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In: The police: no constitutional duty to protect you from harm. Now let's disarm you  — view comment
This is a fairly radical claim. More facts, please. If you are in danger from the actions of another person, then they are committing a crime, and the...
February 23, 2018 at 03:29
In: The police: no constitutional duty to protect you from harm. Now let's disarm you  — view comment
Is it the case that the police are not obligated to protect citizens from clear and present dangers (vague potential dangers are another matter)? Some...
February 23, 2018 at 03:22
In: Guns and Their Use(s)  — view comment
Bloc, as in "porc chops". Vive le français.
February 22, 2018 at 02:14
In: Survival or Happiness?  — view comment
I added more.
February 21, 2018 at 16:18
In: Survival or Happiness?  — view comment
As always uplifting and encouraging news from Herr Schopenhauer. Not only does life suck, life is inherently sucktive, with sucktivity being an active...
February 21, 2018 at 16:11
In: Survival or Happiness?  — view comment
Pleasure and pain are motivators, of course, but that is too simple. For one thing, they are inextricably alloyed together. In the rat labs simple ple...
February 21, 2018 at 15:15
In: Guns and Their Use(s)  — view comment
Indeed.
February 21, 2018 at 04:46
In: Thoughts on death from a non-believer.  — view comment
Hmmm. Good question.
February 21, 2018 at 03:54
In: Guns and Their Use(s)  — view comment
What Bitter Crank can add is that southerners were opposed to centralization. When railroads were introduced in the early 19th century, southerners di...
February 21, 2018 at 03:50
In: Most important discovery ever? Anyone believe this?  — view comment
Do you find it consistent that everything you feel/think/do comes from the outside environment? If everything you feel/think/do comes from the outside...
February 21, 2018 at 01:51
In: Most important discovery ever? Anyone believe this?  — view comment
I am now going to perform an external influence on you: Welcome to The Philosophy Forum. You are free insofar as you obey. Follow the rules set by the...
February 21, 2018 at 01:44
In: Most important discovery ever? Anyone believe this?  — view comment
That there are external influences on our behavior was an important discovery -- made, as it happens, a long time before Nikola Tesla was born. At one...
February 21, 2018 at 01:08
In: Separating The Art From The Artist  — view comment
Which raises moral problems as well. Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) dumped Garrison Keillor in an act of breathtaking ingratitude. Keillor is well fixed...
February 20, 2018 at 18:52
In: Separating The Art From The Artist  — view comment
Wagner is a good example though of the problem of separating the man and the music. He wrote both the librettos and the scores of his operas, designin...
February 20, 2018 at 18:19
In: Separating The Art From The Artist  — view comment
Wagner died in 1883. It's more like Nazis were Wagnerian sympathizers.
February 20, 2018 at 17:47
In: Guns and Their Use(s)  — view comment
I am well. Thank you. And you -- are you and your family also well? I would encourage you to avoid nihilistic thinking. Granted, it can seem like ther...
February 20, 2018 at 08:13
In: Separating The Art From The Artist  — view comment
I would say it is an unavoidable choice. In the real world, people actually take advantage of others all the time: economically, socially, psychologic...
February 20, 2018 at 07:49
In: Separating The Art From The Artist  — view comment
Yes, I would, assuming that the movie was of interest. Am I indifferent to the possible misfortune of the 14 year old? No. And I don't know what all t...
February 20, 2018 at 07:44
In: Separating The Art From The Artist  — view comment
Whatever else you may be, you are being difficult.
February 20, 2018 at 04:53
In: Separating The Art From The Artist  — view comment
There is clearly a connection between the artist, his time, his place, his methods, and his works. The artist and his works are not the same thing, ho...
February 20, 2018 at 04:48
In: Why is justice in society difficult to achieve?  — view comment
Welcome to The Philosophy Forum. Interesting assumptions, interesting question. But say more about what you consider "justice" and a "just society" an...
February 20, 2018 at 00:11
In: Guns and Their Use(s)  — view comment
I think what people dislike about the major institutions in their societies is their being too big, too inflexible, too unresponsive, too inaccessible...
February 19, 2018 at 22:41
In: Guns and Their Use(s)  — view comment
That is a fair question. My answer has to be somewhat equivocal and lengthy. I do not think the federal government (the level we are talking about) is...
February 19, 2018 at 22:16
In: Donald Trump (All General Trump Conversations Here)  — view comment
Oh, please! Surely you are not counting on Donald Trump to restore God to some alleged central place in American public discourse? Give us a fucking c...
February 19, 2018 at 14:06
In: Guns and Their Use(s)  — view comment
In a related thread on guns (yesterday), I said: AND, right on cue, here you are! So, I don't know how serious you are about this. Maybe you're just b...
