Life and God
Spirit
Reality
Knowledge and Free Will
This site contains some of the writing of Louis Lopez. It will also contain commentary on political and social issues.
The most important piece is the trilogy, The Meaning of the Universe. It will try to present a picture of the significance of sentient beings in the universe. Findings will be based on the best available evidence rather than on venerated tradition or on outcomes that make people feel comfortable. The approach will be empiricist; that is, significant trust will be placed on what the senses tell us either directly or indirectly. It follows that great weight will be put on the information provided by science. The system will be what could be called an analytic metaphysical one rather than a speculative one. It will strive for a synoptic vision in undertaking a comprehensive survey of information that has been put to a vigorous test for veracity. The trilogy will try to assess the final impact of all this information on human life.
Book 1, The Predominance of the Physical World, will provide evidence that there is a physical universe existing in space and that correspondingly our world is a physical one that supports everything on it. It will be examined whether there is a spiritual or mental substance apart from physical substance. Claims will be questioned of nonmaterialists who believe that all that exists is spirit and that there is nothing material. Chapters 3 and 4 will set out the most basic observations a person can make about nearby objects and their own existence and then examine the composition of objects. Several chapters that follow will provide a brief look at different scientific areas to see what light they cast on the substance of the world. A possible solution to the mind-body problem will be offered. The question of whether God could be material will be examined. An attempt will be made to come up with an acceptable definition of matter, along with an examination of the nature of space, time, and mathematics. In philosophical terms, this book will try to show that the philosophical doctrine of physicalism is the correct one, as opposed to idealism and dualism.
Book 2, Knowledge and Free Choice, will approach some traditional philosophical problems that need close attention. It will first delve into epistemology, the study of knowledge. Certain issues need to be considered, including some that bear relation to the special knowledge claimed by religious people. It is common for people in everyday life to assume that others are in full control of their actions and that they should be held responsible whenever they cause harm to others. In opposition, the doctrine of determinism holds that actions cannot be controlled. Accordingly, an attempt will be made to gain an understanding of free will.
Book 3, The Search for God, will be an exploration of the mystery of God. It will begin with some traditional topics in the philosophy of religion, such as evaluation of the proofs of the existence of God. It will assess what kind of world God wanted to create. Divine punishment will be considered in connection with free will. A basic ethical rule that applies widely will be proposed. The book will finally attempt to come up with the most accurate picture of God based on the evidence available and to assess how humans can respond to such a picture.
The Meaning of the Universe: a Philosophical Trilogy
The Greatest Country in the World (A Novel of the Vietnam War)
American Gothic: a Real Horror Story (A Novel of the Reagan Era)
The Good Life (A Novel Excerpt)
In the PBS series The American Revolution, there is frequent reference to the loyalists, the colonists that were not sympathetic to the rebellion against England. The series is a presentation by Ken Burns et al. Some of the loyalists even took up arms and marched with the British troops. Many loyalists and their families were violently attacked by the rebels. This physical abuse started early with no respect for the opposing point of view or any thought given to freedom of speech.
Once the war got underway, it can be understood that the rebels would judge it necessary to imprison any loyalists that might indicate they would actively aid the English troops. In U.S. high school history, there is not much mention of the loyalists or the reasons for opposition to an armed rebellion.
Some rebels were intent on abolishing the monarchy. This was a desirable goal. It still is. Why should a single person have such strong privileges and so much power in any country in the world? Why should the family of the monarchs have the sole right to succeed them after their death? Some loyalists opposed the rebellion because they wished to preserve the monarchy. However, not all loyalists had the defense of the king primarily in mind.
There were other sound reasons for not favoring the insurrection. Foremost was the laudable desire to avoid violence. It is always desirable to try to avoid violence especially if the goals of the aggressors (the rebels in this case) can eventually be reached by peaceful means.
One of the demands of the rebels was that they should have representation in deciding their governmental obligations. There were those in the English government who were willing to grant this. General William Howe, commander of the British forces in North America, told rebel representatives in a meeting that it was possible to give the colonies representation. They rejected this proposal.
The fact is that from the beginning the rebels did not like having to pay taxes. Actually, the colonies had only been asked to pay very little tax until 1773 when a tea tax was levied. England needed to do this because it was in great debt from fighting the French and Indian War against the French. The colonists had only had to pay a small percentage of what mainland English people had to pay. The English Parliament decided that it was time for the colonists to start paying a more fair share--a reasonable expectation. After all, the defeat of the French had inured to the benefit of the colonies. The colonists had also been spoiled in other ways in not having experienced much control by the British mainland.
Rebels overreacted against the tea tax in the Boston Tea Party. They dumped chests of tea from newly arrived English ships into the Boston water. You might have thought that they had dumped 10 chests. No, it was 342 chests. Today's value would be $3 million! No wonder the British considered the rebels a bunch of ruffians.
