T_Clark

Yes, and Nostradamus predicted the Patriots will win the Superbowl this season.

My approach to the TTC tends to be intellectual, rational, but that's me, not Lao Tzu. I don't see it as a fundamentally rational document. It's not i...

As I see it, nature may scream sometimes, but briefly, then it stops. We should be like that. None of this whispering. Just be quiet. Say what needs t...

I think that's right. I think that "temporary nature" you're talking about is hard to attain. Or at least it's easy to forget. I went back and reread ...

I disagree. Definition 1, as I noted in a previous post, is clearly not the sense of "reason" addressed by the original post, which did not discuss "a...

People have reasons, not the universe.

He didn't.

As you can see from the language in Verse 4, the Tao came before any God. Before anything was named. Before the quantum vacuum. If you're interested i...

Written about 2,500 years ago by Lao Tzu in China.

Yes. It just does. Again - that's enough for me.

Everything I write about this is how I see it, not the way it is. There are hundreds of translations and interpretations of the Tao Te Ching out there...

The ten thousand things, or ten thousand beings, refers to the multiplicity of the world. All the individual things that exist once we cut the Tao int...

Because it does. That's enough for me. Clearly not for you.

Again, that's not how I see it. The quantum vacuum, virtual particles, that's physics. The Tao is metaphysics. It's one useful way of seeing how thing...

It's not a circular argument at all. Reason is a process for finding the truth. That's a definition. That's what reason is intended for. Now, perhaps ...

I'm not a follower of any religion. I don't see things the way you do. For me, the reason for existence is a human question that only has human answer...

I have answered that question to my own satisfaction, although probably not yours. There is no reason for existence. There is never an answer to the q...

Agreed, it is a poetic description, but then "vacuum" and "big bang" are used metaphorically. I'm not clear on what the revelation you're so excited a...

I'm just talking about regular old normal, impure reason. The kind you and I are involved in here.

Ok, but you're still talking about "reason" in a different sense than the OP is. Reason, as it is normally used, is not the process of finding the rea...

I think this just highlights what @"Philosophim" wrote. It's important to define what we mean by "reason." Reason, as it is discussed in the opening p...

Any thoughts will be welcome. They help me understand better and give me incentive to keep going.

One of my favorite verses is Verse 4. This is from Ellen Marie Chen's translation: Tao is a whirling emptiness (ch'ung), Yet (erh) in use (yung) is in...

The forum guidelines say "Don't start a new discussion unless you are...Capable of writing a decent title that accurately and concisely describes the ...

Verse 23 I always enjoyed this discussion. Putting my thoughts about the Tao Te Ching into words has helped me gain an understanding about what it mea...

I was going to make a similar comment. People toss the word "reason" around a lot without being very specific about what it means. I don't have any pa...

I don't generally pay attention to what categories posts are in. It all just shows up on my front page.

I don't know. I was speaking from personal conviction.

Typical smug, snotty, shallow response.

A wise woman once taught me this - If the only way you can stand up for men is by putting women down, you're just playing the same game as the people ...

But they are equal. They are all endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights. Among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness....

I've read those and several others. I remember "Haven in a Heartless World," as being pretty good. As I said, I need to go back and reread.

I have been a fan of Christopher Lasch since back in the 1990s, just after he died, although I have not read his books in a long time. He was humane a...

Although it is a common theme for you, I had not entered this discussion from the point of view of anti-natalism. Certainly I knew it was in the backg...

Not a straw man. People have lived as hunter gatherers or subsistence farmers for as long as there have been people. The need to eat is not a burden s...

This is a very good post. Informative and interesting. I remember watching as Poland broke free from the USSR and communism in the 1980s, but I know n...

At bottom, it's not a social or economic issue. If you were alone on an island you would have to comply or die. But we are animals. The constraints yo...

Are you familiar with Taoism? Jami's explanation sounds a lot like the Tao Te Ching. The main difference I see is that the Tao is impersonal while God...

You're right. I thought about that before I responded to the post. As I noted, in philosophy, "justified" is a word that is often used to indicate the...

In a philosophical context "a justification for one’s belief consists of good reasons for thinking that the belief in question is true." As I noted, y...

Normally, justification is a process by which the certainty of the truth of an assertion is measured. An untrue claim would not normally be considered...

I think you are using the words "information," "data," and "justification" in non-standard ways.

A clear, well put together post. Welcome to the forum. I think I get your overall point - you're describing a more or less formal process of induction...

Perhaps I'll just include you in my PM to Baden.

I like to complain. People on the forum think it's charming.

Still a bunch of crap discussions on the forum. Hey, @"Baden", can't you just ban someone so we'll have something to talk about. I'll PM you some sugg...

A couple of clever songs about science. Chris Smither is wonderful. Dan Reeder is amusing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVbj0Wcb5go https://www.you...

The movie's pretty good. I liked the book too. And I love the title.

Do not weep Dusty Just a verse to celebrate Your happy new name