NY Times Strands
- maryte - May 21, 2024 - 8:13am
Israel
- Beaker - May 21, 2024 - 8:07am
NYTimes Connections
- maryte - May 21, 2024 - 8:06am
Wordle - daily game
- maryte - May 21, 2024 - 7:47am
Trump
- rgio - May 21, 2024 - 7:38am
Radio Paradise Comments
- GeneP59 - May 21, 2024 - 7:01am
Today in History
- DaveInSaoMiguel - May 21, 2024 - 2:55am
Photography Forum - Your Own Photos
- KurtfromLaQuinta - May 20, 2024 - 9:03pm
May 2024 Photo Theme - Peaceful
- KurtfromLaQuinta - May 20, 2024 - 9:02pm
• • • The Once-a-Day • • •
- Isabeau - May 20, 2024 - 2:16pm
Things You Thought Today
- ScottFromWyoming - May 20, 2024 - 2:12pm
What Did You See Today?
- Steely_D - May 20, 2024 - 1:24pm
Baseball, anyone?
- ScottFromWyoming - May 20, 2024 - 12:00pm
USA! USA! USA!
- R_P - May 20, 2024 - 10:05am
Mixtape Culture Club
- ColdMiser - May 20, 2024 - 7:50am
Rock mix sound quality below Main and Mellow?
- rp567 - May 20, 2024 - 7:00am
Shawn Phillips
- Isabeau - May 20, 2024 - 6:20am
The Corporation
- Red_Dragon - May 20, 2024 - 5:08am
Name My Band
- kcar - May 19, 2024 - 4:37pm
Positive Thoughts and Prayer Requests
- GeneP59 - May 19, 2024 - 4:08pm
What can you hear right now?
- GeneP59 - May 19, 2024 - 4:07pm
China
- Isabeau - May 19, 2024 - 2:22pm
What Makes You Laugh?
- Isabeau - May 19, 2024 - 2:18pm
TV shows you watch
- Steely_D - May 19, 2024 - 1:13am
Music library
- nightdrive - May 18, 2024 - 1:28pm
The Obituary Page
- DaveInSaoMiguel - May 18, 2024 - 4:18am
Paul McCartney
- miamizsun - May 18, 2024 - 4:06am
Virginia News
- Steely_D - May 18, 2024 - 2:51am
Gnomad here. Who farking deleted my thread?
- Red_Dragon - May 17, 2024 - 5:59pm
The Dragons' Roost
- triskele - May 17, 2024 - 4:04pm
Upcoming concerts or shows you can't wait to see
- ScottFromWyoming - May 17, 2024 - 1:43pm
DIY
- black321 - May 17, 2024 - 9:16am
Other Medical Stuff
- kurtster - May 16, 2024 - 10:00pm
Dialing 1-800-Manbird
- ScottN - May 16, 2024 - 7:00pm
Bug Reports & Feature Requests
- RPnate1 - May 16, 2024 - 3:33pm
Your Local News
- Proclivities - May 16, 2024 - 12:51pm
Alexa Show
- thisbody - May 16, 2024 - 12:15pm
Joe Biden
- Steely_D - May 16, 2024 - 1:02am
Climate Change
- R_P - May 15, 2024 - 9:38pm
Strange signs, marquees, billboards, etc.
- KurtfromLaQuinta - May 15, 2024 - 4:13pm
how do you feel right now?
- KurtfromLaQuinta - May 15, 2024 - 4:10pm
What the hell OV?
- oldviolin - May 15, 2024 - 12:38pm
Song of the Day
- oldviolin - May 15, 2024 - 11:50am
Science is bullsh*t
- oldviolin - May 15, 2024 - 11:44am
NASA & other news from space
- Beaker - May 15, 2024 - 9:29am
Artificial Intelligence
- thisbody - May 15, 2024 - 8:25am
Human Rights (Can Science Point The Way)
- miamizsun - May 15, 2024 - 5:50am
Play the Blues
- Steely_D - May 15, 2024 - 1:50am
Animal Resistance
- R_P - May 14, 2024 - 6:37pm
2024 Elections!
- R_P - May 14, 2024 - 6:00pm
Fascism In America
- Red_Dragon - May 14, 2024 - 4:27pm
punk? hip-hop? metal? noise? garage?
