chapter 2: My own view

Philosophy can set you on your way to reach your goal, but it is your own
choice if you want to follow it exactly or not. In order to walk you need to crawl first,
but before even crawling, a human instinctively knows how to move. This instinct is
much like religion, something that cannot really be proven, but that is the only
explanation for why things have happened the way they have in the world.

Philosophy helps the man find a path to follow in the amazingly
disorganized, and even chaotic thing we call life. Like babies, humans need a little
push or motivation in order for them to start walking on their own. In this case, the
little push that is needed is religion. Religion to me is the only answer to the
unexplained things in life. Great examples of these are the questions that have
never come even close of being answered completely, or even slightly. Some
cases in which this has happened is the controversy regarding how the universe
formed. Or how did life originate on Earth. This little push or motivation is
something we will never be able to explain, but is just given to get ourselves ready
for the rest of the journey in life. Before you learn to ride a bicycle, you must be
pushed around by your parents, or just given a little force to start. Once you are on
the road, it is completely up to you what exit you take, and what type of life you
decide to live. In my humble opinion, life must be lived with the complete
assistance of the mind. The mind and its ability to run our body is the driving force,
and the pilot in our journey in life.

The mind is what sets us apart from other monkeys, and any other animal or
plant specie for that matter. Much like William of Ockham said, the mind is driven
through logic. Logic is something that is cultivated by each individual, but family
plants it. It is you relatives that teach you how to think, and how to approach
problems when you are extremely young. It is important to know how to find the
best answer to an issue not necessarily with intelligence, but with logic. Logic is
smart peoples tool for becoming smarter. Furthermore, logic is cultivated once an
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individual has gone through experiences in which he has needed to make
decisions based on logic. That is exactly why I believe that in order for someone to
use philosophy nowadays, he must apply some knowledge or information provided
by other philosophies, but he must mold it in order to accommodate his needs. He
must be able to decide when to use this philosophy, and how to do it right. But it is
impossible to learn from one day to another. An individual must experience these
every day experiences, and must be ready to put the use of mind, and especially of
logic into place.
Furthermore, the instinctive curiosity to know what happened in the
beginning, and how all this came to be can only be explained through one thing,
religion. It is in the human nature to question, but the origin of the universe is a
question that has failed to be answered, and I undoubtedly attribute it to a divine
act. The origin of life can only be explained through Gods intervention and
creation. Life has then been driven by the growth of the mind, and especially the
growth of logic. It is the minds power to rationalize and think outside the box that
has led the human race to the advancements we have today. The modern and
active world we live in today was created by the mind, and its ability to ask
questions and logically look for answers.













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References:

Thornton, S. (2013). Sigmund Freud. Retrieved January 09, 2014 from
http://www.iep.utm.edu/freud/

Vincent, P. (2011). William of Ockham. Retrieved January 09, 2014 from
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ockham/

Nails, D. (2010). Socrates. Retrieved January 09, 2014 from
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/socrates/