10 Weird Philosophies

What do you believe?

10+Weird+Philosophies

Emma Sanders, Copy Editor

Philosophies are everywhere around us. They make up our norm, our state of mind, and how we perceive the world. We unconsciously embrace philosophies we do not even know exist, and beliefs we are not sure are real outside of ourselves. Here is a compilation of some of the weirdest philosophies that actually exist, that you probably never knew were real.

1. Milesian School of Thought:
This philosophy is a school of thought founded by Greek Milesians in the sixth century BC. The Milesian school of thought believes that everything in the world is composed of water. While the Milesians were some of the first thinkers to attribute a naturalistic view to phenomena as opposed to creating theological explanations like their ancestors, this philosophy is not scientifically supported.

2. Animism:
Animism is the belief that everything in the world has a soul, biotic and abiotic things alike. Animism in itself is not a religion, but rather a polytheistic religious philosophy. Animism was made popular by Native Americans, and is common in cultures whose society is not built upon mathematics and science.

3. Pythagoreanism:
Pythagoreanism was created by the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, and became popular in the sixth century BC. Pythagoreanism is the belief that numbers make up the world and that there is a numerical explanation for everything. Numbers essentially take the place of a god. Pythagoreanism is partly inspired by the Pythagorean Theorem, also created by Pythagoras.

4. Absurdism:
Absurdism was created by philosopher Albert Camus in later part of the nineteenth century, and contradicts many religions. Absurdism believes any efforts of humanity to find inherent meaning in this world will ultimately fail, since the vast amounts of information and the infinite unknown make total certainty impossible.

5. Cosmicism:
Cosmicism is a literary philosophy developed by horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. Cosmicism emerged out of Lovecraft’s cult genre books, and was soon popularized in the nineteenth century. Cosmicism states that there is a lack of a divine presence in the universe, and that humans are insignificant in the grand scheme of intergalactic existence.

6. Defeatism:
Defeatism is the philosophical equivalent of the psychological attitude of pessimism. Defeatism is defined as the acceptance of defeat without struggle, or more commonly known as giving up. The concept of Defeatism is predominant in politics, as well as military history.

7. Emergentism:
The philosophy of Emergentism applies to the unconscious and the mind, and states that emergent properties are neither identical with, reducible to, or deductible from any other properties. Emergentism is more of an accompanying philosophy than an independent belief in itself.

8. Antiscience:
Antiscience is the philosophical position that rejects science and the scientific method. Antiscientists do not believe in science as an objective method that can create universal knowledge. Antiscientists are far more attracted to the idea of subjectivity.

9. Anarcho-Primitivism:
Anarcho-Primitivism is the belief that the shift from hunter-gatherer way of life to agricultural subsistence created social stratification, alienation, coercion, and overpopulation, and thus Anarcho-Primitivists advocate for the return of non-civilized methods of life, particularly deindustrialization, and the abandonment of labor specialization and large scale technology.

10. Solipsism:
Solipsism is the philosophical idea that the only certain thing in existence is one’s own mind. This belief therefore rejects the certain existence of anything that is not one’s mind, including any ideas that are not invented by the individual, and the idea of different perceptions.

These are a handful of some of the philosophies out there, but there are so many more, that encompass so many aspects of our world. What do you believe?