- thisbody - May 14, 2024 - 1:27pm
Social Media Are Changing Everything
- Red_Dragon - May 14, 2024 - 8:08am
Internet connection
- ai63 - May 14, 2024 - 7:53am
Congress
- Red_Dragon - May 13, 2024 - 8:22pm
Ukraine
- R_P - May 13, 2024 - 5:50pm
What The Hell Buddy?
- oldviolin - May 13, 2024 - 1:25pm
Surfing!
- KurtfromLaQuinta - May 13, 2024 - 1:21pm
Bad Poetry
- oldviolin - May 13, 2024 - 11:38am
See This Film
- Red_Dragon - May 13, 2024 - 8:35am
Podcast recommendations???
- ColdMiser - May 13, 2024 - 7:50am
News of the Weird
- Red_Dragon - May 13, 2024 - 5:05am
Those Lovable Policemen
- R_P - May 12, 2024 - 11:31am
Vinyl Only Spin List
- kurtster - May 12, 2024 - 9:16am
The All-Things Beatles Forum
- Steely_D - May 12, 2024 - 9:04am
Poetry Forum
- ScottN - May 12, 2024 - 6:32am
Beer
- ScottFromWyoming - May 10, 2024 - 8:58pm
It's the economy stupid.
- thisbody - May 10, 2024 - 3:21pm
Oh dear god, BEES!
- R_P - May 10, 2024 - 3:11pm
Tornado!
- miamizsun - May 10, 2024 - 2:49pm
The 1960s
- kcar - May 10, 2024 - 2:49pm
Marko Haavisto & Poutahaukat
- thisbody - May 10, 2024 - 7:57am
Living in America
- Proclivities - May 10, 2024 - 6:45am
Outstanding Covers
- Steely_D - May 10, 2024 - 12:56am
Democratic Party
- R_P - May 9, 2024 - 3:06pm
|
Index »
Entertainment »
Books »
Favorite Philosophers
|
Page: 1, 2, 3 Next |
Manbird
Location: La Villa Toscana Gender:
|
Posted:
Jun 15, 2010 - 1:11pm |
|
|
|
Umberdog
Location: In my body. Gender:
|
Posted:
Jun 15, 2010 - 1:06pm |
|
oldviolin wrote:This is truth, and has ever been so. However, a healthy sense of humor is, by definition, requisite for a healthy life, extremes notwithstanding. Witness a childs laughter as one of the most comforting sounds there is. "You cannot go on seeing through things forever. The whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it. . . . If you see through everything, then everything is transparent. But a wholly transparent world is an invisible world. To see through all things is the same as not to see." C.S.Lewis There comes a point when you see through to the truth... and if you aren't insane by then, you see things as they are.
|
|
Umberdog
Location: In my body. Gender:
|
Posted:
Apr 25, 2010 - 3:49pm |
|
oldviolin wrote:Sounds like you've got all the rules lined up. Forgot one I think, but it might spread your world view a little thin. That is, why are we here?
That's a good question, old violin. Some might say to grow. This seems to be a paradigm prevalent in Nature... out with the old and in with the new. Or maybe it's to suffer. But suffering in itself is worthless unless it somehow motivates growth. We're here to suffer and overcome suffering? Maybe the universe is a paradigm of all possibilities. Like a fractal radiating from the gross to the smallest details of itself. So what formula is the universe solving by way of reality's example? If it's a machine that replicates again and again to infinity, making adjustment of self-perfection, then maybe we are here as part of that solution. We're here to solve/be the details. Maybe we're as ghosts in the machine... not merely human beings, but all creatures. We're here so the universe can feel and suffer and overcome suffering, and dream. Maybe we're here to dream. To overcome the difficulties of being... to experience, create, and experience the creation... to make evident our dreams. Because that's what the spontaneous cascade of reality has brought us to... dreaming. That's the best I've come up with... so far.
|
|
oldviolin
Location: esse quam videri Gender:
|
Posted:
Apr 24, 2010 - 3:22pm |
|
cookinlover wrote:You're one quarter correct about that. Dang. I was hoping to get at least thirty seven cents or so.
|
|
cookinlover
Location: Auckland, New Zealand (former Boston native and Atlanta transplant) Gender:
|
Posted:
Apr 24, 2010 - 3:19pm |
|
oldviolin wrote:
After all, if one is one then one and one half must be at least half again as much fun...imagine all the nutrition choices...
