General Help: System Building

So a few things here:

Yes

1) It's almost 5 AM. I can't sleep. My response will be altered by these facts.

I am just happy you and another person replied.

2) It is a common phenomenon for people just entering the world of philosophy to bite off well more than they can chew. Trying to create a theory of everything certainly qualifies. Not even the brightest and most well-read minds in philosophy undertake such an endeavor with any seriousness for want of ability to even begin. One of the greatest things that comes out of having studied philosophy (I have my BA) is intellectual humility, which is to say you learn that your abilities are limited.

I understand this; but still, I would like to give my answer: my account of things.

3) That doesn't mean you shouldn't try answering the big questions. Maybe you won't find the answer you were looking for, but you may find something useful along the way. How would we know everything with perfect justification? Well, good question. How do we know anything? This field of questioning is called epistemology. You may be interested particularly in the analysis of knowledge on the SEP.

May be, maybe not: but finding something useful is not going to be satisfying to me—I am reading the link, would you mind if a pm'd any questions once I have a proficient understanding of it?

4) Systematizing knowledge has historically not worked very well. Descartes attempted this in his famous "cogito ergo sum," "I think; therefore, I am." From there he tried to prove the existence of the outside world, and without going in detail, his attempts were rather poor. He had not gone far before he had to play the God card to escape the cage he had made for himself by trying to justify his knowledge systematically.

How many attempts of system-building are you aware of or acquainted with, and why do these developments generally fail?

5) A.) Along those lines, it may be a good idea for you to seek counseling rather than philosophical advice. If you're struggling with extreme skepticism, you are not going to find a magic bullet in philosophy.

I think I need to arrive at a place where I am able to properly discern the underpin or underpinnings of thoughts in order to think of a way to formulate a beginning where things are certainty justified and intelligibly follow. Counseling in my particular situation is neither here nor there.

B.) Philosophers will mostly just convince you that things are weirder than you realized before you started asking questions.

It is turning more into a challenging search.

C.)Good luck in your endeavors.

Thank you for replying.

/r/askphilosophy Thread Parent