Philosophical Mouse

Philip A friend of mine (friends always like to pull your leg) had me rocking back on my heels by saying...'OK Philip, I have seen what you have done, but what on earth have your paintings got to do with your philosophy.'? Good point I had to agree, as I stumbled around for a reply, eventually stammering out that possibly the basic compositions were fairly similar in both cases.

I like my paintings to be simple, strong, understandable and hopefully enjoyable to look at. In other words I like to think my paintings are common sense art which you can understand, rather than intellectual art which you cannot. Similarly, I would hope my philosophies or thoughts are simple, understandable and hopefully sensible as they are based on nothing more than natural law.

And what has been bugging me for too many years and why these thoughts are being poured out is that natural law has been turned upside down in favour of man made law based on the modern Western thinking that we humans are now so intelligent and civilised that we have left our animal bodies behind.

And what is more annoying is the smug arrogance of our Western intellectual leaders in claiming the moral high ground of our planet and trying to force these plastic and unsustainable laws onto others.

So, like many others, I am getting these thoughts and ideas out of my system and onto a bit of paper with the hope that one day they will hit the bamboo telegraph and help push those who live in this world back into a more real existence. Society needs it and so does the environment. A "no hurt" socialistic world is simply dreamland.

If the word does get out I am hoping that changes for the better will be instigated 'from the bottom up'. That means more thoughtful and responsible actions taken voluntarily by individuals which in turn will change the position of the goal posts in both the economic and political markets to a more nature friendly position. Both society and the environment are desperate for such a change.

And to help make this happen I would implore our traditional leaders of morality, namely all religions, to reawaken themselves and pool their strengths together rather than dissipating their energy fighting with each other over each clerical letter of each clerical law.

Perhaps all religions should be 'tweaked' a little towards the practical rather than the theoretical and join together under an overriding environmental umbrella. We would then be encouraged (following Sister Theresa Martin's footsteps) to say our "practical prayers" which are much more meaningful than just saying our prayers with words alone. That means any tiny little thing we do during the course of the day to benefit the environment or our fellow men will count as a meaningful prayer for the good. And we have to understand that from now on practical prayers for the environment should outweigh our prayers for our fellow men, because without God's Creation or the environment human beings and their souls, however good, will have nowhere to exist.

1988 was the year when things started to be pushed out of my system, and so far we are now up to 14 essays and a very simple book, available on Kindle. Essay No. 9 gives more information as to how and why things happened.

Brief descriptions of the 14 essays and the book are given below.

Good Luck.
Philip Arundell.

P.S. On this ‘ sight ’ there are so far 13 little essays, entitled as follows

A Summary of the 13 essays.

Essay 1. The Old Codes. This shows how the Western World is absolutely wrong in trying to eliminate fear from our lives by downgrading punishment. For it is fear, together with greed, that determines how we act, and it is fear that underpins all human codes of conduct upon which societies depend.

Essay 2. Changing the base points of morality. Moral codes in the past have been related to how man behaves with his fellow man. In future morality, or what is considered good, should be weighted much more according to how man behaves with nature. Further, we show that too much State interference in our lives is threatening our "underlying morality", or our chance to arrive on earth and play our "game of life", which requires us to use all the abilities our Creator has given us. We are being encouraged to go through life on two cylinders instead of the four cylinders we have been made with, and that is a slap in the face of our Highest Authority.

Essay 3. Shows that Freedom and Democracy, which at the moment is giving the Western World the moral high ground on our planet, is basically flawed and leading to the breakdown of civilised codes of conduct and individual responsibility.

Essay 4. Invisible Wealth. This essay shows how change for the good can come about, initiated by individual action upon which everything else depends. Hopefully better individual action will be encouraged by resurgent churches/religions that will, through their moral input, become more powerful than the spineless and self-serving secular leaders of today.

