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Tuesday, 16 August 2016

Arts & Humanities: Philosophy: “Question: Existential Crisis? *10 POINTS*?” plus 5 more

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Arts & Humanities: Philosophy: “Question: Existential Crisis? *10 POINTS*?” plus 5 more

Question: Existential Crisis? *10 POINTS*?

Posted: 16 Aug 2016 08:14 AM PDT

Here is my contention: I get all caught up in the meaninglessness of it all and I have a big ham sandwich while I am pondering it. The fact that I NEVER question the meaning of EATING (We eat it when it is only going to be forgotten like trash. Everything we eat will be forgotten and gone.)

So here is the rub. We don't consider the existential fate of food because FOOD DOESN'T MATTER. But to consider the idea that our existential crisis is really just egotism is hard. (I must matter for all eternity DON'T YOU REALIZE WHO I AM?)

So if you allow yourself to be another creature in the universe and not the great I AM then the crisis goes away. It may be hard as a fifteen year old to accept the idea of egolessness but frankly how does puffing ourselves up bring more joy or effectiveness to this simple meal that is a life?

Question: Philosophy: Do you think humans are intrinsically special from other species on earth?

Posted: 16 Aug 2016 06:46 AM PDT

Absolutely. No other species fights reality the way man does and while that seems "negative", it's not, because no other species has the opportunity to experience the thrill of discovery that can only come from a pre-existing perception of something being "missing".

An apt analogy would be the discovery of sight after a prolonged experience of blindness. Nothing even comes close to the thrill of finding something the absence of which is experienced and "felt" to such a profound degree.

Question: Is this true? Philosophical inquiry into the existence of the soul will remain a subject beyond the reach of these gross materialists?

Posted: 16 Aug 2016 01:13 AM PDT

Don't underestimate the part that good will plays. Some people don't want to know, because there would be consequences.

Modern science is moving progressively in the direction of common sense, at least in this respect

The Nature of Nature: Examining the Role of Naturalism in Science [Paperback]
Bruce L. Gordon Ph.D. (Editor) William A. Dembski (Editor)
4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

The Nature of Nature brings together some of the most influential scientists, scholars, and public intellectuals—including three Nobel laureates—across a wide spectrum of disciplines and schools of thought. Here they grapple with a perennial question that has been made all the more pressing by recent advances in the natural sciences:Is the fundamental explanatory principle of the universe, life, and self-conscious awareness to be found in inanimate matter or immaterial mind?

Everybody here (almost) says that this must be the question : Is the fundamental explanatory principle of the universe, life, and self-conscious awareness to be found in inanimate matter or immaterial mind?

Moral of this : Don't argue with someone who thinks their mind is on a par with dirt and rocks and waste :)

Question: Does Kwame Anthony Appiah use the words in bold and in quotations in his book entitled "thinking it through" the right way?

Posted: 15 Aug 2016 11:56 PM PDT

You learn a lot about your subject when you set out to introduce the
range of it to people who are approaching it for the first time. That
is a good part of the reason I set out to write an introduction to contemporary
philosophy. After a while, as you do the detailed work of
professional research, you risk losing sight of the forest for the trees.
Stepping back for a bit, to think again about the shape of the subject
and where your own work fits into it, allows you not just to rediscover
connections but also to make new ones. That is why undergraduate
teaching is so invigorating.
What I have tried to write is a reliable and systematic introduction
to the central questions of current philosophical interest in the
English-speaking world. (I have also pursued some less mainstream
questions because I think they should be more mainstream!) A philosophy
textbook can't be a record of current answers to the central
questions, because philosophy is as much about deepening our
understanding of a question as it is about finding an answer. So my
task has been to prepare the reader to enter into contemporary
debates by delineating the conceptual territory within which the
many answers currently in play are located. I hope I have succeeded
in making it possible for a newcomer to navigate that territory and
that I have also made the navigation seem engaging, for that will
mean that some of my readers will want to read more deeply in the
subject. An introduction can be the beginning of a lifelong romance.
I find I have now taught philosophy on three continents, and it is
astonishing how the same questions arise in such culturally disparate
circumstances. I am grateful to all of my students, in Ghana,
in England, and in the United States: Almost every one of them has
taught me a new argument or—what is much the same—shown me
an old one in a new light. This book is dedicated to them

Question: What do you think about conventional wisdom?

Posted: 15 Aug 2016 10:10 PM PDT

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