Ultimate reality: philosophical perspectives and definitions

Uiltimate Reality

Ultimate Reality

What is real? What is the ultimate reality of life, and the ultimate purpose of life? This question has plagued men across centuries, cultures and continents for the duration of recorded history. From the caves of indigenous people to the elaborate churches in western civilizations, men have looked for a connection to Something larger than themselves in order to give their lives ultimate meaning and reality. In Mary Fisher's Anthology of Living Religions, the author presents a survey of religious and anti-religious beliefs from across the globe. Her findings can be broken down into three categories:

Faith in self or materialistic beliefs.

Functional faith which gives the practitioner control over his present world surroundings

Faith in a being, or order larger than oneself, which a person needs to adhere to in order to find the meaning and purpose for his or her life.

Faith in self is an old hat, cleaned and brought back to the philosophy retail store with a new ribbon, and a new color feather placed in the band every generation or so. The narcissistic practitioners choose to believe that ultimate reality is in their own hands. There can be no controlling influence, nor being to which we are accountable because we want to be in control of our own lives. Freud believed that religious faith was only an illusion, dreamed up be the faithful in order to assist them in adjusting to their own insecurities. For Freud, all personality was a function of the environment which spawned us. Our fears, faith, hopes and dreams were only a reflection of storied we heard as children. Marx, who never recovered from his Jewish parent's choice to forsake the rich heritage of their religion in favor of commercial business success, turned his disillusionment into a doctrine, and determined that religion was only an opiate for the masses, a drug to quiet their consciences. His own bitterness destroyed his ability to enjoy the faith which had created his family's heritage. Nietzsche determined that because of rationalism and the sciences were finding explanations for those things which had previously been ascribed to faith, God was officially dead. He no longer needed to exist tin the minds and hearts of man in order for man to find meaning.

Functional religions are those which exist most often in third world countries, and those peoples who maintain a significant connection to the traditions of their ancestors. In a people group which does not experience missionary efforts of Christian religions, the animistic, magic based, spiritist, or voodoo style religions give the people a sense of control over their surroundings and in many cases over other people. The desire of these cultures is to explain those things that cannot be explained, and give ultimate meaning to the unpredictable events of life.