You are viewing the historical archive of The Philosophy Forum.
For current discussions, visit the live forum.
Go to live forum

Ciceronianus

Comments

Mere sensationalism. The creators of the "documentary" have acknowledged they left out evidence, claiming there was too much to include and none of th...
November 28, 2018 at 01:00
Consider the wording of the paragraphs in which "the light" appears here. "The Word" in this Gospel was at the beginning, and was God, but "He" was al...
November 21, 2018 at 16:42
Well, as for the last, and as for works: Music--that's difficult. I have to mention three; two jazz, one classical. "Round Midnight, Thelonious Monk, ...
November 20, 2018 at 23:11
Well, the Gospel of John is the last of the Gospels, and by the time it was written Christianity was absorbing pagan philosophy. So, we have reference...
November 19, 2018 at 18:52
One of the most grotesque aspects of the peculiarly grotesque Great War is that an estimated 11,000 casualties were incurred on the final day of the w...
November 15, 2018 at 15:56
The Latin is taken from a poem by Horace. The poem could be taken as urging that Romans appear to be so inclined to war, so filled with martial spirit...
November 09, 2018 at 18:45
That won't necessarily help, you know, at least as far as the Christian God is concerned (I don't know much about the others, though I suppose I have ...
November 01, 2018 at 22:35
You should ask this of those men who drafted those "founding documents" you refer to, one of which claims that it is "self-evident" that all men are e...
October 31, 2018 at 15:59
Let be be.
October 30, 2018 at 15:36
Well. Being, being being, is no being; or to put it another way,no being can be being, because being is being. While it may be true that beings be, by...
October 29, 2018 at 18:31
To the extent I can judge from what is quoted by Bitter Crank (I'm too lazy to read any Plato), I would call it simple-minded and incomplete. Justice ...
October 18, 2018 at 15:12
Cicero used the phrase in referring to the law, and "justice." I would say he refers to the need for the law to treat people fairly, impartially, by n...
October 17, 2018 at 22:38
This is a quote attributed to Cicero, my esteemed ancestor. Well, forerunner. Precursor, say. Being perverts, they pervert. Qui pervertit pervertant??
October 17, 2018 at 17:38
Actually... https://media.boingboing.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/1126cbCOMIC-gm-god-god-man.jpg
October 16, 2018 at 15:40
A conspiracy necessarily involves more than one person in pursuit of a common goal. If God is a conspirator, he conspires with someone.
October 15, 2018 at 17:00
My little comment was meant for JohnLocke, not you. And it was intended to be silly, I'm afraid.
October 15, 2018 at 16:52
You merely assume you're you. You may not be. You must first establish you're you before you can ask why you're you.
October 15, 2018 at 14:35
I think that "reason" was viewed by ancient philosophers in the West as something different from "reason" as we think it to be now, influenced as we a...
October 10, 2018 at 15:47
According to Pierre Hadot, The Meditations were a part of Stoic practice on the part of the Emperor, which Moliere hints at. He wrote them to discipli...
October 09, 2018 at 23:32
I've always had a fondness for Cynicism as practiced by Diogenes the Dog mostly, I confess, on an unworthy basis--I relish his mockery of Plato. Stoic...
October 08, 2018 at 20:59
Strange how the law keeps being dragged into this preposterous debate. Is it thought that its existence somehow explains , proves or disapproves somet...
October 08, 2018 at 15:33
There is nothing logical about comparing non-existence to existence, sorry. There is no thing that is non-existence; there is no person that does not ...
October 02, 2018 at 16:02
"This is a court of law, young man, not a court of justice."--O. W. Holmes I think most lawyers dread clients who go to court seeking justice; I do, i...
October 02, 2018 at 15:45
I was indulging in irony, I'm afraid. I'm reasonably certain a philosopher wouldn't be allowed to testify.
October 01, 2018 at 21:11
I must look into using philosophers as expert witnesses.
October 01, 2018 at 18:34
Well, certainly nobody can accuse you of understating the significance of philosophy. But I'm merely a practitioner of the law, and so can only know h...
October 01, 2018 at 18:25
Well, that's no worse than other arguments we see offered in favor of the existence of God.
October 01, 2018 at 13:07
I've been practicing law for longer than I care to say, and have given it some thought. The law as a functioning system has little to do with ethics a...
October 01, 2018 at 12:45
You confuse debating the existence of God with considering whether God exists, and coming to a conclusion. I suppose others who cherish the task of re...
October 01, 2018 at 00:48
In arguing against an absolute claim (we should not have children, ever), I'm not required to adopt an absolute position contrary to it (we should hav...
October 01, 2018 at 00:28
Crime and punishment are functions of the law, and the law is one of the things we do.. And what we do, outside of philosophy classrooms and forums an...
October 01, 2018 at 00:18
Praemonitus praemunitus then, I suppose. My personal feeling is that people should refrain from telling others whether they do or don't believe in God...
September 28, 2018 at 20:28
So is the quote, just above, you know. But thank you for the unsolicited declaration. Secretly, I've always hoped you would explain your "stance in re...
September 28, 2018 at 18:44
I don't accept the argument that people should not have children because a person, once born, will suffer somehow, sometime.
September 28, 2018 at 17:10
I misunderstood. Sorry.
September 28, 2018 at 15:28
Well, there's always the eugenics option. That would eliminate those damned mistakes. Probably reduce the suffering inflicted on those unfortunate eno...
September 28, 2018 at 15:27
It's quite possible to sensibly advocate the position that reproduction should be reduced. The key word in your post as far as I'm concerned is "ratio...
September 28, 2018 at 15:21
I doubt I can think of anything more futile than wondering whether I was born for a "good purpose" or complaining if I was not.
September 27, 2018 at 18:10
Read Xenophon, if you haven't already, for a somewhat different account of Socrates. I dislike Plato's use of Socrates as his mouthpiece ("sock puppet...
September 27, 2018 at 14:57
I think I'm fated to believe, always, that there is not now, has never been, and never will be, any purpose in discussing "free will" or "determinism....
September 26, 2018 at 20:00
One does what one can, of course. But the beginning of the universe is just a tad remote in comparison with the sexual intercourse of our mommies and ...
September 25, 2018 at 16:13
Ah, but to the antinatalist there are answers to some of them. For example, the question "Why am I (or we) here?" is easily answered. Plainly, it's be...
September 24, 2018 at 15:47
Well, no. I need believe nothing at all about the Bible but for the fact you quoted portions of it to point out your interpretation of those quotation...
September 23, 2018 at 14:34
That an analogy is intended. That scripture is (conveniently) strewn with symbolism. That Jesus said what is attributed to him in the gospels. That Je...
September 23, 2018 at 12:32
I would think such questions wouldn't occur to someone who believes life is the unfortunate result of reprehensible conduct.
September 23, 2018 at 12:15
Well, let's just say I'm less inclined than you to accept an interpretation of this kind, which makes what I think are far too many assumptions.
September 23, 2018 at 12:08
It seems to me that if you believe that our parents should not have had children--that if they acted morally none of us would be alive--you would thin...
September 16, 2018 at 21:57
Dewey's writing is rather dense as well, I must say. It's his views on education I thought of in reading the OP. That and his theory of logic, or inqu...
September 16, 2018 at 21:33
I don't know Deleuze and so may be talking through my hat, to use a charming old phrase, but damned if he doesn't sound a lot like Dewey here. And it ...
September 14, 2018 at 17:10
I'm surprised, and in a way pleased, to say I agree with you entirely. I think you put it quite well. I think it saturates all our utterances because ...
September 11, 2018 at 15:15