Biosophy, meaning ''wisdom of life'', is "the science and art of intelligent living based on the awareness and practice of spiritual values, ethical-social principles and character qualities essential to

individual freedom Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and to value independence and self-relianc ...

and social harmony". It stands in relation to

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

, which can be broadly described as the ''understanding of life''.

History

The term ''Biosophy'' was probably first used in 1806 by

Ignaz Paul Vitalis Troxler Ignaz Paul Vital Troxler (August 17, 1780 – March 6, 1866) was a Swiss physician, politician, and philosopher. Early life, education, and career Troxler was born in August 1780 in Beromünster, Switzerland. He studied in Jena and Göttin ...

, a Swiss philosopher whose early works followed

F. W. J. Schelling Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (; 27 January 1775 – 20 August 1854), later (after 1812) von Schelling, was a German philosopher. Standard histories of philosophy make him the midpoint in the development of German idealism, situating him be ...

. It was later used by other philosophers like Peter Wessel Zapffe (1899–1990), who used

as the foundation of his

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

. Zapffe first set out his ideas in ''Den sidste Messias'' (en. '' The Last Messiah'') (1933). Later Zapffe gave a more systematic defence in his philosophical treatise '' Om det tragiske'' (en. '' On the tragic'') (1941). The Biosophical Institute claims that Frederick Kettner (1886-1957) was the founder of Biosophy. Kettner was himself originally inspired by the

organicism Organicism is the philosophical position that states that the universe and its various parts (including human societies) ought to be considered alive and naturally ordered, much like a living organism.Gilbert, S. F., and S. Sarkar. 2000. "Embraci ...

Constantin Brunner Constantin Brunner (1862–1937) was the pen-name of the German Jewish philosopher Arjeh Yehuda Wertheimer (called Leo). He was born in Altona (near Hamburg) on 27 August 1862. He came from a prominent Jewish family that had lived in the vicinity ...

. Contemporary biosophers include Jong Bhak, who defines Biosophy as a "new way of performing philosophy generated from scientific and biological awareness". Bhak developed his theory of Biosophy while studying at Cambridge University in 1995 and afterwards. The main difference of Bhak's biosophy from other philosophy is that his biosophy is a computable philosophy. It borrows

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

logicism and extends it to a computational set of ideas and knowledge. One ultimate aim of biosophy is to construct a logical thinking machine that can do philosophy for human beings.

Biosophy Program

The Biosophy Program was presented on the internet by Anna Öhman and Svenolov Lindgren in January 1998. They noted that "the term biosophy was previously used by Zapffe (1941) in a literary context for the analysis of human social life based on philosophy of existence and biological facts. Such a narrow circumscription of biosophy is in our opinion no obstacle to widen the definition to encompass all systematic thinking on biological issues." The Biosophy Program was intended to circumscribe and systemize biological studies in a philosophical framework to support teaching at courses on philosophy and courses on biology. The biosophical thinking is defined by Öhman and Lindgren in five philosophical fields and discriminated from Næss’ ecosophy.

Objectives

* To create biosophical groups for character and peace education where the individual has opportunities of

self-improvement Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...

. * To encourage integration among individuals based on their mutual interest in a spiritual purpose in life. * To network with other groups and organizations interested in character and peace education working cooperatively with them. * To replace the blind acceptance of theological beliefs,

superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs and ...

s and

dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...

s with the cultivation of spiritual intelligence as the basis for the Religion of Freedom and Friendship. * To create a world-fellowship of

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

-loving human beings who have overcome religious, national, racial and social

prejudice Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's per ...

s who can work creatively for the growth of democracy, spiritual personal growth and

world peace World peace, or peace on Earth, is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Planet Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would ...

. * To work for the synthesis of religion, philosophy, science, education and art. * To perpetuate and advance Kettner's principles and work for the development and cultivation of the character and peace nature in young people. * To create a Peace Department in national governments headed by a Secretary of Peace, and to establish peace universities. * To establish a world-fellowship of thinking human beings who can work creatively for the growth of spiritual

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

and world peace. * To cooperate in the advancement of humanity from

civilization A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). Ci ...

to the age of "soulization".

References

{{Reflist

External links

Essay at Ecognosis

BioSophy.org
Philosophy of life

History

Biosophy Program

Objectives

See also

References

External links