norm

There's some tension between this and your critique of science (dark matter, junk DNA). I lean toward instrumentalism. Also 'all possible worlds' seem...

. Timelessness seems like the key point to me. Early thinkers were also fascinated by the stars. What is t that endures as all else is born and dies? ...

I can understand the allure of something like a neoplatonist position (for instance, through my love of math.) I've even had some intense 'spiritual' ...

The dated issue is a good mention. If I was in the OP's position, I'd probably benefit most by lots of link hopping for a big-picture-view of what's g...

Maybe you'd like Kant?

The whole 'TOE' thing does look questionable. Sometimes I see what I think is folks trying to wring spirituality out of science (including metaphysica...

In terms of divinely authority, I agree 100%. But the stories are great.

I'm going to guess that the proof is nontrivial. (Well, I'd be shocked if it was easy!) I hadn't seen that symbol for composition before. I can actual...

I'm saying that I don't think that most people simply think it's good and appropriate. I suspect that some people look at other people and think 'God,...

This is an excellent point, it's drawing jets, most of it, things that fly. By the way, I once drew such a sweet little jet (perfect sideview was my j...

<nevermind>

I agree with you completely up to this. I think we have to distinguish between the safe & sentimental public discourse and the stuff one confesses to ...

This all sounds right to me. I think (I hope!) that I've learned to operate effectively, but I had to do it the hard way. I remember being singled-out...

Very true. He's a thunderstorm. Some TV shows are like that. It's hyper-dense. I do wonder if the screens will take over because of the dramatic densi...

The word 'intellectual' is actually hilarious. What's a better word? I can't deny being proud in some way of what I've got from books, but maybe I'm e...

I agree. Or more specifically: what world is that kid being trained for? If he's stuck in the underclass or in some war-torn place, perhaps harshness ...

I feel bad about the mask metaphor. I guess I just mean that I don't remember any jokes in Whitman. It's more like he shows a part of his high self. H...

Just for clarification, what I was getting it was that we were/are using dragon-skills to defend the princess. I imagine you (and myself) as having sh...

Yes, that's exactly it. And this goes back to a certain generous and open spirit that resists temptations to be boringly factually correct about what ...

I suppose Nietzsche was a big influence on me. But another more banal influence is all the causes that cry out for attention. Factory farming is bad. ...

Thank you! That's quite elegant and to the point! The pissing contest is seriously one of the things I think most about. I'm going to name drop (which...

OK, thanks for the direct answer! I do indeed think that you are in the underdog position. As a first approximation, someone might describe you as som...

That's pretty rad!

Indeed, and that's what your 'sophists' and 'obscurantists' say. Is that not even the point of so much recent philosophy? The sociality and therefore ...

Well, the question, it seems to me, is whether you ultimately just hate the secular attitude. I'm an atheist who respects and learns from Christian te...

I think I agree with you, but I still dislike the word. The old problem is...if everything is metaphysics, then nothing is metaphysics. Any sentence t...

I'm with you in criticisms of the 'physical' and physicalism. I don't know what to make of 'purely physical beings.' It's all just fuzz and attitude. ...

In the broader context of my general philosophical views, words don't have exact meanings and context is a dominant factor in what meaning they do hav...

That's the gist of constructivism. It don't exist unless I can grab it! I was/am strongly attracted to constructivism, but it comes at a cost. Conside...

I like Kuhn too. I just meant that I liked Popper's appreciation of what's good about metaphysics. (I actually have come to dislike the word metaphysi...

I agree that we've culturally evolved a notion of ethical rationality, related to something like a universal secular humanism. So one ought to have ju...

I ultimately agree with Popper about metaphysics. Also, please take what I write with a grain of salt. I'm joking and not joking, pushing buttons, try...

I agree that it is political, but you are adding/interpreting such implications. I agree that in fact we perpetuate everything by continuing to breed,...

That's something a 'sophist' or 'pomo' 'obscurantist' would say. Despite our little ideological clash, I do hope you are enjoying the forum, and it's ...

Numbers are simple stuff? I disagree. The philosophy of math is rich. How do numbers exist? But philosophers can't even decide if they see a chair or ...

I'm well aware that science & math do get results. That's why I get paid for math and programming skills and not for studying Wittgenstein. I'm saying...

I agree that there are shades of meaning between the words, but what is it to 'understand' a concept? Call it 'grasping' (a metaphor) or whatever. The...

That's supposed to be a refutation, I think, but instead or also points to the dependence of meaning on social interaction. I can peel a banana but no...

I will agree that something that might be called 'metaphysical materialism' is false or unintelligible. I'm just as 'against' rigid materialism as aga...

OK, but you said 'a number is simply a concept.' That's linking one controversial word to an even more controversial word. There's no question that we...

I agree. Giving up on a specific method of questioning (because you've learned something about it by doing) isn't giving up on questioning altogether....

The irony here is that you suggest that I'm a philosophical suicide because I'm serving as your gadfly. Socrates stung people by making it clear to th...

What I tend to see in philosophical theist is something like a depersonalized god, perhaps a crystalline super-self. For some theists it seems that th...

And a concept is simply a what? And so on, until the whole dictionary hovers without foundation.

I like the squaring-the-circle metaphor. I can imagine passionate squarers hearing rumors of a proof of the impossibility of their mission and saying ...

I realize that @"Dharmi" in fact won't understand what I'm getting at. It might not even be in their interest to understand me. The question remains: ...

Indeed, and I like to think of them as chunks of heroic identity. People kill and die for such things. Flags made of words. Perhaps you'll agree that ...

I love that movie. I'm trying to meet him half way, because I do find these issues fascinating. I don't think Ryan has the experience to see math as m...

I agree completely. I'm trying to show Ryan the difficulties with his approach.

But pure math has successfully avoided the pictures. It finally triumphed over an uncertain prop. The issue here is systematic reasoning in a strict l...