Possibility

Not according to himself. But it’s certainly possible for outside observers to assume suffering where there is none.

I replied to you on the other thread, but I’ll repeat it here: I think that life is more a self-replicating system of interacting chemical reactions. ...

Truth can be reduced to an object, in much the same way as a table can be reduced to three lines on a page. But are they the same thing?

A lie can be useful, too.

More like a self-replicating system of interacting chemical reactions.

I think it’s very much dependent on awareness of choice. We can’t always choose our circumstances or what happens to us, but as human beings we always...

Yes, and it has been interpreted in these ways in various cultures and philosophies. But it’s more than an interpretation - it’s an awareness of vario...

Well, you’d suspect wrong. Reasoning is the act of structuring and restructuring the mind for the purpose of integrating new information to minimise i...

The principles of cause and effect and vibration refer to a reality that is four-dimensional: relative to time and space. But what is real or true is ...

That depends on the positive ethics. I explained that the person you described, who did not consciously interact with life, was ignorant of what suffe...

The question is, are you suffering if you choose to do push ups, or are you simply experiencing pain? Are you suffering if you’re aware that the pain ...

You’re right - ‘clash’ was the wrong word. But we do continue to disagree, and from your reply here, I have a feeling we’re going to pick up close to ...

I think these principles need to be more inclusive than cause and effect or vibration in order to operate through and enfold ALL of reality despite re...

Not sure how you’re correlating Locke’s tabula rasa with a liberal education, or with feminism as such. I got the impression that the focus of Nodding...

There does seem to be a leaning towards this as a solution, or correction, to our developing problems. Personally I don’t agree with it. Though it’s n...

I agree, although it cannot be assumed that just because someone is female or ‘feminine’ in some respects, that we would expect her to apply them in a...

The OP suggested a revival of ‘feminist ethics’ as one avenue for the future of philosophy. I argued that reviving it under that label risks negating ...

Agreed - which is why the label ‘feminist ethics’ is a problematic one for me, and one I make every effort to shake.

I never claimed that the universe suffers. Suffering is a perspective of harm from negative affect towards experiences of pain, loss, lack and humilit...

I relate to this distinction, but my concern is that a philosophy such as my own, which may very well fall into this category, can be labelled and sub...

No, you’re making an assumption that anyone who disagrees with your definition is not ‘reasonable’, and are therefore excluded from the discussion. Yo...

There would certainly be folk whose concept of ‘greed’ is not the same as yours. That you position certain behavioural observations as ‘greed’ and oth...

But what (or who) is Reason? Aren’t you basing all your ‘truth’ on an assumption that everyone knows this particular ‘truth’?

Are you sure that’s not something philosophy has anything to do with? Rejecting ‘greed’ is a moralistic approach. ‘Greed is bad - let’s point out all ...

I recall that we’ve clashed over this discussion before. I think it’s possible to desire and to enjoy life, without being ‘attached’ either to that de...

To be honest, I’m not putting much stock in authorities to ‘lead’ on this, or anything. As long as survival is a major goal, authorities won’t have th...

Yeah, but it got a response. I’m not saying that you can’t turn the tide on the effect of climate change - what I’m saying is that when you frame it a...

I think we need to not just re-evaluate how we live, but to restructure our value systems themselves, to include the significance of what isn’t necess...

A government, king, authority, etc CAN still demand it. It’s how they justify it and how they enforce it that matters - how they align it with the val...

Shows how much I pay attention, and rely on the ‘Forum’ landing page... Missed this excellent recent addition to the already existing ‘Learning Centre...

Too many ‘realistic’ consequences at once in a video game or simulation will detract from the main appeal, which is to be relatively free of the pain,...

I’m Australian - I’ve read a little Chalmers, and familiar with his recent work with Tononi on IIT. That’s an interesting work in progress. I can see ...

The problem with this situation, though, is that the value structures of this consequence-free environment are not as ‘isolated’ from the value struct...

I think the difference between philosophical concepts and physics concepts, is that physics concepts are objectively defined: in most cases there is a...

Let me try again. If 1 is true, it does not follow that 2 is false, because creating has nothing to do with evolving. So 3 is false. Humans don’t need...

When humans create art, they create an expression of reality that is more complex than the materials that constitute the artwork. Michelangelo’s David...

I think there are also those who have gone silent because they are genuinely reading up on what they are struggling to understand. There are some here...

Happiness refers to a general positive affect. It can be our own interoception, or inferred in someone else from their external behaviour. I wouldn’t ...

Well, I’d be one who disagrees with this. You CAN demand both, but the question is HOW would you ensure that your demand was successful? You can deman...

It does seem like that, although the connotations attached to the word ‘faith’ often imply that we must ignore evidence or take leave of our senses - ...

The fifth dimensional aspect of reality is value. Mathematics is an effective system for structuring value aspects of reality beyond our temporal and ...

I think that when we process information consciously, using rational thought and reasoning, that’s only a fraction of the information we integrate at ...

Morality is a reduction of objective reality to what is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ human behaviour and why. And even if we can grasp objective reality, our expre...

The underlying impetus behind the actions are not subjective. It is how we describe and explain those actions and thoughts, how we structure the conce...

The basic idea is what I’ve been describing here: to explore a view of reality beyond any human perspective of value and significance. To recognise th...

As I mentioned, the distinction is that positive ethics doesn’t necessarily ignore the negative. A sound positive ethics would be in harmony with a so...

But morality is still a limited construction of that objective reality from the qualitative hierarchies of value in relation to subjective human exper...

Interesting, that hasn’t happened here - probably thanks to government support. There are very few sisters still teaching or working in hospitals, and...

And yet, you argue that... That seems a contradiction. Julio Cabrera has some interesting arguments, and I agree with many of them when considered fro...

Since about the 1850s, small groups of Catholic sisters (mostly Sisters of St Joseph) have provided low cost education and health care for remote comm...