Essay 5. Socialism vs Capitalism. The Mouse signals the end of Socialism, as it is a practice which "over the years makes a person less able than he was born to be". This is fundamentally amoral, as it is spitting directly into the eye of nature or your Creator. On the other hand we re-affirm our faith in the Capitalist Free-Enterprise system, which forms the main part of the game of life which we are all born into. This system gives natural expression and outlet to the makeup of man. It is an exact parallel to Darwin’s "Evolution of the Species", based on the survival of the fittest. It also allows us to live in hope, for only by joining in the game can you win the prize, and it is the chance of winning the prize that gives us hope.

Essay 6. Changing Attitudes. Some things that are happening today are questioned from an "old world" viewpoint. Will old world attitudes and practices based more on natural law prove longer lasting than current modern day ideology.

Essay 7. The Growth Economy. The Mouse argues that the worldwide chase for growth economies will be totally unsustainable, considering the growing number of people on our planet and the material requirements they are demanding. Human survival on earth will only happen on the basis of "reducing economies" directed by more individually responsible populations that will reset the goalposts of Capitalism in a more nature-friendly position. This will signal the end of the cosy social welfare economies of the Western World and will bring about a return to the more realistic (but hopefully fairer) conditions of the past, when no one asked for or expected a free ride from life.

Essay 8. A New Religion Glory Be! Do not be too worried. This is the Mouse simply asking people to have a "religious zeal" in saying their "practical prayers", i.e. any small actions that will help nature or society. In doing so they would be following the example set by Sister Theresa Martin, who believed that "sainthood was attainable by anyone, however lowly or untalented they were, simply by doing little things in the discharge of their daily duties in the perfect spirit and love of God"

Essay 9. Summarial Splendour. Or a final summary. This is a simple restatement of something mentioned throughout my writings. That the main threat facing humanity is the fact that modern western humans are currently in denial of their own animal makeup. And the more intelligent and modern they become so the greater is that denial. Modern man is living the greatest lie since the history of civilisation began, and unless he wakes up to the situation he is doomed. It is the Mouse's job to remind humans that however hard they try they cannot change the physical make up of their bodies or the basic animal instincts that go with that make up.

ESSAY 10. MAN IS ANIMAL. I enjoyed doing this because proving this concept is what started me off in the first place, some 25 years ago. After many years of keen observation of my fellow human beings, plus many years of putting two plus two together, a complete amateur has worked out the 'main equation of life' which is simply described and proved on page two of this essay. I dare anyone to prove this base concept wrong.!........So, big deal.!...even if you are right, what significance does it have? It has huge significance because the philosophies that the western world are following and the laws which they are making for themselves are based on the belief that modern man has left his animal body behind, and if this belief continues both we humans and the environment we control are headed for the dustbin. And you can't get a bigger deal than that.

ESSAY 11. PARADISE ON EARTH. This starts off with a light hearted description and hope for the future as seen in the book "Phil The Fluter's Game of Life". Then we mention a few factors which may hinder our attempt to regain our own paradise, such as the new and highly fashionable promotion of 'freedom' combined with the lessening of the old laws of restraint and punishment. Don't forget that it was Mr. Restraint and Mr. Punishment, however unpopular they may have been, that were responsible for turning animal savages into civilised humans in the first place.! We then continue the overriding theme of my thinking, namely "individual responsibility" and say how important individuals are in improving the pitch (environment) on which the "game of life" depends. Our problems on the religious front are aired, especially relating to Islamic State, with the thought that all our problems would be solved and maybe our Paradise regained, if we all tried to behave as well as Mr. Abou Ben Adhem.

ESSAY 12. THE WORDS OF GOD,THE EQUATION OF CIVILISATION, MANNERS. This is a culmination of all previous essays and writings wherein the mouse has the temerity to point out where the Western world has gone wrong, together with suggestions as to the way forward. Underlying his thinking is "natural law" rather than the current fashionable liberal philosophy based on overvalued human rights. Also, there is an attempt to stop inter-religious squabbling and get everyone and their dog to concentrate on the overriding necessity of getting our natural world back into better health. For now we are all aware just how much damage our own human race has caused it.

