anonymous66

I've been around the block a few times, and my beliefs have changed significantly over the years. Calvinist->Ecumenical->Agnostic->Atheist ->??? I'm n...

I was focusing on this. As I mentioned in a previous post, it seems to me that counter-examples are in order.

This search has some good info. and this one: Calvinism Critiqued by a Former Calvinist

In my experience, fear is a big factor. If you know what God wants, is it a good idea to change your mind? To doubt? Satan is about doubt. God is abou...

The Calvinists I knew just acted like and convinced themselves that they knew God's will: How to interpret the Bible, what one must do to be saved, ho...

I can relate as I grew up among Calvinists and even identified as a Calvinist for many years. What helped me was when people just kindly and gently po...

Are you familiar with the studies done by James Whinnery? He reported cases of people having NDE's when they were subjected to high G forces. http://w...

The greatest gold mountain is the greatest gold mountain we can think of. Things can exist only in our imaginations or they can also exist in reality....

It's the greatest gold mountain I can imagine.

Cool! There is now a huge mountain of gold in my backyard. I imagined it, so it must be there.

Elizabeth Loftus is working on it:

I've learned quite a bit from Skeptic magazine online. They often present arguments for and against various topics including pornography and the exist...

Why pick on Agnostics and their view of God? What of skeptics and their view of knowledge?

He's on my short list, I promise! Right now I'm working on a project involving Gabriel Marcel. (I'm listening to this today)

Gabriel Marcel by Seymour Cain The Existential Drama of Gabriel Marcel edited by Francis Lescoe Awakenings by Gabriel Marcel

Gabriel Marcel was a Christian existentialist thinker who taught that the nature of prayer was such that one could not pray for material things, but o...

I wonder if panpsychism suggests that "consciousness is a product of the brain"?

Cain defends Marcel's early writing style by explaining that he can be compared to a scientist recording raw empirical data, only Marcel was a phenome...

You might enjoy this article comparing Marcel's and Sartre's ideas. Atheistic and Christian Existentialism: A Comparison of Sartre and Marcel. I was f...

His autobiography is easy to read, and I really like his plays (my favorite so far is A Man of God). I've been easing into his essays and philosophica...

I just thought I'd mention that I've found the book Gabriel Marcel by Seymour Cain to be a better place to start, if one was interested in learning th...

The History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

Thanks for that! I've gone back and forth on just what I think about religions. Right now I think it's important to acknowledge the good in religions....

I was about to disagree with the OP. But, upon reflection, I would agree that self-consciousness is a negative quality... but self-awareness is not. f...

I grew up with fundamentalist Christians. I was a Young Earth Creationist. I just picked up on and/or reacted to some of the fear (of believing the wr...

I've read every one of Marcel's plays that I could get my hands on(he himself wanted to be known for his plays- he thought the arts was the way to inf...

Marcel has me thinking that the nature of human existence could be described as a metaphysical mystery.

LOL. That hasn't been my experience. The metaphysics of "what is there?" is important and interesting... but, exploring human existence is more import...

I've found Marcel to be a humble and decent man who encourages others to be patient with themselves while also encouraging them to continually work on...

I love Gabriel Marcel, and questions about existence are of extreme important.. but I do also wonder: what exists that is not accessible by my percept...

I think what you may be describing is an issue with Scientism. Science is useful. Some people have made it into a cult-like religion.

Thanks for sharing. I'm thinking along similar lines.

Fair enough.

Annie Dillard reminds us that the practice of attributing miracles to religious teachers also occurred in Judaism.

I was born in Germany, I grew up in Alaska, and now I'm in the Midwest. I hated the first philosophy class I took back in the late 80's (I was in my 2...

The Virtues.

I grew up as a Young Earth Creationist. I was a literalist and a true believer. Our church proclaimed that they had the correct interpretation of scri...

I can relate. I was really enjoying philosophy until recently when I heard some lectures on the topic of truth. Now whenever I think about the various...

I think you're on the right track. I wonder if we can paraphrase Socrates as saying, "I don't go around pretending to know things that I don't know."

I really like a book called Gabriel Marcel by Seymour Cain. It's a good overview of his life and work, and if you like what you see, it will give you ...

That sounds very similar to what I see in Gabriel Marcel's writings.

Putting aside his sexual orientation, no matter what it might have been. I wouldn't want to live Wittgenstein's life. I don't see much that is worthy ...

Are you referring to this? He also had 3 brothers who committed suicide.

Our conversation brings up 2 issues. 1. What evidence is there that Wittgenstein was gay? 2. If he was gay (I'm not sure he was) then what evidence is...

I still don't know why it is that you believe this to be true.

What is your source of information for Wittgenstein's sexual orientation? I've seen some speculation, but is there anything more concrete? From Philos...

I don't know that his sexual preferences caused any problems. I'm not even sure if we can say we know he was gay.

I'm no expert on the mind by any means, and I enjoyed reading David Chalmers' The Conscious Mind and John Searle (I don't remember which book I have.....

I know some who are trained in the classics believe that he did intend to have them published.

As others have pointed out, he had some serious flaws.