England's leaders were arrogant and should have launched a campaign to explain to the colonists that it was necessary to raise taxes to pay down the national debt. The stubborn resistance to taxes by the colonists became an American tradition that has lasted to this day and has resulted in the enormous debt that the country suffers today.
Another strong resentment of the rebels was the prohibition recently promulgated by Parliament against settlement of the land west of the Appalachian mountain range. The rebels and new European immigrants wanted to continue to be free to move into the western land, often without paying the Native Americans there anything for it. They disregarded the restriction and kept moving onto the western land anyway.
The rebels should have realized that these two requirements of taxes and noninvasion of the West were completely fair and followed them rather than start a long and bloody civil war
. As for governmental representation, they could have continued to pressure the home country to give it to them. It would have taken time but would have avoided a bloody rebellion as well as the War of 1812. Canada was in a similar situation as the colonies and eventually gained rights and independence without any bloodshed.
November 21, 2025
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Every so often you hear talk about the meaning or purpose of life. Commonly, it comes from the promoters of religion who will tell you that your purpose is to follow God in his commandments. God created you and this is his plan for you in this life and in your afterlife. Another opinion on our purposes is that it is to raise a family.
Many people are no longer accepting these opinions. It may be a good idea to follow God's directions. It may help one live a better life. For instance, obeying the prohibition against stealing could make one better accepted by others and keep one out of jail, but does just following commandments provide a purpose in life? Then there are the bad commandments like the one calling for the stoning of homosexuals and of women who commit adultery.
Many people have children but do not see that as their purpose in life. Rearing children may be one purpose, but some people openly choose not to have children.
It has been estimated that much lack of happiness and anxiety today is brought to people foundering because they cannot find a meaning in life. The prescription often given for this has been that we should return to the old customs and values. This reactionary solution would give everyone a sense of purpose just as supposedly everyone had before the year 1800.
This is clearly not acceptable today. People do not want to return to a time when there was a tremendous division among classes in society. There was an underclass that barely survived economically and were shunned socially. Women did not have rights and slavery was accepted in many quarters.
The unavoidable answer is that there is no general meaning in life. This follows from what has been divulged in the study of cosmology: we live in an accidental universe. It started from tiny, invisible, physical particles and developed haphazardly from there. Later, regular patterns emerged but they are not considered scientific laws. From the nature and arrangement of all the stars and planets, there is not much of an overall structure. It is hard to conclude that it was directed by any conscious entity. It happened randomly. There is no preordained meaning of the universe.
That leaves you free to enjoy your life. That can be the meaning of life: eat, drink, and be merry (but not too much alcohol). The question then arises: do you think only of yourself even to the point of taking advantage of others? Or do you aid others, both today and in the future, in enjoying their lives.
October 13, 2025
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By now it is well known that most economists fear that the high tariffs that
Donald Trump is putting on more than 70 countries (according to guardian.com) can hurt the economy. This could happen by raising prices, which would spark inflation, or even worse, by provoking a trade war with other countries if they decide to impose their own tariffs on the U.S.
A trade war is exactly what happened in the early 1930's after the U.S. raised tariffs with the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. Even Republican President Ronald Reagan pointed this out, "The Smoot-Hawley tariff ignited an international trade war and helped sink our country into the Great Depression."(reaganlibrary.gov)
The economic consequences of the Trump tariffs could be bad enough, but political blowback in the future could be even worse. Right now, the U.S. is being seriously challenged by China and Russia. (See New Cold Wars by David Sanger and The New Cold War by Gilbert Ashcar.) We need as many international friends as we can get especially if we get into hot wars. These tariffs are not making friends, they are making resentful enemies even of long-time friends like Canada and France.
August 10, 2025
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Events that occurred during the pandemic made it very clear that we humans have to work together. It is necessary for our survival as well as for our continuing psychological well-being.
The pandemic showed us that we needed to depend on each other even though we had to isolate to avoid catching the Covid-19 virus. We had to depend on health organizations to study the virus in order to understand its nature, to follow the extent of its threat, to track the path that it was following, and to act as a clearing house for the information being provided from different sources. We seriously needed the biological scientists who developed the vaccines to help us avoid the germ. If we became ill, we needed medical attention from dedicated doctors, nurses, and others who all worked to exhaustion. There were those who disbelieved the need for vaccines, masks, and other precautions. As a result, they suffered from a higher rate of infection. There were many other dependencies that grew out of the pandemic.
This should serve to make us realize how interdependent we are throughout our lives--even before we are born. Take time to reflect on the many ways you depend on others. We must continue to grow together.
August 1, 2023
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