My personal philosophy is a continuously evolving thing. I reserve the “right” to change my mind on each statement herein. 🙂
At present, mine is a combination of Ayn Rand’s Objectivism (and ongoing contributions to the field called “Objectivism Plus”, a term coined by Craig Biddle, I believe), modern Stoicism, and modern Deism.
Objectivism
As an individual seeker of wisdom, I find value in Objectivist literature. I am not a member of any Objectivist or adjacent organization or scene. I don’t presume to speak for Objectivism. But it influences my own personal philosophy.
I appreciate Objectivism’s recognition and defense of the Individual. And I appreciate it’s assertion that “Existence exists” and that “A is A” and that which follows. So often, Individuals are asked by ideologies and sophisticated value-destroyers to accept false promises, false premises, bad trades, and permit themselves to be exploited and sacrificed for someone else’s or something else’s gain without compensation.
At present, I put less weight on the policy recommendations of Objectivist thinkers. They can show insight, but I personally believe that policy requirements become more complex as scale increases, especially in a country the size of the United States of America. It is more useful to apply Objectivist insights at the Individual and relationship level, even community level, I believe.
Modern Stoicism
Stoicism is a philosophical practice of mindfulness that originated in ancient Greece and was adopted and passed down to us through ancient Rome. It is often misunderstood to be the “cessation of emotion” or the “denying of emotion”. That is not the case. It is instead a way to bear emotion and the highs and lows of life and continue on.
Modern Deism
Traditional Deism was, and in some corners still is today, an offshoot of Christianity. Many of the Founding Fathers of the USA were Christian Deists. I take inspiration from it as a way to be spiritual and show gratitude to the Divine Wind or Being of the Universe while avoiding oppressive dogmatism.