Philosophy

[Shade]

I'm just wondering if any one on here values philosophy and so on. If you've read any of my previous posts, you'll probably just see your standard teen gamer. I prefer to think of myself as a brilliant philosopher, perhaps greater than Socrates (not really:lol. Although I'm 15 I am NOT a child. The number of years you have been on this earth does not determine your age or maturity. So post anything and everything, as long as it's nothing as dangerous as politics



*Note* Has anyone read Socrates's "Last Apology"? I agree wholeheartedly on his views on death.

 

[White-Wolf]

Wait until you go to collage, you will love it, you will be oozing with ideas.

I am sad to say I have not read the book that you have enjoyed, but i think i can say my view of the world falls in-between Socrates and Nietzsche.

Their is something grander then this world of the flesh, yet I think to give up this world fully, for the more perfect tomorrow that exists in nirvana, will only lead us into despair of this world. See Ted haggard. He lived for a world that is not the world in witch he lives in, and it distroyed him. We still need to eat the fruits of Dionysus to be healthy.

yung though i think it pritty spot on.

 

[Napalmbrain]

I'm certainly interested in philosophy, especially since I study physics (which attempts to answer those "big questions"). I can't say I've read about the subject as much as I would have liked though. My views have been influenced by Locke, Hume and Mill, although not entirely.

My high school offered philosophy as an A-level course the year after I left- I'd have taken it if I could have. On the plus side, university's great if you like to debate about this sort of stuff.

 

[ABC]

Philosophy is definitely most interesting. I have taken a liking to Quantum Physics also. I am all about great thinkers, new ideas, and the world around me.

 

[Inspire]

Philosophy is cool. I like Socrates, but I can say that I'm probably most influenced by Aristotle.

 

[Shade]

Here is a rather large excerpt from the Last Apology that I find most true

"Let us reflect in another way, and we shall see that there is great reason to hope that death is a good, for one of two things: - either death is a state of nothingness and utter unconsciousness, or, as men say, there is a change and migration of the soul from this world to another. Now if you suppose that there is no consciousness, but a sleep like the sleep of him who is undisturbed even by the sight of dreams, death will be an unspeakable gain. For if a person were to select the night in which his sleep was undisturbed even by dreams, and were to compare with this the other days and nights of his life, and then were to tell us how many days and nights he had passed in the course of his life better and more pleasantly than this one, I think that any man, I will not say a private man, but even the great king, will not find many such days or nights, when compared with the others. Now if death is like this, I say that to die is gain; for eternity is then only a single night. But if death is the journey to another place, and there, as men say, all the dead are, what good, O my friends and judges, can be greater than this? If indeed when the pilgrim arrives in the world below, he is delivered from the professors of justice in this world, and finds the true judges who are said to give judgment there, Minos and Rhadamanthus and Aeacus and Triptolemus, and other sons of God who were righteous in their own life, that pilgrimage will be worth making. What would not a man give if he might converse with Orpheus and Musaeus and Hesiod and Homer? Nay, if this be true, let me die again and again."

 

[wiiCrazy]

i like philosophy also, however i like to simply link what i'm saying to modern day illustrations. i think however that one of my most profound discoveries about myself, particularly in the realm of gaming, was when kirt kobain said in one of his glorious ballads, and i quote "Here we are now....entertain us."

 

[linkzeldagame]

I also like philosophy and I must say I don't believe in many religious bashings about how we are treated when we die. I am also not sure if there is any proof that we actually leave our bodies when we die, despite the overwhelming first hand experience some people have described during NDEs. Death may be the 'night' of the 'day' in a philosophical sense but it also can be the finalty of life. From where we are created, we go back to 'dirt'. So the question begs - How was life created with 'intent', or soul, and how can that 'intent' just disappear when we die? How can our bodies know when the right time to 'die' is when it doesn't show up in our bodies chemically or physically? Sure our bodies breakdown into 'dirt' but how can our bodies know when the time is ready for it to break down? If we were without 'intent' then we would be technically dead... right?

There is one philosophical perspective that I believe is correct and its apparent all around us: Everything is geometrical and follows certain geometrical rules. (As mentioned by Plato) If we look at our own physiology, we can see that we follow certain geometrical rules. The same applies for just about every single bio organism encountered.

It then begs the question - if these geometrical shapes are so prevalent in every life form on Earth, and in the universe then wouldn't studying them and uncovering the real intent of their existence would enable us to understand ourselves and others more?

 

[$?wii?$]

so in a way philosophy is against religion and uses science to prove things?? correct??