February 19, 2018 at 13:58
In: Thoughts on death from a non-believer.  — view comment
Where would this tiny black hole come from? It takes a star collapsing (a supernovae) to produce a black hole. The collapsing core of the star needs t...
February 19, 2018 at 03:39
In: Does the US need better gun control?  — view comment
The political block that is most dangerous in the politics of gun-control is the one which holds that The People need to be armed to protect themselve...
February 19, 2018 at 02:38
In: Thoughts on death from a non-believer.  — view comment
At least you won't be disappointed by the absence of an after-life. At least you won't have to listen to Donald Trump ever again. You managed to not e...
February 19, 2018 at 01:41
In: The next species  — view comment
The problem of nuclear war doesn't need an orange buffoon for ignition. The reason that the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has moved the minute hand of...
February 19, 2018 at 01:15
In: Is the American Declaration of Independence Based on a Lie ?  — view comment
Well, go ahead and explain why it is untenable. You never know -- I might backslide into a less equivocal POV without your explanation. I admit it: I'...
February 18, 2018 at 18:03
In: Is the American Declaration of Independence Based on a Lie ?  — view comment
I gather from your phrase, "Let me get this straight" that you didn't like my interpretation of what Jefferson may or may not have meant. I might thin...
February 18, 2018 at 16:00
In: Would there be a need for religion if there was no fear of death?  — view comment
Would there be a need for religion if there was no fear of death? The sum of Christianity (the religion I am most familiar with) is not all about deal...
February 18, 2018 at 04:02
In: Would there be a need for religion if there was no fear of death?  — view comment
Daniel wasn't in the Pentateuch (Torah), the last time I checked.
February 18, 2018 at 03:36
In: What is a Philosopher?  — view comment
Jefferson Airplane will feed you sheep and look after you lambs. They're the shepherds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22WQrnaTchI
February 18, 2018 at 03:17
In: What is a Philosopher?  — view comment
Are humans a herd-animal, a pack-animal, a troupe-animal, a family-group animal, a solitary animal who periodically tolerates others' proximity, or si...
February 18, 2018 at 02:41
In: Is boredom an accurate reminder that life has no inherent meaning?  — view comment
Why do people (and other animals, for all we know) get headaches? Some reason? Some purpose? Headaches happen. Boredom happens. One does something abo...
February 17, 2018 at 18:02
In: New Year Fundraiser  — view comment
OK, I'll take your word for it, then.
February 17, 2018 at 14:30
In: Make Antinatalism a Word In The Dictionary  — view comment
This Google Ngram would indicate that antinatalism has been in use (in print) long enough to be noticed and included. https://78.media.tumblr.com/2e3b...
February 17, 2018 at 05:25
In: Make Antinatalism a Word In The Dictionary  — view comment
Yeah, who does the OED think they are, anyway? Just a bunch of linguists in a formerly great imperialist power college town.
February 17, 2018 at 05:13
In: Make Antinatalism a Word In The Dictionary  — view comment
Let's not be hasty. You're here; whether you have been "accepted" remains to be seen. On the other hand, we have accepted our resident antinatalists, ...
February 17, 2018 at 05:10
In: Identity Politics & The Marxist Lie Of White Privilege?  — view comment
I find that I have less and less itch to melt into something deathless as I age.
February 17, 2018 at 05:01
In: Hello Fellows  — view comment
Nice and direct. BTW Jonathan AB from SA, welcome to TPF.
February 17, 2018 at 04:59
In: Is the American Declaration of Independence Based on a Lie ?  — view comment
I just agreed with him, that's all. Neighborly, you know.
February 17, 2018 at 04:50
In: The Shoutbox  — view comment
I thought it was quite good and not a "rambly mess". They both seemed to be having a pretty good time of it, anyway.
February 17, 2018 at 03:27
In: On 'control'.  — view comment
Or maybe you inhaled water, sank, lost consciousness and died, and discovered there was no second act. Sic transit gloria Rich.
February 17, 2018 at 03:13
In: On 'control'.  — view comment
Maybe not. There might be life after death or maybe you snagged a life boat before your ship sank. Or maybe your ship was driven into the rocks of gri...
February 17, 2018 at 03:11
In: On 'control'.  — view comment
One thing an individual can do is save some money--enough to get by on, living cheaply, for 6 months. Let's say that one can live cheaply for $2000 a ...
February 17, 2018 at 03:06
In: On 'control'.  — view comment
Until the damn boat sinks, then we're done.
February 17, 2018 at 02:53
In: Is the American Declaration of Independence Based on a Lie ?  — view comment
All that seems to be true.
February 17, 2018 at 02:00
In: Is the American Declaration of Independence Based on a Lie ?  — view comment
Even though Jefferson was a Deist (and not a Theist) the concept of a god-created world would have been part of his world-view. "All men are created e...
February 17, 2018 at 01:41
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