TheMadFool

Well, true to what I said, you gave some reasons for why art or philosophy is pleasurable. The same applies to all higher pleasures in that they posse...

If it can't be expressed (in words), it can't be understood.

You didn't answer my question. Why is "all acts are hedonistic acts" a vacuous/daft statement?

It isn't hard to understand the idea of the hedonistic infinity. Consider anything you like or find pleasurable but do keep to higher pleasures - thin...

In my discussion with Banno, I mentioned how lower pleasures differ from higher pleasures in being not amenable to the question "why?" i.e. finding a ...

Mysticism, to my knowledge, is always about the ineffable, no? If mystical knowledge could be put into words then, that would be a contradiction - amo...

Ok.

Thanks but you're referring to analytic truths (did I get that right?). All acts are hedonistic acts is not an analytic truth. Looks like a synthetic ...

Indeed it is exactly that and if the pudding has to be eaten by all who wish to understand what a pudding is then it means, perforce, that the pudding...

Don't take what appeals to me or anyone for that matter as bearing any significance other than indicating my (our) failure to use logic in the proper ...

If logic must eventually have a decisive role in mysticism then mysticism is redundant. Punshhh was quite clear, or so I think, as to how mysticism di...

Hey, unenlightened. The point you raise here has been bothering me for sometime and I don't quite get it. Why is it vacuous and daft to claim a univer...

How about looking at it this way: Sleep is valuable and is an indicator of our wellbeing. We have problems, we lose sleep. Right? Death maybe regarded...

The idea of gaining insight minus the logical labor we usually think is necessary is new isn't it?

I would call a method credible when it is known to produce desired results. The problem I see in mysticism is that the desired results, some articles ...

That I don't have to do so long as you accept hedonism leads to an infinity of causes for happiness.

No matter how things may turn out, the winner and loser (gambling analogy) both want pleasure - one gets lucky or is genius and the other is unlucky o...

The cause maybe some neurochemical phenonmenon but the reason is what triggers it. For instance, if someone derives pleasure from philosophy, the reas...

Indeed. The methods of mysticism are new but they lack credibility unless you want to take the mystics' words on it.

Mysticism has its draw. Personally speaking, the promise of knowledge of ultimate reality by means other than the slogging through the tedium of compr...

That's what's bothering me.

Well, sometimes the end result or outcome is unknown and happiness is tied to one or more of them. That the desired outcome(s) failed to materialize d...

Firstly, I accept selfishness exists as part of our nature. No one can deny that. However, altruism is as real too. Selfishness = self Altruism = self...

This just doesn't feel right. What exactly does it mean to say that what you call "qualitative character of mental states" (I'll call this qualia for ...

A character in a book I once read was constantly asked the following question by his wife: do you love me? He always answered "yes" because he did but...

Yes. that would end the regress but you don't know WHY? X makes you happy.

:lol: My erection days are long gone :rofl:

:ok: :up: Thanks. I think I get your drift if you mean to say higher pleasures is to lower pleasures as high art is to low art, the relevant factor he...

Firstly, hedonism encompasses all definitions of pleasure - it matters not whether Locke or Bentham or Mill or someone. All that matters is it may be ...

Indeed, the whole point of the matter may revolve around the principle of sufficient reason - we're in the habit of thinking in terms of cause and eff...

Well, what you're describing is the behavior of phenotype - the expression of the genotype. I'm talking about the genotype - the information for life ...

So now you're changing your tune, from selfish genes to DNA. But I'm afraid even that doesn't persist long enough to aid your stance on altruism vs se...

You should read this:selfish gene No part of our genes survive beyond a certain number of generations. If reproduction is about selfish genes then, th...

Actually, according to physics, if you have a place to return to after "work", your net work, according to the formula Work = force × displacement (fa...

Yes. That's the thing. Heaven and Hell could be the same thing! All we need to do then is for every good person we need to find a bad person - the two...

But...an orgy is different from a beating. One is clearly reward-like and the other is clearly a punishment. In the joke, the same thing, companionshi...

Indeed, you're correct. A person's chromosome/gene contribution gets halved with each generation. Thanks for the info Yup!

Well, what threw me off is you associating memes with knowledge. I'm not sure if knowledge can be considered a meme. Richard Dawkins, the guy who deve...

An interesting angle. Answering a "how?" is easier than answering a "why?" For the former all we need to do is look at the processes involved and conn...

If I say that something, say x, gives me pleasure, it is perfectly ok for someone to ask me "what about x gives me pleasure?" Pfhorrest asked me that ...

John Stuart Mill developed his hedonistic moral theory but made it a point to differentiate higher pleasures from lower pleasures. To my knowledge the...

Of course there is something to be like noAxioms - you have a subjective experience of being you - I believe everyone has this first-person point of v...

Indeed. If I understand you correctly, language is a "alive" and in "motion", evolving over time and this clearly would have an impact on definitions ...

It's ok. As long as one always give a reason for one's pleasure, the question why the reason you gave makes one experience pleasure can be asked.

Why are you here Pantagruel?

To receive or dispense, punishment? Punisher or Punishee?

What about X does A find pleasurable? Something, right? Say f1 or f2 or f3 or all of them. What about f1 or f2 or f3 is pleasurable? is the next quest...

If it is beneath your serious engagement I have a serious problem on my hands. Am I that stupid? :joke:

So, your comment wasn't based on any analysis of the issue. Just took my words and rephrased it. Even a child could do that.

The argument you're commenting on is flawed as Banno already curtly dismissed. Thank you for your criticism. As StreetlightX said, my idea is half-bak...