Finding a New Worldview
It should be self evident that conscious, sentient beings like ourselves can derive meaning and fulfillment most effectively by the adoption or construction of a valid worldview. Having concluded that Christianity is lacking in validity simply because it is not, as far as I have been able to tell, based upon a foundation of what is real, I can now attempt to find a worldview that is. Based on reality, I mean.
A bit more on the "real." A worldview does not have to be based on reality. Clearly, many are not. But it is important to me that the way I see the world is as closely wed to reality as I can make it.
I am aware that there is nothing new under the sun, in the sense that humans have been at it for thousands of years and have pretty much thought of everything in terms of viable philosophies already. So let me comment on some philosophies that resonate with me.
Epicureanism
Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based upon the teachings of Epicurus (c. 341–c. 270 BC), founded around 307 BC. Epicurus was an atomic materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to a general attack on superstition and divine intervention. Following Aristippus—about whom very little is known—Epicurus believed that the greatest good was to seek modest pleasures in order to attain a state of tranquility and freedom from fear (ataraxia) as well as absence of bodily pain (aponia) through knowledge of the workings of the world and the limits of our desires. The combination of these two states is supposed to constitute happiness in its highest form. Although Epicureanism is a form of hedonism, insofar as it declares pleasure as the sole intrinsic good, its conception of absence of pain as the greatest pleasure and its advocacy of a simple life make it different from "hedonism" as it is commonly understood.-- Wikipedia
In the Epicurean view, the highest pleasure (tranquility and freedom from fear) was obtained by knowledge, friendship, and living a virtuous and temperate life. He lauded the enjoyment of simple pleasures, by which he meant abstaining from bodily desires, such as sex and appetites, verging on asceticism. He argued that when eating, one should not eat too richly, for it could lead to dissatisfaction later, such as the grim realization that one could not afford such delicacies in the future. Likewise, sex could lead to increased lust and dissatisfaction with the sexual partner. Epicurus did not articulate a broad system of social ethics that has survived.
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