Philosophy Now Forum

Thank you VoT, and everyone else who replied to this post. It has helped me put things in a bit of perspective. I think I was just having an unusually low moment, and all my frustrations came out in the post. I'm not saying anything I wrote was wrong, but it's not really that big of a deal from wher...

Well what most people do is if they don't get on in one reality is escape to another. There is a world of possibilities out there, you could lose yourself in the world of Sci fi/Comic conventions, join a communist party, get obsessed with animal rights, live an alternative lifestyle, become a Buddh...

No, you sound just like anyone else wondering if there is any meaning in a meaningless universe. But I think you have come to the wrong website; this is philosophy, not psychology. I see you've changed your avatar. Took me a moment to realize who had replied. Possibly a psychology website would be ...

At first I thought I might be having a mid-life crisis, as I am approaching 40, but then I remembered I had that in my late 20’s (Quit a very lucrative job, opened a small restaurant in a foreign country). I lived overseas for about 10 years, and came back a few years ago, and maybe I am having rev...

Hanuman, I think you are very insightful and thank you for sharing your thoughts. From what you wrote it sounds like Heidegger's hermeneutical horizon, which roughly means we are conditioned by historicity so that when we understand or interpret/choose/react etc. we do so because of our previous 'f...

It looks like the thread has taken a different turn than I intended, which is fine. However, I am not too familiar with the latest philosophical theory and research, so I really don't have much to say on the subject.

I believe that the free will issue is kind of BS. Of course we have free will, there is no doubt. I think a lot of people would disagree with you here. There is, in fact a lot of doubt, by many people. There's very little doubt, amongst philosophers. If there is a large number of significant doubte...

I took the argument in philosophy, as to the efficacy of free will, to actually be subject to predisposition, such that free will seems to be illusory. Is that not what you took away from the table? Forgive my ignorance. Can you dumb down the question a little, as I am missing what you are asking m...

I believe that the free will issue is kind of BS. Of course we have free will, there is no doubt. I think a lot of people would disagree with you here. There is, in fact a lot of doubt, by many people. From where do you get your evidence? On the other side of the coin, there is in fact a lot of evi...

I have not heard of the show artisticsolution, but it does remind me of a story my mother told me when I was younger: A traveler walks up to a town and asks an old man sitting at the front of town, "What are the people like here?" The old man replies, what were the people like where you ca...

I was listening to the PN Podcast concern free will and the brain. While I was able to follow most of it, I did have trouble following some parts, particularly Ms. Camilla Martin’s positions. However, a theory popped in my head, from one of her comments, that I’d like to share with you. For those mo...

I think the need for a purpose is a by-product of self-awareness. Once you figured out, "I think, therefore I am", a logical follow-up is "Why?". The purpose of anything is to satisfy a need. Without need, there is no purpose. And to assume anything or everything exists because i...

There are three main ways we learn about our world, through experience, were we are able to test our observations, through observation where we are able to witness the events taking place, and through what others tell us. Most of the information we get comes from others. It then follows that our ab...

Perhaps I'm off-topic a bit, but after following this thread, it dawned on me that there are different types of atheists out there. 1) There is no god, but is not too bothered by others who think so. 2) There is no god, and thinks those that do believe are idiots. 3) There is no god, but people need...

... Why should believing that there is a supreme being benefit a component of society moreso than one that believes there is not? ... Its a good question why should believing in a 'supreme being' entitle one to a tax-break? Who said the guys living it up tax-free actually believe? :lol: I agree. Yo...