Tom Storm

I thought you were going to say that we should abolish pop music (sign me up) and that people need to read more Shakespeare or Dostoyevsky.

Good for you. I've made my point.

That can be a problem. We sometimes see this in aged care services here because nursing staff tend to come from cultures and countries where literalis...

I think some conditions respond badly to it, but I forget which. Amongst many in the helping professions I have found there is often an anti-Western b...

I have experienced quite the opposite, many folk I know who have been mindfulness practitioners or therapists seem to think they are in touch with Bud...

:up: I'm curious - can you give an example fo cultural enhancement?

Pizza's are made by a satanic cabal of elites who are child molesters, don't have one!

I agree with the thrust of this. But don't most phenomenologists incorporate the scientific these days under the rubric of a provisional and fallibili...

Sounds like the infinite regress of Marvel superhero origin stories.

Hmmm. This is very far from 'basic stuff' and I doubt you would get much agreement as to what constitutes the notion of 'beautify' or 'enhance culture...

No, rejection has no burden of proof. I reject belief in god/Bigfoot on the basis that the case has not been made. Burden of proof applies to a positi...

True. I've seen the same phenomenon with believers reading Mein Kampf.

Faith is the excuse people give for believing when they don't have a good reason. It's a facile justification but we know it is very satisfying psycho...

Can you demonstrate that any suffering is unnecessary from god's perspective? How could people determine god's intended business?

A haunting and desolate novel. Don't read it if you are feeling low...

I don't. I'm here because I paid scant attention to philosophy when I was young and I am trying to work out if I missed anything. Answer: yes and no. ...

I generally ask, "What difference does it make?" In the end, there is a lot of information and detail that actually contributes nothing to knowledge o...

In some contexts this statement would be completely true. :razz:

I'm no expert here but it seems to me Kastrup - who is a very articulate communicator and does a great road show - is essentially riffing off Schopenh...

Sounds like you are already a believer but I wonder if this is an argument from ignorance at work. Personally I am sympathetic to mysterianism. The qu...

I know this is not to me but... do facts run to a stopwatch? :wink: What if it takes 200 years? And it isn't just science that hasn't resolved these q...

This is to some extent my own instinctive sense of reason. I find it interesting how many believers with a philosophical bent still attempt to use rea...

I don't think these premises are all that strong, to be honest. The conclusion at best would be that God may be different in nature than some versions...

Thanks TC. But I meant what I said and I think the point is a moderate one. :smile: My imagination is working fine. Maybe I put it badly. Let me try a...

I was going to make precisely the same point. The bigger problem for the theist is that they have no way of explaining how or why a god created anythi...

Cheap shot, but that made me laugh. A lot. Over my life I have known many transgender people - young and old. Some very brave folk who were out there ...

That sounds great - and what did you have to eat?

Not all Christian traditions are concerned with crass notions of salvation. There are some much more mystical theological expressions such as the Apop...

Possibly not all that much but it is interesting to read about Prauss. I have a superficial interest in idealism in general - in appreciating its attr...

Does that rule apply if you shoot a burglar?

An answer to your question requires some scholarship and one of the first steps would be separating whoever Jesus the man was (around whom a complex m...

This is a muddy and unsophisticated view which has been refuted in this thread whenever it has come up. Which is not all that often since it is a pret...

Freud's oceanic sensations generally refer to the 'feeling' some people have of eternity and oneness with all reality, amongst other descriptions. Per...

Nature does what it does. It is human beings who ascribe values. From some points of view nature could be understood as cruel and violent. As meaning ...

I'm pretty sure that's right. I generally think of him as a performance artist.

I imagine there may be a specific Japanese context to this claim. The status of religion in Japan is likely to be quite different to the West's. 'Defe...

No that's English literature. Philosophy is a comb over and a black turtleneck.

Surely that can't be a serious question? Would you use a mechanic who isn't competent? A plumber? Would you use an accountant who can't add up or use ...

Actually it's your definition which is arbitrary as it sets no criteria or competence at all and therefore is not even a definition. You'll remember y...

It's been covered here before on this thread but the notion of expertise is important if someone is going to be given certain titles such as a philoso...

I'll take your word for it.

No. Many serious philosophers do not enjoy the work. They are compelled to enquire and may in fact find the work hard and frustrating.

As I said an erotic component OR sex. You don't need to engage in sex to have an erotic/romantic relationship with someone. If the relationship is ase...

Generally romantic love involves eroticism or actual sex.

I was asking you that question and you answered it. :wink: Personally I think almost every human engages in such questions - with or without the bong....

Anyone? Is there no question about the quality or level of sophistication? Is my illiterate cousin Tony a philosopher? He often ponders the meaning of...

I think history will take care of Plato and Aristotle for good or ill, regardless of anything else. Perhaps 'entertainment' was the wrong word? I thin...

Not that this is particularly relevant, I find I agree with you on all counts - re time, reality, imposed structures/'laws'.

Thanks, yes, poor language use on my part, sorry. I should have written: What has Kant said about the structure of the mind that allows it to make sen...

Nice work. Thanks. Indeed and not just this question. :wink: So this is my understanding too. I am curious about what structures of the mind can mean ...