Pinprick

The answer to this really depends on how easily influenced the general population is, which itself somewhat depends on how charismatic the president i...

I think “embracing death” is fuzzy as to what that actually means. Accepting it as opposed to resisting it or being in denial of it? Finding comfort i...

It’s worse than that where I live. I’d estimate it to be about 50/50..on a good day. There have been several occasions where I was the only person in ...

Also in Christianity, where things “of the flesh” or “of the world” are regarded as negative or sinful, and matters of the soul considered positive, a...

@"TheMadFool" I think every person becoming “enlightened” would essentially be heaven on Earth. Also, if you’re interested, this conclusion is somewha...

Gotcha. So you could be ethical, but also amoral in your distinction.

Not necessarily. It doesn’t have to. It can be primarily concerned with how my actions affect me. If the broad goal of ethics is to live the good life...

But should we have a preference at all? If our galaxy was all that existed, should we feel more significant than we do now?

Thanks for the replies, but to clarify I guess I was interested in the feeling of insignificance. Often it seems that when people realize how much big...

Maybe hypothetically, but it’s realistically impossible to know. It’s not like someone behaves a certain way, then obtains a high IQ, and begins behav...

Community standards aren’t objective. Otherwise they would be universally applied.

The result of being cursed is the occurrence of a negative experience. Philosophy doesn’t necessarily lead to something negative.

Not exclusively, or absolutely. Why pick out this one value out many others?

Why?

I’m not arguing with this, I’m interested to see what you think about harming X in order to reduce Y’s harm. Or, Harming X in order to prevent future ...

Allowing bad acts to occur when you could have prevented it is morally judged as what in your opinion? Good, bad, or neutral? It seems to me that the ...

Not having a child involves the certainty that some will suffer as a result. The uncertainty is the amount of good the unborn person would have brough...

Fine. But the unborn child’s “protection” from harm is also predicated on the harm of others. As a third party, you must at least allow the harm of ot...

What types of suffering are necessary? Explain what you mean by necessary. It was necessary to stop her in order to prevent her from being injured, an...

You can’t experience pleasure if you’re dead. Suicide reduces suffering, but can’t increase pleasure.

You’re right. I was looking at it from the wrong angle. Maybe, maybe not. Personally, I don’t like strict negative utilitarianism. I’m not so quick to...

Always? If a nurse takes pleasure in vaccinating people it’s bad? Forcing my daughter to not jump out the window because I desire her safety is immora...

Suicide.

So possible, or potential suffering is worse than actual suffering that is occurring? Also, part of your critique of procreation is the expectation fo...

So using fertilization treatment to relieve the suffering of being unable to have children is permissible in your view?

I get it. But if that is the case, how do you explain so many people that judge life to be enjoyable or pleasant? Or, in a word, worth living? I don’t...

I would say just because a community truly believes they are doing what they believe to be in the best interests of human flourishing, doesn’t mean th...

I’m not really trying to present an argument. Antinatalism being good or bad seems to me to be a matter of opinion. It focuses on reducing harm, but t...

Yeah, I think I agree, but I’m not sure what point your trying to make.

Others acting unethically is also beyond one’s control. But the statement is still true nonetheless, right? If not, how would you answer the question ...

I guess technically that’s true, but it seems very unlikely that someone would never exhibit an ethical act. Besides, even if my offspring doesn’t tur...

You could just as easily flip this and say that procreation is ethical because it’s the only way to guarantee ethical actions.

Are you still you after you die and cease to experience?

Using this metric, I fail to see how the Shakers flourished... Had they flourished, they would still be around. Instead, they intentionally did the op...

I agree, but could it then be said that our intuition is to flourish? Perhaps the post hoc justification that occurs is just a recognition of this fac...

Well, I wouldn’t consider simply spending eternity in heaven flourishing. To me flourishing implies advancing, or progressing in some way; not just ex...

I think antinatalism fits this. For a particular community, consider the Shakers.

What are your reasons for wanting a philosophy degree? Are you wanting to start a career in the field? Pursuing a degree solely because of the reputat...

I don’t think that the need or desire to justify our values, etc. diminishes simply by believing nihilism. Intellectually, the nihilist is aware of th...

Largely for the sake of argument I took the position that it was possible to have the concept “me” without necessarily needing the concept “not me.” I...

:100: The outcome of this tension is a life of voluntary deception. It’s hopeless to try to universally logically justify our values, attachments, or ...

Sure. Go ahead and avoid critiquing any arguments I present... :roll:

I don’t know what the correct place to start would be. Assume I do because I’m a human, and humans have similar biology and experiences, or that I don...

That’s not what I mean. I mean that you cannot possibly know my thoughts, or lack thereof, unless I communicate them to you, and you cannot infer by m...

Ok. How are “thoughts” assessed? Being entirely private, it seems that thoughts would be inaccessible to someone that lacks the ability to communicate...

They can debate the validity of assumptions. Nihilism is usually a consequence of debate, or discourse. It is the conclusion that is drawn from the in...

You don’t have to. Doesn’t Nihilism do precisely this; reject all assumptions?

I’m not sure. Suppose I had been born entirely senseless; without vision, hearing, taste, smelling, or sense of touch. I have no way to consciously ex...

Agree means sharing a certain belief with others. I would say that there are levels of acceptance. Consider the person who “accepts” a certain law, bu...

I assume you are referring to an external world or objects (things to think about). I was meaning that to be included in “somewhere,” but I’m not enti...