T_Clark

It reminds me a bit of my favorite book - "Heart of Darkness." If I remember correctly, both were about the illusion of civility surrounding the Briti...

I don't think it had a moral actually, just a story about how thin the veneer of civilization is over our bestial natures.

Just a quick clarification. Seems like you're being a dick, but I wouldn't want to accuse you of being a dick if you aren't being a dick.

Which one of them is in bigger trouble?

Lord of the Dance.

There's a lot riding on some of the discussions on the forum. For me, it's about self-definition. How I see myself. My ideas are important to me. Layi...

You do notice, don't you, that the platypus is giving us the finger. Both.

So much the better for me.

Maybe "concrete" is better than "practical." It seems to me Eastern philosophies get right to the heart of things from the start then build up a simpl...

Tao Te Ching: Success is as dangerous as failure. Hope is as hollow as fear. What does it mean that success is a dangerous as failure? Whether you go ...

I was just talking about what he said about pigs. But yes, although some types of pessimism can be ...endearing, e.g. Eeyore, this kind rubs me the wr...

The First Noble Truth of Buddhism is that all life is suffering. The Second Noble Truth is that suffering is caused by desire. That's not suffering th...

This probably is not a parable, but I love it. Emerson and Lao Tzu are the only philosophers who have gone right to my heart: I remember an answer whi...

I'm sure you've answered this question before, but I don't remember reading that. I mean this respectfully. Do you wish you hadn't been born?

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Congratulations. I know how proud you are of him.

What's to be afraid of? I joke about death all the time. The fact that it's right around the corner from me seems really funny. As I said, other peopl...

I’m not afraid of dying. No one my age I know is. You’re just projecting your weakness and fear on others. Your arrogance infuriates me.

The only crows I've ever seen, as far as I know, are American Crows. I live within the range of Common Ravens, but I don't remember ever seeing one.

Crow. Ravens are too classy.

Not true. There are synonyms for a reason. Different similar words have different connotations. From various places on the web: "The downside of pity ...

Contempt, condescension, are bad feelings. Corrupt. Sometimes they slip in, but when I become aware of them, I do my best to deal with them.

No indignation on my part. What Baden and I have said doesn't seem pretentious to me. As Baden says, it's a matter of usage. From the web - "Pity is a...

But my children do find life good. They are generally happier, stronger, and better than I am. As I said previously, and as you seem to acknowledge, t...

As I said, pity has a big dose of contempt mixed in.

I don't think your argument deserves to be taken seriously, not because of it's content, with which I disagree strongly, but because of your unwilling...

There are several words that have similar meanings - empathy, sympathy, pity, compassion. If you look in the dictionary they are used as synonyms for ...

What does my favorite animal (see my image) say about me? Here's what it says to me - noisy, cranky, social, smart.

Not Plato, Kafka.

Cockroach?

My son and his girlfriend are farmers and vegetarians. They don't raise animals, but have friends who raise pigs for eventual slaughter. The pigs are ...

I think the chicken thing worked for you. Oddly enough it made me think of texting my children. I don't generally send text, I send pictures of intere...

I am not thrown into despair by my "incoming doom." My life is not tragic. I don't want to die now, but I don't want to live forever. I'm sure you and...

The Collingwood essay is available as a PDF on the web. I don't think intentionality applies to what we're talking about. Society doesn't intend thing...

I guess my first comment is on your use of "totalitarian" in relation to the underlying assumptions. They're not totalitarian, they're just establishe...

Careful. You could find yourself in legal trouble, at least in the US, for defamation. Just make sure whatever you tell the others is in factual rathe...

There is a balance to be achieved. Sadly, amusingly, it's taken me 55 years to approach mine. You have plenty of time.

Bullet 1 - you just mean life, right? Kind of begging the question. Also, I'm never bored. You're doing something wrong. The rest - please expand. The...

During my time here on the forum, I've shared some of my most personal thoughts and feelings. I've been called a sexist and racist. There is one thing...

If we're going to look into this more, how about a definition of what "entailment" means in this context. Is an entailment just an unavoidable consequ...

As I indicated in my response to Wayfarer, I don't think biology has any kind of one to one relationship with morality. I don't think morality has any...

And I am saying the exact opposite. I experience life as good independent of what is going on at the moment. Even when there is unhappiness and suffer...

As you should know by now, my problem has always been saying things I wish I hadn't rather than not saying things I wish I had.

If you take a look as you type, you'll see that emoticons show up in the format :something:. Example :meh: = : meh:. So, use :cluck:

My only point, and it's a narrow one, is that I don't believe there is an objective moral order except to the extent we are constrained by our biologi...

I didn’t think you meant me. Even I’m not that delicate a flower. I just wanted to give you an opportunity to expand if you wanted to.

That's not how I see it. Feel about it. I don't feel the solitude you write about. I feel other people all around me. There has always been a distance...

???

I just know that I like people. I like being around them. I like to think I can feel what they are feeling. Maybe that's presumptuous, but I know I ca...

I disagree. I think that all moral codes grow out of our nature as social animals. That ties in with what Bitter Crank wrote about the social basis of...