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khaled

['Member']Joined: September 22, 2018 at 05:24Last active: January 26, 2026 at 06:0424 discussions3479 comments
Location: Tokyo

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In the end there is a why to which no answer is possible. In fact, from why to why, from one step to the next, you get to the end of things. And it is only by travelling from one why to the next, as far as the why that is unanswerable, that man attains the level of the creative principle, facing the infinite, equal to the infinite maybe. So long as he can answer the why he gets lost, he loses his way among things. 'Why this?' I answer, 'because that," and from one explanation to the next I reach the point where no explanation is satisfying, from one explanation to the next I reach zero, the absolute, where truth and falsehood are equivalent, become equal to one another, are identified with one another, cancel each other out in face of the absolute nothing. And so we can understand how all action, all choice, all history is justified, at the end of time, by a final cancelling-out. The why goes beyond everything. Nothing goes beyond the why, not even the nothing, because the nothing is not the explanation; when silence confronts us, the question to which there is no answer rings out in the silence. That ultimate why, that great why is like a light that blots out everything, but a blinding light; nothing more can be made out, there is nothing more to make out.

Eugene Ionesco

Discussions (24)

A single Monism

November 17, 2021 at 14:34 103 comments Metaphysics & Epistemology

Comments

What would that do? I'm not a physicist, but it is well known that Quantum effects can have macro consequences. If you don't believe me there are many...
April 29, 2024 at 01:08
Would you agree that the effects of genes, environments, nutrients and experiences can theoretically (not practically) all be reduced to physical phen...
April 22, 2024 at 08:16
Yes, I understand. Your claim is that the structure of the brain is such that it can have accurate representations of reality as well as rationality c...
April 20, 2024 at 09:28
How would you go about proving that our brain just happens to be set up such that it produces true statements (at least, often enough for us to have m...
April 19, 2024 at 17:44
What I meant by "irrational" is that we aren't justified in believing the cloud if it happens to spell "2+2=5". Or even if it spells "2+2=4". Are we a...
April 19, 2024 at 14:06
"I am not sure that government official is very trustworthy" "But look! He said he's trustworthy!" That's what this sounds like to me. See why I don't...
April 19, 2024 at 05:54
Is a thought produced by dumb physical processes. So are these: Even if we accept that the brain is evolved for survival (which is another thought res...
April 18, 2024 at 07:49
I'll try to rephrase it then. Note, that this isn't an argument that determinism is NOT the case, but rather that we are not justified in believing it...
April 08, 2024 at 20:46
I admit, I only skimmed them, then realized I don't really know enough so I just took you at your word that it's not all chemical. Don't see how that'...
April 08, 2024 at 19:24
No I cannot, because our technology isn't good enough to see it! But I'm sure it's there! That's what your argument sounds like to me. "I am sure thes...
April 08, 2024 at 18:10
I think Yoga would be faster for this, because you frequently find yourself in positions you don't want to be in, and yet push yourself to be in anywa...
April 08, 2024 at 14:46
First off, I assume you cite these significant life events as examples, not actually things that happened to you. If they happened to you then... I do...
April 07, 2024 at 21:59
Not everything, just what's recent. Apologies if I misinterpreted anything. It's not really about souls or ontology, I just picked the situation which...
April 07, 2024 at 20:45
Why are hard determinism and free will opposed? They can be, depending on your definition. I think hard determinism is pretty well defined, but how do...
April 07, 2024 at 19:08
Currently: Materialism with a splash of platonic realism. Learned from @"180 Proof" later that it's called hylomorphism. But my mind changes often.
January 21, 2023 at 12:29
In: Bannings  — view comment
Holy late Christmas gift! I can't believe I missed this. I'm not sure but I think I might hold the record for "Most words wasted on Bart". I figured i...
January 12, 2023 at 13:05
What kind of assassin has as much agility as defense??
January 12, 2023 at 10:35
The problem with this view is that you cease to exist when you go to sleep and then re-exist when you awake.
January 12, 2023 at 10:35