You're one quarter correct about that.
|
|
oldviolin
Location: esse quam videri Gender:
|
Posted:
Apr 24, 2010 - 3:15pm |
|
Manbird wrote: I would like to see a half centipede half shark and half monkey creature evolve and maybe take over the world.
After all, if one is one then one and one half must be at least half again as much fun...imagine all the nutrition choices...
|
|
Proclivities
Location: Paris of the Piedmont Gender:
|
Posted:
Apr 24, 2010 - 2:53pm |
|
Manbird wrote: I would like to see a half centipede half shark and half monkey creature evolve and maybe take over the world.
He got laid off from his job a couple of weeks back - his company was "down-sizing". He's still optimistic about the global domination thing though.
|
|
sirdroseph
Location: Not here, I tell you wat Gender:
|
Posted:
Apr 24, 2010 - 2:50pm |
|
Manbird wrote: I would like to see a half centipede half shark and half monkey creature evolve and maybe take over the world.
I seen one of those in Arkansas
|
|
sirdroseph
Location: Not here, I tell you wat Gender:
|
Posted:
Apr 24, 2010 - 2:50pm |
|
OMG, when I was listing great philosophers earlier, I knew I was leaving out someone obvious and I just remembered; THE preeminent philosopher of all times:
|
|
Manbird
Location: La Villa Toscana Gender:
|
Posted:
Apr 24, 2010 - 2:48pm |
|
oldviolin wrote:
and crows... I would like to see a half centipede half shark and half monkey creature evolve and maybe take over the world.
|
|
sirdroseph
Location: Not here, I tell you wat Gender:
|
Posted:
Apr 24, 2010 - 2:40pm |
|
Proclivities wrote: There will probably always be ants and cockroaches.
and the Kardishians
|
|
oldviolin
Location: esse quam videri Gender:
|
Posted:
Apr 24, 2010 - 2:31pm |
|
Proclivities wrote: There will probably always be ants and cockroaches.
and crows...
|
|
Proclivities
Location: Paris of the Piedmont Gender:
|
Posted:
Apr 24, 2010 - 2:29pm |
|
fuh2 wrote: Ultimately like any other species we will probably become extinct. Over the earth's 4.5 billion year existence it has shed 99% of its species. Hopefully though, our species which seems headed for suicide, wont exterminate all the other living species also.
There will probably always be ants and cockroaches.
|
|
oldviolin
Location: esse quam videri Gender:
|
Posted:
Apr 24, 2010 - 2:28pm |
|
donna_birichina wrote: That's a heavy question, one that assumes there is an answer. What if there is no reason for our existence? And therefore we are obligated to live our lives in a way that justifies them?
Then, by extrapolation we come close to something resembling the world of today...
|
|
fuh2
Location: Mexican beach paradise Gender:
|
Posted:
Apr 24, 2010 - 2:24pm |
|
donna_birichina wrote: That's a heavy question, one that assumes there is an answer. What if there is no reason for our existence? And therefore we are obligated to live our lives in a way that justifies them?
Ultimately like any other species we will probably become extinct. Over the earth's 4.5 billion year existence it has shed 99% of its species. Hopefully though, our species which seems headed for suicide, wont exterminate all the other living species also.
|
|
donna_birichina
Location: in the middle Gender:
|
Posted:
Apr 24, 2010 - 1:56pm |
|
oldviolin wrote: Sounds like you've got all the rules lined up. Forgot one I think, but it might spread your world view a little thin. That is, why are we here?
