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Moliere

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They do, and mayhaps my recent reply to Srap in the Williamson thread goes some way to bridge a gap here. Yes, classically aesthetics is about the bea...
July 07, 2025 at 01:43
I'll give it a shot to make a case of some kind here. How is that different, exactly? Utility -- it's not something we ought pursue in a ethical sense...
July 07, 2025 at 01:40
I think this is a misunderstanding of philosophers that can be remedied by looking at Plato. Truth is important, but the triumvirate between the good,...
July 06, 2025 at 22:35
@"ucarr" Tagging the author so he can see your comments.
July 06, 2025 at 22:26
What about "aesthetic" as opposed to "merely aesthetic"? -- the desire for results, success, knew knowledge -- how is that not aesthetic? Isn't the at...
July 06, 2025 at 22:25
With respect to philosophy, at least, it'd be non-philosophical self-expression. But then that'd be decided by some set of understood conversational r...
July 06, 2025 at 22:20
Naturally, my taste is to say the opposite: Self-expression is a necessary element of philosophy. Art might, at times, cross over into something more ...
July 05, 2025 at 15:49
Yes. But not for this reason. Really you can substitute anyone in there -- any old expert will do as long as they have all the resources one could ask...
July 05, 2025 at 15:44
Yeah. Though I'm rather explicit about the importance of aesthetics in philosophy :) Excellent. Those are very clearly stated philosophical aesthetics...
July 05, 2025 at 03:04
Yes, that's a good one. Nietzsche as the philosopher of the future and Burke as the lover of the tried-and-true. That's an especially interesting cate...
July 05, 2025 at 02:53
True, they're not necessarily disconnected. A person who likes French literature because their heritage is from France comes to mind here. Though then...
July 05, 2025 at 02:51
Right! That's a great question. I agree that I can usually find something attractive in a philosopher if I give it enough time. The more general quest...
July 05, 2025 at 02:49
How do you do away with bad ideas, and how do you identify them as bad? Is it just that they don't provide a non-religious theodicy? I'm guessing not ...
July 05, 2025 at 02:45
Nice. That's the sort of reflection I'm thinking after. Also, it'd be interesting -- upon identifying an aesthetic reason for such and such a philosop...
July 05, 2025 at 02:39
Sure. Though I'd more want to ask after what's attractive in each rather than the position of essentialism. Rather than asking after the strict infere...
July 05, 2025 at 02:36
Definitely. If it were possible to establish some way of making appeals appealing then this might be a way towards a paradigm which isn't local -- not...
July 05, 2025 at 02:29
Oh, sorry -- I should add an answer to your question directly @"SophistiCat" -- astronomy would not serve the purpose I'm intending for the example. I...
July 05, 2025 at 02:11
I don't think they're on the same footing. I think that's because astrology's purpose isn't to describe, but it's in the language of description. It "...
July 05, 2025 at 02:04
Well... I think I disagree with that formulation a bit. I think aesthetics have an influence on the ideas that are produced, rather than being a bypro...
July 04, 2025 at 18:31
Fair question. It's not necessary necessary. And if we can find ways to get along that don't include killing one another then that's a good example. U...
July 04, 2025 at 18:23
Yes. All political philosophies which actually do something -- the point of politics -- get down in the mud.
July 04, 2025 at 18:06
Yes. Much like George Washington, especially with respect to Mao -- they both "relinquished" power. US revolutionaries would poor molten metal into pe...
July 04, 2025 at 17:59
Maybe. But in the "usual" table manners: https://www.marthastewart.com/thmb/4aJDMOrFkE33OzqFbEglAlGhEAU=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000)...
July 04, 2025 at 17:53
You would, but I wouldn't. ;) We have consensus on the first point, but no the implication. Just because I see the stone drop 20 times every time I dr...
July 04, 2025 at 17:50
My expectation is that all of our answers will be pretty idiosyncratic, at first -- but perhaps through that expression we can find paralleles and bri...
July 04, 2025 at 17:28
AH! That helps. lol.
July 04, 2025 at 17:22
As long as I emphasize your statement thus: "I don't just make order up" Sure. Taking that out though I think "I don't make order up" is false. We do!...
July 04, 2025 at 17:16
Yes. Though I'm talking past, then. It's the ideas that matter. What I'm asking is if there's a reason you're attracted to this or that idea/author th...
July 04, 2025 at 17:07
So... "Nature is ordered" and "There are Physics" ?
July 04, 2025 at 16:46
That'd challenge an argument I'm making in favor of asking what aesthetics we utilize to make choices in philosophy: That because there are a lot of p...
July 04, 2025 at 16:45
Definitely the same for me. Yeah. I tend to believe that philosophy is always a work on the self, no matter how externalized it may look. And the pros...
July 04, 2025 at 16:35
I don't want to oversimplify. In a way I think this is similar to saying "Because they're true" -- everyone can answer that, so it doesn't get at a ph...
July 04, 2025 at 16:29
Can we? Have you tried? What I've noticed is that I'm showing myself why I don't believe them, and they are dismissive of what I say. Notice how I sai...
July 04, 2025 at 15:56
Possibly, but not necessarily. A favorite example of mine is astrology. People who take astrology seriously are able to do all the things you just sai...
July 04, 2025 at 15:42
I'm of the opinion that they are all reasonable evolutions of Marx. Rather than trying to defend the original vision of Marx as something which was in...
July 04, 2025 at 15:07
Right! I think that's a good insight into what I'll dare to call "layperson philosophy" -- not as a denigration, but a categorical distinction between...
July 03, 2025 at 22:13
https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:640/format:webp/1*3jG2dgsvPApJM2SLKWIxeQ.jpeg Heh, yeah.
July 03, 2025 at 21:52
Well -- how are we supposed to fight about who is right now?
July 03, 2025 at 21:47
:up:
July 03, 2025 at 21:38
Right. That's what I mean by The ideas matter, of course -- not the expression so much. But why these ideas and not those ideas? Surely you see we gra...
July 03, 2025 at 21:33
We could, though that might still start looking like "law-speak" again. What I'm aiming to say is that the description works because there are some co...
July 03, 2025 at 17:29
:D Yes indeed. The universe is shaped like the consummation of a human male and a human female. I think electrical description is particularly prone t...
July 03, 2025 at 17:14
I think that's a better question. I'd say it's because we noticed something that fits with our notion of orderliness. In a way what I'd say is that th...
July 03, 2025 at 16:34
Yes! I'm attempting to probe your thoughts, not dismiss them.
July 03, 2025 at 00:10
Are there laws of nature? I am more inclined to say that there are regularities in nature that we pay attention to. "Laws" sounds like there's a unive...
July 02, 2025 at 23:47
In: Nonbinary  — view comment
True. I even describe politics with 2's, though it's a recent fad. EDIT: (thinking how the formatting isn't as easy to translate into binary -- so non...
July 02, 2025 at 22:11
Yup. Yup. There are proletarians in the USA, but they are not beneficiaries of imperialism -- thinking here of migrant farm workers and prison labor a...
July 02, 2025 at 21:22
Maybe that point needs new wording in the future -- in setting up the event at least we intended to allow both kinds of philosophical writing. Perhaps...
July 02, 2025 at 12:48
The TPF mods, naturally.
July 01, 2025 at 23:56
Naw. Every age has its challenges and the free spirits are still out there fighting the good fight.
July 01, 2025 at 22:00