 

[Napalmbrain]

I also like philosophy and I must say I don't believe in many religious bashings about how we are treated when we die. I am also not sure if there is any proof that we actually leave our bodies when we die, despite the overwhelming first hand experience some people have described during NDEs. Death may be the 'night' of the 'day' in a philosophical sense but it also can be the finalty of life. From where we are created, we go back to 'dirt'. So the question begs - How was life created with 'intent', or soul, and how can that 'intent' just disappear when we die? How can our bodies know when the right time to 'die' is when it doesn't show up in our bodies chemically or physically? Sure our bodies breakdown into 'dirt' but how can our bodies know when the time is ready for it to break down? If we were without 'intent' then we would be technically dead... right?

I don't know what to think about the idea of the "soul". Do we have one, and if so what is it? I've always believed we have a free will, which I guess suggests that we may have some kind of soul, or at least a similar concept. I'm non-religious, so I don't really believe in afterlife, which I guess means that if the soul exists, then I think it's as finite as the body. By the way, I'm not sure that accounts of NDEs count as overwhelming evidence, or even good evidence. I'm not saying those people who claim they've had an NDE are intentionally lying, but these experiences are currently impossible to test and they're somewhat unfalsifiable.

There is one philosophical perspective that I believe is correct and its apparent all around us: Everything is geometrical and follows certain geometrical rules. (As mentioned by Plato) If we look at our own physiology, we can see that we follow certain geometrical rules. The same applies for just about every single bio organism encountered.

It then begs the question - if these geometrical shapes are so prevalent in every life form on Earth, and in the universe then wouldn't studying them and uncovering the real intent of their existence would enable us to understand ourselves and others more?

I think Plato got it about right there. And it's not just in biology either- In physics there are patterns and symmetries everywhere, from tiny atoms (e.g. ionic lattices) to huge galaxies (most large galaxies are either spiral or elliptical shaped). While it's true the universe isn't entirely symmetrical, it seems to be very close to it.

so in a way philosophy is against religion and uses science to prove things?? correct??

Not really, it uses both science and religion. It depends on the beliefs of the person actually talking about it.

 

[Jenova]

I'm not sure if this is philosophy, but I always get shivers when I read this:

"It has become increasinly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity."

-Albert Einstein

Another thing:

"I'm not exactly sure how big the universe actually is, nobody does. But I do know it's BIG. So big, I can't imagine it just being made by scientific processes, some divine figure creating it seems most believable."

-not sure who wrote this...

 

[White-Wolf]

so in a way philosophy is against religion and uses science to prove things?? correct??

Not science, but Logic and Reason if you want to call science, i guess it kind of is. I guess you could call philosophy a social science ....

I have come to my beliefs through thinking and experiencing, rather then being told or persuaded.

Philosophy is a religion in a way, but its free form that’s powered by thoughts and ideas. Rather then wants and desires.

Buddhism is probably the closest religion that’s really a philosophy, while I think Christianity and Muslim faiths are the furthest away. They are after all only one half brother apart from echother.

 

[linkzeldagame]

Hmmm... I attend a christian based youth group on fridays and as much as I refuse to be labelled christian or such, I go there as it fills up some of the nagging questions that can't be fulfilled by science. No don't get me wrong, I'm not a christians for that would mean I have to believe in Jesus and God and the Holy spirit as well as the biblical 'fact' that Jesus came down and died for our sins.

I also have come to my beliefs through thinking and experience rather than written facts that are claimed as the 'right' answer. If I take a 'fact' from a book I try to back it up with real events. I don't believe in quantum physics wholly as it requires me to use specific instruments that can allow me to gain access to the quantum universe. IMO what happens at the quantum universe should be reflected at the macroverse. Spirals are prevalent in quantum recorded events and that is reflected in the use of spirals and vortexes all around us, so I can believe in that part of quantum physics.

Established science is a religion, one that does not include God and backs up its theories with hard evidence. If there is no hard evidence to back it up either it is discarded or shelved away as a hypothesis.

Religion is a faith based cult organisation that does not rely on evidence to back up its claims as it knows people will believe in anything if they're taught to believe in it. The God concept can be a religion - there's no evidence it exists yet people feel satisfied that an immortal and invisible entity is all around us. The way he is viewed is dependent on the belief the person has developed since he or she was a baby.

Buddhism is just about the closest a religion can attain a philosophical viewpoint on the 'meaning of life'. Any philosophy that teaches karma and to forgive others genuinely leans towards a buddhist perspective on life.

Christianity is similar to buddhism in that you 'turn the other cheek' and respect people's opinions and values, while at the same time helping them become christians when they are interested. But it doesn't believe in the whole 'nirvana - samsara' cycle that the buddhist religion teaches. Everyone only has one shot in life and whether they believe in Jesus determines their passage to heaven.

The muslim religion is strangely similar to Christianity, but it doesn't encompass the buddhist approach to life. Does anyone here know anything about the muslim religion?

 

[Close]

I forget what Philosophy is (sorry) but here is some great philosophers and great orators (I think) Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle :thumbsup:

 

[DBloke]

one bit from me
"Enjoy life there are no coutinues in the real world"