That's a heavy question, one that assumes there is an answer. What if there is no reason for our existence? And therefore we are obligated to live our lives in a way that justifies them?
|
|
DownHomeGirl
Location: American Russia Gender:
|
Posted:
Apr 24, 2010 - 1:54pm |
|
If you really want to study philosophy, study mathematics.
|
|
fuh2
Location: Mexican beach paradise Gender:
|
Posted:
Apr 24, 2010 - 1:43pm |
|
Proclivities wrote:I understand your point, but if one wanted to learn the fundamentals of Philosophy, wouldn't one first study the fundamental philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle and those guys, instead of first studying Biology? Of course, that is a philosophical question. Edward O Wilson, who wrote "Sociobiology", talks about this a lot. He also wrote a book about it -"Consilience The Unity of Knowledge"- Wikipedia: He wrote it as an attempt to bridge the culture gap between the sciences and the humanities that was the subject of C. P. Snow's The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution, 1959. Wilson's assertion was that the sciences, humanities, and arts have a common goal: to give a purpose to understanding the details, to lend to all inquirers "a conviction, far deeper than a mere working proposition, that the world is orderly and can be explained by a small number of natural laws." If you have the time, he is interviewed about philosophy of free will, death, religion ethics etc here at length. with subtitles too.
This from Bookrags.com.
... More and more, through the 1980s, Wilson turned to philosophical questions. With respect to the theory of knowledge (epistemology), Wilson stresses the interconnected nature of our understanding. He wants to show that everything can be explained in just a few basic principles. The Victorian polymath William Whewell, in his The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, spoke of the highest kind of knowledge as being that which connects together the most disparate areas of science. Whewell spoke of such connection as a "consilience of inductions," and this phrase prompted Wilson to call one of his books Consilience (1998), referring to its plea that we bind together all aspects of human knowledge.
Along with epistemology, ethics has always been an interest of Wilson's. His hero in this field is Herbert Spencer, and although Wilson would not want to associate himself with the negative connotations of attempts to link evolution and morality-especially with so-called Social Darwinism-Wilson stands right in the tradition of those who argue that morality is and must be based in human nature as created and preserved by evolution. What is of great importance to Wilson is the need to be sensitive to the environment around us. He speaks of "biophilia," the human love of nature. He believes that we need nature not just to sustain us but also because, in a totally artificial world, we humans would wither and die. Our evolution has tied us to both physical and psychological needs of other organisms. This means that the Wilsonian categorical imperative focuses on biodiversity. In a world without many species, humans are condemned. Following his own prescriptions, for the past decade Wilson has been ardently committed to the preservation of the Brazilian rain forests. Like Spencer and all other traditional thinkers of this ilk, Wilson turns to notions of progress to link evolution and ethics. Most particularly, he denies that the evolutionary process is one of aimless meandering. Rather, Wilson interprets it as showing an upward rise, from lesser to greater, with humans at the top. Wilson's thinking on this point is part and parcel of his feelings about ultimate questions. An intensely religious man who lost his faith in Christianity in his teens, Wilson was able to replace it with a new religion: Darwinism. He sees religion as an essential part of human culture, binding the tribe together, but he argues that this religious cohesion can endure in the modern age only with the propagation of new "myths" (his word). This is the essential message of Wilson's On Human Nature (1978). This is the story of evolution with the philosophical foundation of materialism. For Wilson, science, ethics, and religion are as one. They make for the ultimate consilience.
|
|
superfido
Location: Sweden Gender:
|
Posted:
Apr 24, 2010 - 1:05pm |
|
I wouldn't say, first of all, that the philosophers themselves are actually favorites. It is their ideas that strike a chord and make one think deeply about existence. In any event, Wittgenstein is rather thought provoking in his line of reasoning that leads up to "The limits of my language are the limits of my world." Shortly, meaning that we are unable to even comprehend anything which lies beyond the structural linguistic constraints of our language. That our language limits what is even possible to imagine.
|
|
Proclivities
Location: Paris of the Piedmont Gender:
|
Posted:
Apr 24, 2010 - 12:56pm |
|
fuh2 wrote: Before learning to be a great painter or anything one must first learn the fundamentals. For philosophy that should be. Who are we? Where did we come from?
That is why my favorite is Brit zoologist Desmond Morris who wrote "The Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal". It lays bare who we humans are, and why...
I understand your point, but if one wanted to learn the fundamentals of Philosophy, wouldn't one first study the fundamental philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle and those guys, instead of first studying Biology? Of course, that is a philosophical question.
|
|
|