Really, it seems like almost everyone has an outlook on life, certain things they hold as principles or values, and some reasons. We have these views, and we imagine that they all fit together and make sense, but upon observation it seems that a lot of our views are just sitting there unattached to any larger principle, or perhaps conflicting with some other thing we believe.

I have this feeling like I should be able to trace any stance I have on any issue all the way back to my basic views on say, epistemology or metaphysics, or my thoughts about the existance of altruism or free will and so on. That I would have considered and have rebuttals for common objections. That it would all hang together. That I would change when I thought I needed to. That my philosophy should not simply be a sort of utopian view of the world, but account for and be practicable in my current life.

I don’t deny that there is some ego in it too, that on some level I would like to be able to point at its perfection and that its brilliance would just convince you that I am obviously right, as in all things. Maybe I would reach a point where I was just satisfied though, and maybe the ego will never enter into it in a bad way.

So, I like to read philosophy, and I have tried a few things in formulating my own outlook. One was just an idea dump of “I believe X (optionally ‘because of Y’). The idea was that I would rummage through it and see how it hung, if it revealed deeper principles and so on. Just write it for pages and then revisit it and add more. A belief journal. The other thing was to take some topic and write a mini-essay on it. Also there is the comparative approach, where you go to real basic philosophy, compare the various outlooks of philosophers, and make your own assessment. I think all of these approaches have merit, and I suppose I have to chalk it up to laziness or lack of motivation that I have not developed things further.