Here are some of my thoughts on some subjects in philosophy. If you have any questions, thoughts, or suggestions (ie what other subjects I might address) please email them to me.
Human Psychology
Philosophy is irrevocably intertwined with human psychology at its core. When I first started thinking about philosophy, I tried to divide the questions I considered in two different categories: of pure philosphy or of human philosophy. After several years I have realized that all these concepts only fit appropriately into the latter division. In other words, there is no such thing as pure philosophy. We cannot ask a question which doesn't come essentially from us, or whose answer exists without our conscious minds to comprehend. Each and every one of the following subjects I discuss on this page are entirely human inventions. I guess what I'm saying is that philosophy is not such a universal transcendental subject at all. When we ask a philosophical question, we're not really finding out something about everything, but rather trying to decide how we perceive ourselves.
Possession
Today's society raises all people from birth with the concept of possession -- that everything that physically exists (and some things that don't) is owned by someone. I was very surprised and somewhat pleased when I realized this is complete bullfeces. We act is if ownership is some kind of intrinsic property of objects, like its color or shape, or how bad it smells. But the truth of the matter is that possession is nothing more than a very silly idea. In the end no one owns anything at all.
Of course, all this isn't to say it's a terrible idea that should be done away with. In practical use, it is essential to today's culture -- humans (I think) could not treat each other civilly without all believing in this idea.
More interesting, I think, is the fact that we do not own such fundamental things (to each of us) as ourselves - our bodies, our minds, our lives, our souls (if they exist), even our "rights." None of these are really ours. They just are. Actually, the rights thing is a whole nother story; it is very iffy that they clearly exist, but this is not the place for that.
God
I think the best and most definitive answer anyone can completely truthfully give when asked about the existence of god is simply that we don't know if he (she, it) exists or not, and cannot ever know for sure. As a mathematician, I think it is somewhat silly to argue about this existence question, since in every case I have seen, god is defined in such a way that such a proof is logically impossible in either direction.
Morality
By themselves in the world, morals are an invention of persons in need of them, in a similar fashion to possession. However, as an extremely useful concept (yet somewhat more slippery than possession), they are more interesting to discuss as a logical invention. The key insight I offer into this concept is that any idea of what should be done in any situation is always a necessary reflection of some kind of single ultimate good which is to be maximized. What this "ultimate good" is, I think, is completely subjective.
The Meaning of Life
This question should, first of all, be more clearly stated. Are you asking "why am I alive?" or "what does my life mean to the world?" or "why does life exist at all?" Each of these different aspects deserves careful consideration in its own right, but they all share one idea in common: purpose. What purpose did some have in mind when I/anyone/everyone was created? What purpose does the world want me to serve? What purpose should I serve? The idea of a purpose presupposes a consscious desire towards some end. That is, none of these questions make sense outside the context of some singe conscious entity acting in a fashion to bring about these things. If you believe in god, this all works out great, and I think the best answer you could give to pretty much all such questions is, quite truthfully (to theists), only god knows. However, if you're interested in what may be if god doesn't exist (which is interesting to think about, even if you know in your heart he/she/it does exist), the question becomes much more difficult. First we need to know what is consciousness? This is a whole new deal. I will skip a lot of explanation and say that one point of view (which I think is very plausable) is that it is nothing but an illusion created by a narrow perspective within a highly complex and difficult to predict yet completely deterministic physical world. This perspective obliterates the need for such questions. But, come on, let's not be nihilists. Treating consciousness as a logical concept, and saying such things as "the consciousness of the world," (which we can discuss as an idea), we can say each of us was created by some conglomerates of physical consciousnesses, being the world, our parents, and in a way ourselves. So then the question becomes more directed. Ask your mom and dad (or just think about what you know about them) why they had you? Think about why the physical system that is the world introduced you as a cell of the human organism into existence? And, I think most importantly, ask yourself, why do I live? Why do I do the things I do? Inquire within yourself what you aim to acheive by living. There, I think, considering existance as a system without the idea of god (which is easier to consider with god, but it's more interesting this way ;), lies the most felicitous answer to your own self-analytic inquiry.
Some people like short answers to short quesions. I think they are being impractically demanding. However, when I am running down the street and a bum asks me what the meaning of life is, and I don't have time to stop and tell him or her (or it) my entire philosophy on the idea, I summarize eloquently:
"To live."
Ideals
I like to say that there are no ideals. However, such a generalization would be a self-contain contradiction. So, I note some specific examples to which I apply this doctrine: economics (capitalism vs. communism), religion (fanatic vs. careless), mental prowess (knowledge vs. intelligence), etc.