Jack Cummins

The whole area of altered states of consciousness and near-death experience gives us room for speculative, but lack of certainty. The whole debate abo...

Finding this life worthwhile is a different matter from living with a belief in an afterlife. When religious believers encourage us to put our hope in...

Yes, I like the song Eve of Destruction, as well as Bob Dylan, and the whole 60s music scene is very inspiring. Dark times give rise to creativity. Wh...

I listened to The Pillows and really liked the song. I googled them and they were around in 1989. My favourite band as a teenager was The Alarm, but I...

I do think the Covid_19 situation could be a possible source of transformation. In fact, this is my biggest hope. I think it could go either way, nega...

It sounds really scary, like the mythical(? ) fall of Atlantis. Surely, there is a possible way forward for humanity to go forward without collapse an...

While I am not someone who likes spending life mostly on digital devices I feel that having a kindle has been revolutionary for my reading life. Durin...

it is worrying that philosophers are disinterested in such developments as the major hydrogen bombs. In the past, there was a lot of dialogue between ...

[reply="philosophience wordpress com;d9368" I just thought that I would add that I do think people are becoming morally superior in this time of Covid...

I approach the whole problem of judgement of others based on the psychoanalytic idea of projection, based on the ideas of Melanie Klein.We see faults ...

As mortals, we cannot understand the God force. If anything, seeing it as a source, is one way of seeing the divine. I find Fritjof Capra's book God a...

I was not actually implying that the death rate was so high that the whole of civilisation was going to be wiped out, or that being asked to stay at h...

, Perhaps we have a tower of Babel and not enough dialogue between cultures in the quest for what is important. Perhaps, greater engagement between na...

Of course I realise that there have been times of large deaths in former ages but this is the biggest we have known in our lives, and I think it is li...

I am not in any disagreement with you. My only contentioun would be that as philosophers we need to write as clearly as possible, in order for truths ...

We have been living in postmodern times. What happens now? The end of belief as we know it, or the evolution of a new way of looking at things as we k...

Yes, philosophy can be so therapeutic, better than psychotherapy perhaps. I have even heard of a school of therapy based on philosophy. Surely, life u...

Dolphin have profound awareness. In spite of my own wordy responses, and complaints of difficulties about writing on a phone, I the first person to ad...

Sorry if my previous response had typing errors, but it is hard writing properly on a telephone and perhaps others using computers can bear with this....

My phone could not key into the link you provided. Surely, philosophy can be about words and not just yet another aspect of techno glamour. What I lov...

I like your reply above and I hope a lot of people read it as it gives plenty of scope for thought.

I It is inevitable that we are constrained by material factors, especially survival as The Mad Fool has pointed out, but this is not everything. If it...

I like the idea of dedication to philosophy as a full time pursuit. I think I did really begin with that aim but got pushed away due to pressures from...

Perhaps education is better in America than in England. On various courses I have done, especially recent short courses, I have found that that tutors...

Please see the response I just wrote, but I sent it as a reply to another writer rather than you who asked the question.

I think philosophy can be self-taught really because there is so much literature available, ranging from introductions to books by the importance auth...

I meet up with you on different threads, but yes maybe I have got to accept impermanence. Sometimes it seems everything is stagnant and then changes c...

I have been reading this thread and your one on whether Buddhism is a philosophy or religion. I do have sympathy with the whole approach to life which...

If only it was perfect. I wrestle on a day to day basis about how to live my life without hurting my mother's feelings because she is elderly. There a...

Hopefully, persuasion should not be a hollow act but one of true learning, but in this chaotic age, with a multitude of beliefs, the wisest of our tim...

Having written this response I am aware that there are all kinds of lies and deceptions going on at a social and political level. This is probably a s...

It is also important to know when uncovering brutal truths what ends we are serving, truth, the feeling of others or ourselves? Perhaps, then, is the ...

The militant truth tellers can definitely be obnoxious and the worst to have involved in complex philosophical discussions, They often have such limit...

I thought that Philosophm' s response was an exaggerated response. My own mention of my father's mention of buying a place into heaven is in the conte...

In my comment about saying nothing in precarious situations, I am not suggesting that we stand back like robots. Sometimes, empathy with the spirit of...

Actually, my dad, before he died used to speak of buying a ticket into heaven. What could I say? Sometimes, when not knowing what to say in precarious...

How much do we disclose about ourselves and how much do others really wish to know? I frequently err on the side of not enough or too much. As someone...

I agree with you that the best starting point in philosophical debate and persuasion is understanding another's state of mind and their knowledge. So ...

Perhaps, in a sense, when the philosophers stand naked rather than veiled in layers of clothing they will come closer to levels of thought and truths ...

Truth should not be limited to science. The arts are extremely important too, for capturing mythic and psychological truth. All thef fields of thought...

I am not wishing to interrupt any discussion which is ongoing and would like to see it opened up. I wonder if clothes are layers upon structures. Perh...

Clothing provides us with protection from our vulnerability, physically and psychologically, Independnt from our bodies and other people aesthetics, a...

I read Amen's response to you yesterday and I was astounded by it, as the whole stance was one of passive aggressive. Two weeks ago I was engaging wit...

I will try to have a read of Unamuno at some point. But sometimes I try not to dwell on fears too much, as if I get too negative I find it can become ...

There are many underlying issues related to being afraid of humanity and of course it is questionable whether being classed as wierd is in itself a ba...

I can see your link between death and justice, especially the whole idea of capital punishment, although of course capital punishment does not happen ...

Sorry, I didn't press the arrow the above discussion was in response to you.

Surely, death is an equal event for everyone. All of us will die, some prematurely and even the richest die sometimes sooner than the most vulnerable....

I agree that ,'Each day we wake up is not death' and in most cases it comes as a great relief. Our ancestors and each of us strive, probably instinctu...

I am just saying in response to you that the healthcare I worked in was not private at all. The whole emphasis was on critical analysis of any deaths ...