Tom Storm

I suspect that we've been jumping around a bit. I think however that your point goes back to how one determines what's important in order to achieve t...

Sure. But the higher level expertise of philosophy - central ideas, critical texts, (the meat, if you like) are often what this site examines, and not...

I didn't mean to say that D had never heard of Nietzsche. A caller rang and asked what D thought of N's ideas. D shrugged and looked him up and said s...

Hmm. I'm often an elitist. If I am going to have brain surgery, say, I want the best. Ditto dental surgery. I think there's a difference between the i...

Can't speak for Jamal ( or Nabokov who I revere as a genius) but I can see how being sensitive is empathy and recognition of complexities and how thes...

Nice.

Commentators sometimes make a connection between sentimentalism and barbarism. It's true that amongst the most lachrymose, sentimental people l have m...

I was wondering if this was going to come up. I'm curious too.

I suspect he is moved to tears in recognition of his own sensitivity; in other words, Peterson's tears are for himself.

:up: Overall I've had good and bad experiences in both.

I have worked in both sectors, here in Australia, and I have spent significant time working with senior executives in banking and law, along with year...

Thank you, I appreciate the effort, but I am unable to make sense of any of this. Perhaps some others will find it useful.

I actually think Dillahunty did a good job with Peterson. Peterson is so often inscrutable or cryptic and you wonder if this is just because he is tha...

Maybe, but I thought Peterson was just taking up Nietzsche here. “I am afraid we are not rid of God because we still have faith in grammar”? (Twilight...

I think that's reasonable. Problem is too many public atheists have focused so much on the low hanging fruit of literalism that they have become "fund...

I'd probably call you an atheist but I see why you say agnostic deist. I'd go along with this too. I thought JTB was not much held to these days in ep...

:up:

I agree. The impact of words on people can be significant, so word choice can be a moral act. If we believe that morality is largely about trying to r...

:up: No problem. I would also add that I never know who a person really is. This would seem to require some divine attributes. :wink: . All I can do i...

Really? Where do you live? Seems to me racism, bigotry and even hatred are frequently expressed in mainstream culture. I have generally found that the...

I think it's fine for people to hold different views on this matter. As an atheist, I'm not significantly concerned about definitions and I know there...

It's ok by me if you have problems with this. As an atheist, I find it useful. :wink: You may be right about this.

Like many atheists I do not say there is no god since that is a positive claim which requires demonstration. I find agnostic atheist to be a useful fo...

This is inaccurate and atheists don't say that unless they are in America, say, and dealing with the presumption of the single Christian god. They ten...

It's dinner time here - my partner is about to serve up some corned beef, with a hot mustard sauce, new potatoes, swedes, cabbage and freshly baked, s...

:up: Often the case. I was brought up in the Baptist tradition (Australia in the 1970's) which then and now consisted of many liberal and autonomous c...

Yes, probably true.

With respect, I'd say these guys are pretty close to practicing scientism and not philosophy. I share many of their presuppositions, but they simply b...

I think he is suggesting that our conventional understanding/description of the world is based on premises as contestable as those of idealism. It is ...

Perhaps this is the Tarantino inspired version of Johnson's, "I refute it thus!"

I think I follow - can you say some more?

Ha! I agree. The point they are making is shaky. From the American Atheist website: I wasn't aware of their definition until recent years. But this co...

I will continue to use atheist as my own personal label since it is more useful. The agnostics I know do not say they do not believe in gods they typi...

No, I don't believe in gods, I consider myself an atheist. You don't get to tell me how I identify. :cool: Mind you, the word probably doesn't matter....

I think you may be confused. I am an agnostic atheist - a fairly common term these days in freethinking circles. Atheism goes to belief, agnosticism g...

Interesting. I've been wondering about this. There was a time when people seemed to want more lofty personalities for high office. But I guess populis...

Could it be that maths, like space and time are part of our human cognitive apparatus in some way?

Preventing suffering and promoting flourishing - often based on a human rights or sacredness of the individual frame. I'm known many abusive, nasty pe...

No. I'm not going to accept the example of one guy or even 100 guys. My grandfather lived to 98 and was healthy as a horse. He smoked two packets of c...

Exactly. It's in the usage.

And given the above, for me, one of the important aspects of the Western tradition in more recent times (contested though it might be in some parts) i...

Yeah, I guess that makes up for slavery, robbery, barbarity and genocide.

No. :up:

Do you believe there is a meaningful distinction between a physicalist and a naturalist? The naturalist, presumably has a broader scope than a physica...

Just that for physicalists (and secular humanists) I know, they would argue that they hold to methodological naturalism and not philosophical (or meta...

Don't some philosophers suggest that this comes down to the distinction between philosophical naturalism or methodological naturalism?

Well, I guess behavior is physical. We choose to follow a convention or choose not to be fined. Brain activity/chemicals, etc. Then we physically appl...

I don't disagree but can I ponder this with you for a bit? My understanding of physicalism is that it tends to deny the existence of non-physical subs...

I always read what you post. I can't claim to always understand it, but I am getting better. :wink: