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A fellow philosopher called me a Romantic

hks November 22, 2018 at 18:34 4050 views 8 comments
During a recent discussion of philosophy, a fellow philosopher called me a Romantic Philosopher.

This is perhaps because I believe Aquinas' classic Proofs Of God with all my heart.

Are you also a Romantic Philosopher?

Why or why not?

I am trying to find others.

Comments (8)

Devans99 November 22, 2018 at 18:36 #230283
I believe in cause and effect so I think there is something in the prime mover.

I like probability and I calculate the likelihood of a creator of the universe is 97%. Does this make me a romantic too?
RegularGuy November 22, 2018 at 18:41 #230286
Quoting hks
During a recent discussion of philosophy, a fellow philosopher called me a Romantic Philosopher.

This is perhaps because I believe Aquinas' classic Proofs Of God with all my heart.

Are you also a Romantic Philosopher?

Why or why not?

I am trying to find others.


I don't know what kind of philosopher I am. I believe in God. I believe in Jesus' precepts, but I don't think you can "prove" God's existence through linguistic expression. I believe God is only accessed through faith and love. I also don't believe in free will as being defined as having the capacity to do other than what you did do. I believe it's a matter of God's grace whether or not you believe with love in your heart (as unfair as that might seem, I don't know how to reconcile free will with everything else I believe about the natural world).

So what kind of philosopher am I?
hks November 22, 2018 at 18:43 #230288
Reply to Noah Te Stroete You are a Christian philosopher. You lean towards God's Grace therefore you lean towards Protestant Philosophy. I admire Protestants because of their immense faith in God. That's what I think you are -- offhand.
RegularGuy November 22, 2018 at 18:46 #230289
Reply to hks

I guess you could call me a Protestant, but I do admire the Catholics for their devotion to tradition.
hks November 22, 2018 at 18:47 #230290
Reply to Noah Te Stroete There is a rich heritage of Catholic Philosophy which culminates in San Tomas Aquinas. His "proofs of God" are the cornerstone of Catholic Philosophy. I think you would like reading about it. You can easily google it. It is very well known.
hks November 22, 2018 at 18:50 #230291
Reply to Devans99 You are a mathematical philosopher. It is very common for philosophers also to be mathematicians. Bertrand Russell was a classic example. My high school senior year math teacher was also a mathematical philosopher. So they are everywhere in philosophy.
RegularGuy November 22, 2018 at 18:50 #230292
Reply to hks

We studied Augustine when I went to Loyola University Chicago for a semester. Never got to Saint Aquinas. I probably will get around to him, but I wanted to start reading the Wittgenstein thread first.
hks November 22, 2018 at 18:54 #230293
Reply to Noah Te Stroete The saying goes in philosophy that Augustine was a Catholic version of Plato. And that Aquinas was a Catholic version of Aristotle.

This is because Plato was very romantic about God. This is rather remarkable and was radical in ancient Athens which is and always was a very religious city. Back then Athens had many gods.

Aristotle was more logical, however even he noticed that the movement of the planets, comets, Sun and Moon must all have been caused by a Prime Mover.