I don't see this as an issue but more of what it SHOULD be like. Why makes you think there is an unchanging part of us (like a soul) in the first plac...
January 12, 2023 at 10:30
Ok Bart.
January 09, 2023 at 04:09
No. I’m saying what I find to be intuitively true. Which is that when 1 and 2 are met, artists have an obligation to create art. And now you will just...
January 09, 2023 at 03:34
Just the threads by Bart. And they haven’t fallen anywhere, they were always like this.
January 09, 2023 at 03:16
I cited 2 things that would make producing art obligatory: In an attempt to refute 1 you say: I pointed out that knowing one is a great artist does no...
January 08, 2023 at 14:51
Knowing you're a great artist =/= Knowing the next piece of art you produce will bring about much good. Similar to how a gold medalist, even though th...
January 07, 2023 at 22:51
I'm afraid that if you cannot grasp the distinction then I think you're too far gone to be worth debating. Please reread what I wrote. These quotes co...
January 06, 2023 at 23:48
False. I said if an artist can produce era defining pieces with the click of his fingers. That is to say, if the artist can produce art he knows will ...
January 06, 2023 at 12:08
Always? I'm curious where you got this. Not saying it's wrong, I don't know.
January 05, 2023 at 09:01
Huh, we got to the point of "I'm right you're wrong because it's self evident" quicker than usual this time... Guess that's that then.
January 05, 2023 at 08:57
I didn't say that having punishment guarantees a safe society, but it is a prerequisite. If you really believed this, then would you be fine with your...
January 05, 2023 at 08:50
How do you draw that conclusion? No, none of them were obligated to create art, because none of them could have known their art would have been worth ...
January 05, 2023 at 08:44
A system of thought where animals are not a being seems to convoluted for me...
January 04, 2023 at 12:41
And that form is the person? Yea that's the closes I got to an answer too.
January 04, 2023 at 12:40
An eye for an eye approach just seems the most practical. If there was no deterrent to crime, we could not have a safe society. But what I find most i...
January 04, 2023 at 08:02
What does deserving something entail then? Not necessarily. They deserve a punishment comparable to being raped. Like multiple years in prison (whethe...
January 04, 2023 at 07:54
Destroying something beautiful is generally not only entirely unnecessary, but also harmful (more specifically, denies people pleasure). There is also...
January 04, 2023 at 05:01
The reason for this may shed some light on the question. If someone held a hostage at gunpoint and demanded you draw them a beautiful painting to let ...
January 03, 2023 at 11:39
Then how come that I'm the same person even if 99% of the cells in my body are not the same ones as 7-10 years ago?
January 03, 2023 at 11:25
I like that answer
January 02, 2023 at 23:59
So at what point does that potential get realized and what's a being?
January 02, 2023 at 23:59
Sure, as with many things. But what about a blunt ambiguous meaning?
January 02, 2023 at 14:38
So there were no persons before the formation of societies advanced enough to have legal definitions of persons? No that can't be it either.
January 02, 2023 at 14:36
So a person isn't a being?
January 02, 2023 at 14:34
Did you read the rest of my comment? I said that all the important questions are answered. Such as? Also do you consider "Why is pi 3.14 and not anoth...
January 01, 2023 at 16:02
What more would you need to know though? If you can explain what every physical state means mentally, then you've answered all the important questions...
January 01, 2023 at 14:24
Apparently. Didn't know who that was. The problem seems to stem from "language use in thought" but I thought we were talking about utterances. Aka lan...
December 23, 2022 at 04:38
Instead of asking whether the “meaning” of an utterance persists over time or not I think we can simplify the situation by splitting “intended meaning...
December 23, 2022 at 02:42
It's an unprecedented situation, I don't think they have anything like that yet
December 21, 2022 at 10:11
Soft. Though I think you mean weak vs strong. I always had daydreams where I'd imagine parts of my mind as people, like in Inside Out. The other way s...
December 21, 2022 at 09:21
The only time when the ineffable has been mentioned in this page is between hyphens (and here). I think we're approaching a point where we stop effing...
December 21, 2022 at 08:13
Not to necro my own thread, but I had a thought recently and wanted to see how someone with a similar view dealt with it. Since yours is a monist view...
December 21, 2022 at 07:02