ESSAY 13. SCRIBBLES 1990–2015 Contains scribbles or debriefing notes compiled over the last 30 years or so. They are not in any particular order and obviously many are saying the same thing in a different way. The underlying themes are. (A). To encourage people to maximise the 'meaning of life on earth' by joining the game of life and experience all the ups and downs along the way. (B). To encourage people to be more responsible to the environment they live in by chasing "invisible wealth" rather than an over abundance of material wealth. They will feel a lot better 'within' if this course is followed and all other life on earth will benefit.

ESSAY 14. A BRIEF LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE One man's view of what is wrong with our world today, and what we can do to put things right.

THE BOOK. "PHIL THE FLUTER'S GAME OF LIFE."

This began to be written in 1988 and was eventually self-published in 2005. It is my own simple version of how we are made and "what makes us tick", or why we behave the way we do. We find that the actions of man, and all animals, are entirely predictable in that every thought and action is usually made for their own advantage.

The only limiting factor as to how far humans exploit situations or profit themselves are the codes of conduct or laws of morality that have gradually evolved (or been made by humans themselves) that will hold in our basic instincts to exploit and so allow numbers of humans to live together in social communities in relative peace and harmony. Generally the stronger the codes of conduct and the more holding in of our basic animal instincts (to exploit), so the more civilised does a society become. The measurement of how civilised you are, is a simple measurement of how far you distance yourself from your basic animal instincts. The greater the distance is, the less likely are you to exploit unfairly, and the more civilised the human becomes. That is the only reason humans can claim moral ascendency over and above the animal kingdom. Obviously if our codes of conduct become weaker, so our basic animal instincts to exploit will become stronger. Humans will take a step nearer their animal origins and in doing so become "less civilised".


