Moliere

I suppose I'd take this up a level in abstraction, first, and ask -- what does realism have to do with political ideals? It's not that we shouldn't te...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9jbdgZidu8 Merry Christmas to y'all! Above is my favorite Christmas song. It's not exactly a happy song, but I always...

Fixed. I added them.

I didn't realize there was a thread for this. I'm just reposting what I posted in the December poll as a resource. Peter Singer -- The Solution to Wor...

My grandma died on Tuesday. She had suffered from Alzheimer's many year previos -- for some 15 years. In an odd way it is a relief. In a straightforwa...

Oh my. I agree with the beginning, but I must admit a severe disagreement with your conclusion. Yes, rights are only granted by society, but -- this o...

I hope not, given that he's a very consistent progressive -- but, I will note, would not get along in radical circles even in the U.S., which are rath...

In light of Christmas, I share my still-favorite x-mas song, as unhappy as it might be. Ahhh what can I say -- I try to be happy, but if you ask me, t...

I am sorry to hear it, and I hope the best for his loves and family in a trying time. He will be missed.

There's a part of me that agrees, and a part of me that wonders. The part of me that wonders is asking: How do you feel about the works of Camus, or S...

Heh. I think your poll might be a bit too reflective of your answers, Bitter ;). As it is I can't answer the second question. But it's probably better...

@"darthbarracuda" -- It might be helpful to realize that there are more ways of conceiving of pleasure than along a spectrum or number line or somethi...

Akbar the Great comes much later in the history of Islam, though. ISIL, to my understanding, is referring back to the 600-700's. Hence, an anachronism...

Care to explain more? I don't see how this is the case, though I could certainly be wrong. I'd say here is where we disagree the most, then. Governing...

Feudal France also rejected democracy. The parallel is in passing, though -- the reasoning why they reject democracy makes a difference, and is not me...

Militant Islam doesn't reject democracy as the problem, though -- Militant Islam as practiced by IS is based in an older world idea which predates the...

But using said criteria, I don't think you could classify militant Islam in the same category.

I'd recommend reading the article I posted a bit ago. I don't think the two are even roughly congruent. They seem to be quite at odds with one another...

That's actually a pretty common phenomena -- there's a sort of U-shaped curve, if happiness could be plotted, when you plot happiness on the y-axis an...

I suppose, in spite of my curmudgeonly attitude and somewhat generic dissatisfaction, I remain an optimist of sorts. I think the world has plenty to o...

Heh. Perhaps I am contradicting what I was saying before, but I wouldn't say that metaphors dispense with universals per se -- especially since what s...

I don't know if we can because I don't know what a universal concept is. I would agree that scientific theories aim at what is general rather than par...

Would science have to be wrong about electrons? It would seem to me that if electrons count as a universal, and universals do not exist, then electron...

I came across this article today: http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2015/12/10/9886152/donald-trump-fascism

But then, on proof -- which is, I think, where you're really aiming at, I just wanted to note a danger in the generalization -- I think it might depen...

I don't think there is a single existential metaphysics. There are some broad themes which group existentialists together, but I wouldn't say they agr...

We used to run Socrates Cafe-style meetings w our philosophy club in university. Very cool book too. We would also do reading groups and public debate...

Yeah, I really don't mean to spark an anti-academic/academic type of dichotomy. I have good friends who are in the academy, and their work certainly s...

Now that would be a dream come true for me. Just to note. In some way my friendship groups -- who I remain in contact with -- from university were lik...

That's what interests me most. What, precisely, is that bar? Higher or no, what are the standards in the first place?

They treat people in our neighborhood differently than they treat people in other neighborhoods. There are worse places than my house, but the popo ar...

There are more possibilities than two, however. Most gun owners are not "militarized" -- and even those who are are no more militarized than our prese...

Totally. But what do you think about the idea in a more general sense?

That's a bit too far of an exaggeration, Landru. I'd just highlight here the point I made awhile back that you can't somehow escape violence in our so...

Hrmm.. how does one re-up? I checked my profile real quick to make a dig at myself, and I saw that aside "Subscription" the word "Cancelled" appeared....

Why choose that perspective though?

I'd say we are most certainly not machines, nor is our mind a super-advanced computer. This isn't a difference of degree, I think, but of kind. So the...

Just got home. Happy turkey day. My sister made her pie crust with pig-lard she rendered herself. This resulted in the richest pecan pie I've ever tas...

Truth be told -- in most combat situations training doesn't do much in terms of missing, it just makes you less worse as opposed to actually good. Bei...

http://www.deepsouthdish.com/2013/11/southern-candied-yams-sweet-potatoes.html Here's a close approximate recipe to the yams we make every year. Close...

Partially just by the scenario -- if I compare a world where the basic constituent of said world is a force dedicated to a pessimistic existence then,...

What work of hers in particular did you find to be on the level of bullshit artistry?

It seems to me that the former is more pessimistic, but that the latter is preferable. Of course, I think the latter is true and the former false.

This year is food at the folks. In spite of my offers if I eat at the folks my offers of help are always turned down. So it's bound to be utterly deli...

Jonah Goldberg's intent is not academic -- he even says as much in the beginning of the book -- but political. Rather than elucidating fascism he is a...

Mostly the people. I figured that this is why I come to a philosophy forum, and so it's sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The other features are als...

I don't think your list is conclusive. I'm not sure what a conclusive list would look like, and by what I'm trying to argue at least, I would say that...

I also obtained permission from Sally Markowitz to make a .pdf of her paper which argues in favor of abortion with respect to feminist values -- somet...

I went hunting for some ethics papers last month because of the dearth of ethics papers. I didn't post them in time to be considered last month, nor t...

But they are correct on that point, at least. The hope, from their perspective, is an abolishment of the state in favor of corporate ownership of the ...