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Fire Ologist

['Member']Joined: January 28, 2024 at 17:39Last active: February 23, 2026 at 03:035 discussions1736 comments

Bio

Highly complex, social animal, who has had access to language for about 55 years.

Received undergraduate degree in philosophy from Villanova University in 1991, but was a musician for a few years until I met my wife and grew up quickly. Went back to Law School at night after having 3 kids and haven’t taken a breath since, until about two years ago, when I discovered the partially examined life podcast, and this website, and rekindled my love of studying what can be said.

Favourite Philosopher

Heraclitus, Nietzsche, Aristotle, Kant, Socrates, Hegel

Favourite Quotations

“Those that love wisdom must be inquirers into very many things indeed.” - Heraclitus 35

"All men by nature desire to know." - Aristotle, Metaphysics



Discussions (5)

Comments

In: There is No Secular Basis for Morality  — view comment
Isn’t that epistemological, if not psychological? And craving for X means I don’t have X, so I don’t see the relevance of certainty. Isn’t this OP mor...
January 17, 2026 at 14:36
In: There is No Secular Basis for Morality  — view comment
I agree. That fits neatly under categories of criminal and civil law. And maybe that is all we can do in this world to get along, is invent and agree ...
January 16, 2026 at 17:46
In: There is No Secular Basis for Morality  — view comment
That completely inverts the issue in the question of the OP, which is, it seems odd (or pointless/non-rational) to speak of notions like “the right th...
January 16, 2026 at 16:58
In: Infinity  — view comment
That phrase is incoherent. “An” refers to a discreet, limited, individuated, measured, unit. So what does “an infinite number” point to or refer to? C...
January 14, 2026 at 17:42
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
I never said that or even implied that. Please read this post: this is what I think: https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/comment/1030360 It welc...
January 08, 2026 at 16:28
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
As long as I'm allowed to show you what a failure you are at lambasting, and ignore your opinions when I have to pee at a public establishment, or whe...
January 08, 2026 at 16:16
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
I don’t think that is true but even if so, isn’t that a separate discussion? I mean, you are right, it is disrespectful and oppressive to tell anyone ...
January 08, 2026 at 15:31
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
Isn’t the point nothing anyone says means anything to anyone else but themselves? Meaning is a private invention - a choice. But then, telling people ...
January 08, 2026 at 02:21
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
So your problem is you think those two questions are the same? Since you’ve identified my problem I don’t think this is too bold. That was fun. Nice e...
January 07, 2026 at 22:56
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
I'm interested. Can you explain that to me? My answer to the first question is "yes, by setting a context and defining our terms accordingly, we can c...
January 07, 2026 at 21:42
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
Spot on. That is what is at stake. How do we identify a “thing”, (any thing, like a trans woman or a woman), and discuss it? Identity, and communicati...
January 07, 2026 at 21:37
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
I just like how people use language to subvert communication, and talk about it, and think they have said something, that doesn’t contradict themselve...
January 07, 2026 at 16:28
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
Really? We need to get into this. For all of the relatively tough calls, let’s hope the people involved can show courtesy and maturity and charity and...
January 06, 2026 at 20:07
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
I’ve got the bathroom thing all figured out. That really isn’t an issue. It’s one application of the issue. The issue is the language. Are transwomen ...
January 06, 2026 at 19:12
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
The issue is language. Bathrooms provide the laboratory to apply our changing languages. Bathroom choice is just one consequence. I’m interested in th...
January 06, 2026 at 19:01
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
How about without any definitions, can you argue (speak words) making distinctions between two different things using words with no fixed definitions?...
January 06, 2026 at 18:37
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
“Fixing a difference” like “stipulating”. The real question is can “cis man” and “trans man” refer to the same object in the bathroom, like “woman” an...
January 06, 2026 at 18:28
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
I honestly don’t, if you are not talking about fixing definitions of words in order to allow two different people to share one understanding. In this ...
January 06, 2026 at 18:08
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
So the word “woman” only functions relative to other words. That is the source of the confusion. I am saying the word “woman” functions relative to ce...
January 06, 2026 at 14:57
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
So are transwomen women or not? What is our decision? I’m saying if you all decide yes, you are breaking the simple defining characteristics of women,...
January 06, 2026 at 14:43
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
The only way for you to know nobody said that is to fix meanings. Otherwise, are you sure you aren’t saying that? Absolutely “nobody” is saying down w...
January 06, 2026 at 14:27
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
That’s my take. You just agreed with me, (which is also bizarre). In order for the definition and use of a word to change (at all) from “x” to “y”, th...
January 06, 2026 at 14:14
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
Maybe, but you say it in such absolute terms, it casts some doubt on your own view. You make “language isn’t a static system” the static description o...
January 06, 2026 at 07:23
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