	1.The Old Codes 2.Morality. Changing The Base Points 3.Freedom And Democracy 4.Invisible Wealth 5.Capitalism: Socialism 6.Changing Attitudes 7.The Growth Economy!! 8.Let's Make a New Religion 9.Summarial Splendour 10.Man is Animal 11.Paradise on Earth 12.The Words of God, The Equation of Civilisation, Manners 13.Scribbles 1990 to 2015 14.A brief look at the big picture
	INTRODUCTION A friend of mine (friends always like to pull your leg) had me rocking back on my heels by saying...'OK Philip, I have seen what you have done, but what on earth have your paintings got to do with your philosophy.'? Good point I had to agree, as I stumbled around for a reply, eventually stammering out that possibly the basic compositions were fairly similar in both cases. I like my paintings to be simple, strong, understandable and hopefully enjoyable to look at. In other words I like to think my paintings are common sense art which you can understand, rather than intellectual art which you cannot. Similarly, I would hope my philosophies or thoughts are simple, understandable and hopefully sensible as they are based on nothing more than natural law. And what has been bugging me for too many years and why these thoughts are being poured out is that natural law has been turned upside down in favour of man made law based on the modern Western thinking that we humans are now so intelligent and civilised that we have left our animal bodies behind. And what is more annoying is the smug arrogance of our Western intellectual leaders in claiming the moral high ground of our planet and trying to force these plastic and unsustainable laws onto others. So, like many others, I am getting these thoughts and ideas out of my system and onto a bit of paper with the hope that one day they will hit the bamboo telegraph and help push those who live in this world back into a more real existence. Society needs it and so does the environment. A "no hurt" socialistic world is simply dreamland. If the word does get out I am hoping that changes for the better will be instigated 'from the bottom up'. That means more thoughtful and responsible actions taken voluntarily by individuals which in turn will change the position of the goal posts in both the economic and political markets to a more nature friendly position. Both society and the environment are desperate for such a change. And to help make this happen I would implore our traditional leaders of morality, namely all religions, to reawaken themselves and pool their strengths together rather than dissipating their energy fighting with each other over each clerical letter of each clerical law. Perhaps all religions should be 'tweaked' a little towards the practical rather than the theoretical and join together under an overriding environmental umbrella. We would then be encouraged (following Sister Theresa Martin's footsteps) to say our "practical prayers" which are much more meaningful than just saying our prayers with words alone. That means any tiny little thing we do during the course of the day to benefit the environment or our fellow men will count as a meaningful prayer for the good. And we have to understand that from now on practical prayers for the environment should outweigh our prayers for our fellow men, because without God's Creation or the environment human beings and their souls, however good, will have nowhere to exist. 1988 was the year when things started to be pushed out of my system, and so far we are now up to 14 essays and a very simple book, available on Kindle. Essay No. 9 gives more information as to how and why things happened. Brief descriptions of the 14 essays and the book are given below. Good Luck. Philip Arundell. P.S. On this ‘ sight ’ there are so far 13 little essays, entitled as follows The Old Codes Morality : Changing the Base Points Freedom and Democracy Invisible Wealth Capitalism/Socialism Changing Attitudes The Growth Economy!! Let's Make a New Religion Summarial Splendour Man is Animal Paradise on Earth The Words of God, The Equation of Civilisation, Manners Scribbles 1990–2015 A Brief Look At The Big Picture A Summary of the 13 essays. Essay 1. The Old Codes. This shows how the Western World is absolutely wrong in trying to eliminate fear from our lives by downgrading punishment. For it is fear, together with greed, that determines how we act, and it is fear that underpins all human codes of conduct upon which societies depend. Essay 2. Changing the base points of morality. Moral codes in the past have been related to how man behaves with his fellow man. In future morality, or what is considered good, should be weighted much more according to how man behaves with nature. Further, we show that too much State interference in our lives is threatening our "underlying morality", or our chance to arrive on earth and play our "game of life", which requires us to use all the abilities our Creator has given us. We are being encouraged to go through life on two cylinders instead of the four cylinders we have been made with, and that is a slap in the face of our Highest Authority. Essay 3. Shows that Freedom and Democracy, which at the moment is giving the Western World the moral high ground on our planet, is basically flawed and leading to the breakdown of civilised codes of conduct and individual responsibility. Essay 4. Invisible Wealth. This essay shows how change for the good can come about, initiated by individual action upon which everything else depends. Hopefully better individual action will be encouraged by resurgent churches/religions that will, through their moral input, become more powerful than the spineless and self-serving secular leaders of today. Essay 5. Socialism vs Capitalism. The Mouse signals the end of Socialism, as it is a practice which "over the years makes a person less able than he was born to be". This is fundamentally amoral, as it is spitting directly into the eye of nature or your Creator. On the other hand we re-affirm our faith in the Capitalist Free-Enterprise system, which forms the main part of the game of life which we are all born into. This system gives natural expression and outlet to the makeup of man. It is an exact parallel to Darwin’s "Evolution of the Species", based on the survival of the fittest. It also allows us to live in hope, for only by joining in the game can you win the prize, and it is the chance of winning the prize that gives us hope. Essay 6. Changing Attitudes. Some things that are happening today are questioned from an "old world" viewpoint. Will old world attitudes and practices based more on natural law prove longer lasting than