Tom Storm

Most? Can you provide some examples?

Not skills so much as the body doing its thing. I see a skill as something a human being can acquire or not. Being able to see in a particular way may...

Yes, that is certainly a clear point of K's. That which truly matters is not reasonable. But then I can't help wonder about how miserable K was in lif...

I've often pondered that this may be the case. There is a strong overlap - dukkha - suffering, pain, stress, unease. Is there a text that articulates ...

Is seeing a skill? :smile: I think what we call adapting to change is actually a range of different attributes and facilities. Are you essentially arg...

:ok:

That's a very nice summary of how it works for me.

Is this a skill? I suspect it is a range of skills.

I find Nietzsche almost unreadable.

This was an old multi-purpose lifestyle quote doing the rounds decades ago and generally applied to personalties. I have always considered myself some...

Like many words it is used imprecisely. I am sure most of us have known people who are so resentful and loathing of one thing or person that their who...

Corporate power.

It was for the people I know, but I take your point.

Wittgenstein made the point that a good book of philosophy could be written just using jokes.

Jack, I listen to music, just not that kind.

I just hate the sound and aesthetics of it. What philosophy do you get from it?

I think many people would agree with you. I don't hold this view myself but I don't listen to rock/pop music. What do you feel is the wisdom gleaned f...

Ok thanks for clearing this up. In other words you are a relativist. I thought that might be the case. I'll move on.

Good answer. I've known many people who have chosen those values over making money many times over.

Wrong. Kant would argue that killing in any situation is wrong. You are arguing for subjective ethics. You are confusing principle with objectivity. T...

By the way, this point undermines your position. You are not talking about absolute moral truths, you are talking about a flexible calculation based o...

I certainly prefer his non-fiction to his novels.

No I don't. And so far you have not justified this claim. You haven't been able to address the arguments against your view and keep getting caught in ...

I think that's largely true, W. But intense sexuality is not just for the profane - theists and contemplatives like to give it a go too. Never underes...

Harold Bloom.

Would there be a minimum standard of knowledge a person needs before being eligible for this august appellation?

You haven't really made any connection to porn. You could just have easily made a connection to conservative governments and how they construct female...

I just haven't heard anything yet that suggest that it is bad. Plenty of journalism suggests it is bad for some of the 'artists' involved. Interesting...

How would we know if it was bad for us?

You'll find everyone has a version of God that makes sense of the world for them. He can be anything from an all powerful autocrat, to the ground of b...

Wrong interpretation. He says he has heard pretty much every (traditional and loopy) reason people give and none of these pass standards of reason or ...

How do you figure that? I think what societies develop is a shared response of prohibitions and interdictions (the law) for the nominal sake of preser...

I don't have any philosophy background either so for what it's worth, my take. Thanks for the syllogism. It clarifies your argument. quote="Fides Quae...

The issue I see with this statement is that it is open to many interpretations and comes with some odd assumptions from where I sit. What does empower...

Is this not the direction we are going in? Do you think you can put your argument into a syllogism? The problem of morality - which you have essential...

Of course. And de-conversion or apostasy.

Always interesting Wayfarer. I'm not sure arguments matter all that much on either side of the God/atheism divide. I suspect it's usually a case of a ...

Hmm - I'm not so sure. Obvious examples like restrictions on movement or religious freedom, sure. Hong Kong today versus 1999, certainly. However some...

:100:

Neither do I but they are often positioned in this way. The great battle between Enlightenment and Romanticism. Very true. Is this what happens when r...

I think this is largely true. As long as Soylent Green isn't people, why care? Few people I have spoken to can tell me what freedom actually is in any...

Chesterton as a writer was a witty polemicist and not someone I would go to to learn psychological truths about human beings. His comments sound like ...

I'm more generous about some theists. I think there is a very interesting school of theists that include people like Tillich and David Bentley Hart, w...

I think Singer's book (which I read years ago) is intended to be a provocation. I give a percentage of my money away every year to various causes I ha...

My local parish priest says the same thing - God does not exist, that lowly status belongs only to things of the world. God as Tillich's the 'ground o...

Atheists hold many different views - it is not a consistent system and doesn't intend to be. You need to open this up. Which God are you referring to?...

:pray:

I prefer it as attles. It's funnier.

Yep, I am well aware of the... shall we call it contradiction? It's how I am. I am not a nimble thinker. Having hung around many mystics, Buddhists, y...

I think that's largely true. I think I remember Dawkins saying somewhere that there wasn't much point arguing with progressive believers as their idea...