Everyone has a Personal Philosophy. Some people leave their Personal Philosophies implicit and unexplored while others accept the philosophies that are embedded in their religious or political beliefs.
Some people evolve a relatively explicit philosophy as an aspect of participating in a therapeutic experience or a personal self-help program. Other people develop a philosophy to guide them in their work or their recreation, but leave the philosophy they use to guide them in their everyday lives largely implicit.
Planetary Philosophy suggests that it can be very helpful to make our implicit Personal Philosophies explicit and then to evolve them consciously, using the point of reference established by its three principles: We are each parts of the integrated ecology of our One Planet. We are each interdependent members of One People, the human species. And, as a species, we have One Purpose that is overriding – to bring about the global transformation needed for our One People to be able to live healthy, prosperous, satisfying lives on our One Planet.
Three Questions
From this perspective, Planetary Philosophy offers three basic questions to guide us in making an important choice and taking a significant action:
- How does it contribute to the vitality and resilience of the ecosystem of the Earth?
- How does it impact the health and well-being of the whole human species?
- How does it contribute to global transformation that we need to survive and thrive?
The simplest way to use Planetary Philosophy to help you build your own philosophy is to establish the habit of consistently asking the three questions whenever you have an important decision to make. They can function like three lenses to use in clarifying the situation you are dealing with and sorting through the possible actions we might take in order to choose the best ones.
Answering the three questions certainly does require some knowledge about how the ecosystem of the Earth and the human species are impacted and what is involved in effecting a positive global transformation. Various natural and social scientific disciplines offer assistance in this and the various evolving branches of Planetary Philosophy are works in process attempting to provide additional assistance. But, regardless of your level of expertise, just asking the questions and answering them in whatever ways that we do it can be a powerful force in impacting our Personal Philosophies and orienting and guiding our choices and actions.
Principles
Dictionaries define “principle” as:
- A fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.
- A rule or belief governing one’s personal behavior.
In talking about Personal Philosophy, let’s use principle in both of these senses – a fundamental personal truth that is the foundation for a personal system of belief and also a guide governing personal behavior. The Principles of a Personal Philosophy come in many forms, but the key to understanding them is that they function as the place we start from in making a decision and choosing how we act.
In the Principles section, you’ll find an approach to creating your own philosophy by formulating your core principles.
In the Example section, you’ll find one example of a Personal Philosophy formulated by using this approach.