You don’t know how Bob feels. Unless Bob says or acts like “I am superior to you” then you have to make this judgment about how Bob feels from outside...
December 20, 2025 at 16:09
In: Relativism, Anti-foundationalism and Morality  — view comment
So to my mind, “forms of normativity” and “what promotes wellbeing” serve as placeholders for objective, universal, natural foundations for moral trut...
December 17, 2025 at 22:45
In: Relativism, Anti-foundationalism and Morality  — view comment
Thanks for the good faith exchange. Well done. Where does this leave the original question? It seems there remains an inconsistency, or something left...
December 17, 2025 at 17:50
In: What should we think about?  — view comment
Christians believe we are all, every single one (not just Jews and believes but all human beings), God’s children. God is Father. And brother. Your he...
December 17, 2025 at 15:34
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
Fair. I just think that without a sound, basic understanding of what Christianity is, one won’t be looking in the right places for how and why it succ...
December 17, 2025 at 15:10
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
Are “compulsion to worship no other gods” and “assimilation of certain pagan traditions” a bit at odds? There was the Inquisition, and its coercion, b...
December 17, 2025 at 13:20
In: How Account for the Success of Christianity?  — view comment
What position is the person in who says about another person “it makes them feel superior?” That doesn’t seem right. Pots and kettles scrapping for th...
December 17, 2025 at 04:31
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
:up: It was basically a transwoman’s argument, so I thought it was worth considering.
December 15, 2025 at 21:55
In: Transwomen are women. Transmen are men. True or false?  — view comment
:up: People seem to affirmatively want language to be as confusing and unclear as possible. Things are in flux. We all get that. Plus the context for ...
December 15, 2025 at 19:45
In: Language of philosophy. The problem of understanding being  — view comment
I found this draft I hadn’t finished before, but thought I would revive this post. I think we all grapple with this here on TPF, whether we talk about...
December 13, 2025 at 16:52
In: Is it true when right wingers say 'lefties are just as intolerant as right-wingers'?  — view comment
Isn’t “we don’t accept” essentially another way of saying “we don’t tolerate” or “we are intolerant of…”? I’d say your “we” and “they (their)” are bot...
December 13, 2025 at 04:25
In: What should we think about?  — view comment
Ok you win. Religion is the problem and the enlightened ones like Mandani and AOC and Kelly are our only rational hope for a better world. I’ll tell e...
November 27, 2025 at 18:03
In: What should we think about?  — view comment
You are a good person. I can see that. I don’t mean to sound like I am attacking anyone else, except maybe when I am atracking all of us, me included ...
November 26, 2025 at 06:17
In: What should we think about?  — view comment
I do? I spoke of the shallowness of identity politics. Really?? Where did I do that? You seem to say things like the above so easily. You come off as ...
November 18, 2025 at 21:17
In: What should we think about?  — view comment
Love it! There really are so many things like that in America - totally agree. Nothing better than to hear some old guy with an accent talk about how ...
November 17, 2025 at 04:56
In: What should we think about?  — view comment
:up: For some reason that is a bold statement of opinion, and not just an observation of what is actually happening right before our eyes. Exactly.
November 16, 2025 at 22:01
In: What should we think about?  — view comment
True. These are all distinguishable terms: maga, conservative, traditionalist, rightwing, Republican. So are these: woke, leftist, progressive, libera...
November 16, 2025 at 18:32
In: What should we think about?  — view comment
Cool. I would argue that MAGA conservatism is only the most conspicuous example of not thinking because of the complicity of the major media and the c...
November 16, 2025 at 15:18
In: What should we think about?  — view comment
The left. The not-‘MAGA’. (MAGA, that pejorative expression that helps “progressives” own the fascist/authoritarian haters). Maybe “wokeness” triggers...
November 15, 2025 at 06:37
In: The Myopia of Liberalism  — view comment
But there needs to be something in place, some structure, before freedom can be enjoyed. Something needs to be necessary. It does seem like a paradox....
November 14, 2025 at 19:42
In: What should we think about?  — view comment
It has nothing to do with white. It has to do with the political opinion that being British is a good thing to be. Or being German is a good person to...
November 14, 2025 at 17:59
In: The Myopia of Liberalism  — view comment
I agree. There is a yin of conservative permanence (boundaries and limits) needed for the yang of liberal progression (marked by new boundaries and ne...
November 14, 2025 at 17:55
In: What should we think about?  — view comment
UK, Germany, France, Sweden. All the places white people used to believe it was ok to be British, German, French, Swedish, etc. Poland is still Poland...
November 14, 2025 at 14:59
In: What should we think about?  — view comment
Why assume Trump/Maga are the best example of not thinking? Think about it, because if you think you don’t need to think about it…well, just think abo...
November 13, 2025 at 20:03
In: A quandary: How do we know there isn’t anything beyond our reality?  — view comment
Does your question only assume we “know” something that is inside our reality? You drew a line in reality and said we are in reality over hear, and ov...
November 12, 2025 at 21:44
In: The Predicament of Modernity  — view comment
:100: There is something unique to the human. I call it the personal. Reflexivity. Willing reasoning. This power creates the predicament. We can’t alw...
November 12, 2025 at 18:56
In: The Predicament of Modernity  — view comment
Maybe we set our own sights too high, just as we shoot ourselves in the foot. We ask ourselves for someone among us to be the authority on how to live...
November 11, 2025 at 21:36
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