Tom Storm

Again that's not faith as the term is applied to God. Again you are talking about a reasonable expectation based on evidence - you can identify a marr...

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That's a mighty idiosyncratic definition of faith. If you are a Bible believer then (amongst other definitions) it is: "Now faith is the assurance of ...

I'm wary of not using particular words just because of the tensions. But I hear you. As you may recall, I am not a practitioner of any contemplative t...

Thank you for that very nuanced and insightful response. I struggle with the harsher forms of Zen (and I think I do understand the basis for the appro...

Do you have a view as to why this facility is (for want of a better term) hard to reach? There's a sense from some commentators that there is a hierar...

I wonder if there is a price to pay for all that suddenness.

Yes, I suppose I took sudden to be predicated on a lack of preparation rather than the awareness/experience. Is sudden for the first time, or for the ...

Excellent!!

Is a system an organized approach deliberately chosen, or is it something you are thrown into? If it is both, as it must be, then I guess there are so...

I don't know why but the word 'sudden' seems slightly off target.

Isn't this fascinating? Kafka... I really like this. This could be from any number of mystical traditions. And maybe for me this is the initial entry ...

Thank you. I have had the most extraordinary time following this discussion and your questions with their reactions. I had no idea Spinoza with a thin...

I'd be interested in parsing the difference between mystery and mystical - I think the two become confused. It seems fairly clear that those who have ...

Isn't ineffability one of the hallmarks of mysticism? I'm surprised you don't have a ready and cheerful definition fo this. For me Mysticism is an umb...

How would you establish if this means people are more ignorant today than, say, 35 years ago? I wonder how we would work this out. Anecdotal I know, b...

I'm sure that's largely true about the meaning of the faith but not so much God's nature.

I think that's fair. Unless the idea of God is kept enticingly vague and ambiguous, it would be very hard to get agreement on what it means, even from...

Probably Celtic. Australians do this. Well, we used to. My uncle's house burned down. First thing his friend at work says to him is, 'I hear you had a...

We currently do not have any reliable evidence of intelligent life on other planets. Of course for those who believe in personal experience as good ev...

Are you asking the question how do we (best) justify morality?

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You are building on my very point there. Excellent. Good science does precisely that and makes no proclamations about capital T Truth. This is a respo...

Harry this is about epistemology - philosophy has long accepted that knowledge acquired can be divided into that which is a priori (knowledge derived ...

When people use the term capital T truth they generally mean Platonic Truth or the Ultimate Truth, not causality.

He is saying this kind of knowledge is not derived empirically. The justification is otherwise derived. Remember the OP is about empiricism (observati...

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I would have thought that if they were resisting actual tyranny they would have been trying to throw Trump out of office. Goes to show that terrible c...

Thank you. It's a lot easier for me to understand when it is put this way. I'd suggest a few tweaks to the language because it is a bit unclear. I am ...

Seems to be the way of the belief business whatever side you are on. :joke:

Personality. The reverse may be true too. Life is not as enjoyable when there is no risk. The prospect of death intensifies the appreciation of life I...

Faith is the excuse you give for believing something without a good reason. When the Christian/Islamic apologist says (and I have had this many times)...

I think Banno nails it. Some atheists will argue that methodological naturalism is the most reliable tool we have for gaining knowledge about the worl...

Agree it is far from simple. And many of our problems today will require more globalization, not less.

Do you think you would be able to summarize your ethical system in 5 or 6 dot points or a syllogism?

We've already discussed the issues. I am now at the don't give a fuck point. Nothing wrong with that.

Yeah, that's right, Fishfry. I am deluded and don't understand the issues like you do.

I don't give a fuck.

For the power, connections, fame. It's the ultimate prize. I doubt he knew what he was getting into for starters. But I don't want to debate DT.

I am aware of this. I'm not overly concerned.

I think that is a critical point. I'm not sure Trump cared either but he said he did. No one had heard that before.

Never thought a lie detector would solve a fundamental metaphysical conundrum

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I wouldn't accept that it is painful or arduous. I wouldn't accept that there are only uncomfortable or affirming ones. Plenty of ideas are simply the...

I have never understood that. I can't think of an artist more life affirming than him. I don't generally accept a dark versus light view of music. It ...

I can't relate to pop music and never listened to the music of my youth (mid 1970's and 1980's). I generally find rock to be aesthetically unpleasant ...

It will only establish that they think they exist. How do they know it is them doing the thinking?

I have no problem with the creation of suffering as you describe it. Anti-natalists are just mass murderers who don't like to see blood.