current modern day ideology. Essay 7. The Growth Economy. The Mouse argues that the worldwide chase for growth economies will be totally unsustainable, considering the growing number of people on our planet and the material requirements they are demanding. Human survival on earth will only happen on the basis of "reducing economies" directed by more individually responsible populations that will reset the goalposts of Capitalism in a more nature-friendly position. This will signal the end of the cosy social welfare economies of the Western World and will bring about a return to the more realistic (but hopefully fairer) conditions of the past, when no one asked for or expected a free ride from life. Essay 8. A New Religion Glory Be! Do not be too worried. This is the Mouse simply asking people to have a "religious zeal" in saying their "practical prayers", i.e. any small actions that will help nature or society. In doing so they would be following the example set by Sister Theresa Martin, who believed that "sainthood was attainable by anyone, however lowly or untalented they were, simply by doing little things in the discharge of their daily duties in the perfect spirit and love of God" Essay 9. Summarial Splendour. Or a final summary. This is a simple restatement of something mentioned throughout my writings. That the main threat facing humanity is the fact that modern western humans are currently in denial of their own animal makeup. And the more intelligent and modern they become so the greater is that denial. Modern man is living the greatest lie since the history of civilisation began, and unless he wakes up to the situation he is doomed. It is the Mouse's job to remind humans that however hard they try they cannot change the physical make up of their bodies or the basic animal instincts that go with that make up. ESSAY 10. MAN IS ANIMAL. I enjoyed doing this because proving this concept is what started me off in the first place, some 25 years ago. After many years of keen observation of my fellow human beings, plus many years of putting two plus two together, a complete amateur has worked out the 'main equation of life' which is simply described and proved on page two of this essay. I dare anyone to prove this base concept wrong.!........So, big deal.!...even if you are right, what significance does it have? It has huge significance because the philosophies that the western world are following and the laws which they are making for themselves are based on the belief that modern man has left his animal body behind, and if this belief continues both we humans and the environment we control are headed for the dustbin. And you can't get a bigger deal than that. ESSAY 11. PARADISE ON EARTH. This starts off with a light hearted description and hope for the future as seen in the book "Phil The Fluter's Game of Life". Then we mention a few factors which may hinder our attempt to regain our own paradise, such as the new and highly fashionable promotion of 'freedom' combined with the lessening of the old laws of restraint and punishment. Don't forget that it was Mr. Restraint and Mr. Punishment, however unpopular they may have been, that were responsible for turning animal savages into civilised humans in the first place.! We then continue the overriding theme of my thinking, namely "individual responsibility" and say how important individuals are in improving the pitch (environment) on which the "game of life" depends. Our problems on the religious front are aired, especially relating to Islamic State, with the thought that all our problems would be solved and maybe our Paradise regained, if we all tried to behave as well as Mr. Abou Ben Adhem. ESSAY 12. THE WORDS OF GOD,THE EQUATION OF CIVILISATION, MANNERS. This is a culmination of all previous essays and writings wherein the mouse has the temerity to point out where the Western world has gone wrong, together with suggestions as to the way forward. Underlying his thinking is "natural law" rather than the current fashionable liberal philosophy based on overvalued human rights. Also, there is an attempt to stop inter-religious squabbling and get everyone and their dog to concentrate on the overriding necessity of getting our natural world back into better health. For now we are all aware just how much damage our own human race has caused it. ESSAY 13. SCRIBBLES 1990–2015 Contains scribbles or debriefing notes compiled over the last 30 years or so. They are not in any particular order and obviously many are saying the same thing in a different way. The underlying themes are. (A). To encourage people to maximise the 'meaning of life on earth' by joining the game of life and experience all the ups and downs along the way. (B). To encourage people to be more responsible to the environment they live in by chasing "invisible wealth" rather than an over abundance of material wealth. They will feel a lot better 'within' if this course is followed and all other life on earth will benefit. ESSAY 14. A BRIEF LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE One man's view of what is wrong with our world today, and what we can do to put things right. THE BOOK. "PHIL THE FLUTER'S GAME OF LIFE." This began to be written in 1988 and was eventually self-published in 2005. It is my own simple version of how we are made and "what makes us tick", or why we behave the way we do. We find that the actions of man, and all animals, are entirely predictable in that every thought and action is usually made for their own advantage. The only limiting factor as to how far humans exploit situations or profit themselves are the codes of conduct or laws of morality that have gradually evolved (or been made by humans themselves) that will hold in our basic instincts to exploit and so allow numbers of humans to live together in social communities in relative peace and harmony. Generally the stronger the codes of conduct and the more holding in of our basic animal instincts (to exploit), so the more civilised does a society become. The measurement of how civilised you are, is a simple measurement of how far you distance yourself from your basic animal instincts. The greater the distance is, the less likely are you to exploit unfairly, and the more civilised the human becomes. That is the only reason humans can claim moral ascendency over and above the animal kingdom. Obviously if our codes of conduct become weaker, so our basic animal instincts to exploit will become stronger. Humans will take a step nearer their animal origins and in doing so become "less civilised".
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