Tom Storm

Yes, it's done all the time. It's a hasty generalization fallacy, where an unwarranted inference is made from a statement about a sample to a statemen...

Maybe, but I think it's unclear. I wouldn't say these answers are glib, so much as deep and instinctive. I have no idea what, if any solutions might w...

I can't say I have ever met or known too many people in Australia who are not interested in these subjects, but they might articulate this interest di...

I'm not saying you are wrong, but how do you know this is true? Does this hinge upon what 'have an interest' means?

As I said, we haven't had the equivalent of a Trump factor. Yet.

I think so. My take: We're a fairly small population and have a different history - negligible military power, virtually no guns, far less religion an...

I think you're correct in your intuition that humans having a shared purpose is more important than critical thinking combined with internecine goals....

I'm assuming ontological monism is foundational to most conceptions of idealism? Any thoughts on how apparent separate instantiations of consciousness...

Interesting comments. I'm not going to argue that you are wrong, but my take is that fear and our tendency towards dualistic thinking may lie behind m...

Don't know how I missed this. Nicely done. :wink:

Nice. That's an interesting comment and seems right. We do live in a time where many seem to share the same mantra - society and individual standards ...

As a layperson, I wonder if there is a clearer way to set this out? I'm beginning to see more plainly what your point is - that good morality may come...

Ok - I see this. Focusing on the strategies rather than the ends (which have long been unclear). So essentially, in getting the 'how' right, you belie...

I think of him more as a classic crank (in the Orwell use of the word). Fair enough, but you see I prefer the notion of accident. And I think this is ...

Sure - my little joke was, can we name the secular humanist equivalent to the Westboro Baptists? Former Baptist, now public atheist, Matt Dillahunty o...

And I guess I keep saying is that it isn't a forgone conclusion that the former is better than the latter. It seems more about aesthetics or personal ...

I did say extreme example, but there are many other churches who hold similar hateful views about women, gay people and culture. The interesting thing...

:up:

I only thought self-reflection was a frequent starting point (not philosophical of itself) but one that may lead you to explore what is true and to ex...

That's true of course. But when did that original meaning become lost; was there ever a golden era of Christianity, say? Luther obviously though it ha...

That's a tantalizing thing to write. Do you feel like exploring this any further so I get the nuances? I often wonder is there a point where useful se...

I understand this but I would suggest the case hasn't been fully made and is an opinion or judgement. And people repeat it endlessly so that it's almo...

Ha! A jest or a truth?

It's still our fortune that god did it and we may benefit. But much of this argument hinges on very specific, expressions or versions of religion. How...

I don't see how this is related to whether a lack of belief isfunctionally the same as disbelief, as I think I have illustrated. I assume you don't be...

Isn't the view of mankind as the fortuitous product of theism and divine necessity just as lopsided and potentially dire? Don't you think it's a rathe...

It's probably important to try to bracket off personal experiences and trauma from an understanding of a broader social issue. While lived experience ...

Two clear problems with Pascal's wager - 1) Which god/s do you pretend to believe in? If you settle on the Anglican Christ, boy is Allah going to be p...

Do you hold a view that all problems are solvable if the intellect or computation capacity is sufficiently high enough?

Well, you're not going to be alone with these sorts of ideas. Many people I know have been aflame with such notions since they were teenagers, decades...

Fair point. It was more personal taste - and what I should have said is that I am not sufficiently immersed in philosophy to obtain useful readings fr...

A lot of people would probably agree. In this vein, I guess we've been in a period where the enlightenment project and the presuppositions of science ...

That's perfectly reasonable and I can roll with that. I am interested in metaphysics and ontology. But owing to time limitations, I tend to look for t...

Yes, I guess I took this as a given. But as an idealist are you not an ontological monist? How would you tentatively resolve the notion of different b...

Ok. I thought some expressions of monism (idealism) understand humans as being dissociated metacognitive alters from the one source, but still with th...

:up:

Can you say how?

I don't think I've ever lived in a world where this is a question that concerns me. 'Perfection' is a word. I just do things to the best of my capacit...

Morality hasn't failed. People are flawed and no moral system can guarantee compassion and generosity. Never has - whether we are serving gods or some...

Humans can't help but chose values and modes of being, so I think this is wrong. We quite readily develop an ethical systems on the principle of harm ...

But the point is not what anyone says to Dr King. The point is everyone comes with a perspective. I do not have Dr King's perspective. Additionally, I...

Very interesting article. The comments and responses were indeed fascinating.

I'd go along with this. Except the 'weirdly exciting' part. I found it intermittently amusing. My partner made me watch it as she is one of those repu...

Extreme relativism is fairly rare. Sounds like you may be frightened of the postmodernists. I think that ship probably sailed decades ago. Truth is an...

That's fine. To me the most interesting aspect of morality is whether anyone can demonstrate objective goals.

Nicely done.

No, that's cool. Thanks for the response, I was just looking for an overview. But it's moving away from the OP. Thanks.

I understand all that and you're right. Personally I doubt that 'reality' can be understood by human beings. But I think we do pretty well with our sl...

I think that's a twist on the truth - I heard he likes to lie under a glass coffee table and watch people shit on him from above. But you were close.