Philosophy Now Forum

That seems like a good way to know how you felt at times-writing it down. I used to keep journals when I was younger, though I don't anymore.

I think he meant that if we surround ourselves with bad or evil, we will become evil.

This does sound interesting. Maybe I will read it.

What kinds of skills would surface to you at a particular moment? Could you provide an example?

Writing does have a kind of therapeutic effect, I think. It is helpful to write my thoughts down in order to really know what it is I am thinking at certain times.

No, I do not think philosophy is nitpicking. It is just a way to understand what is going on around us. Maybe some think that it is, but I don't think that it is.

Isn't an absolute idealist someone who believes that ideas are the only things that exist? Then I think a materialist would disregard concepts altogether, if matter is the only thing that exists to them.

Descartes wasn't talking about if other objects existed, he was questioning his own existence. The cogito ergo sum means I think, therefore I exist. (The computer program idea was not around in his time, obviously it had not been invented yet.) He came to the conclusion that his existence was real b...

I think that certain things can have intrinsic value to a person. Some objects may not have any monetary value, but they can still have worth to a person.

Yes, the first noun is usually the subject. -You spelled grammar incorrectly in the subject line. It is spelled with two a's.

Yes, our mind and body work together, as was discussed by Descartes-the mind-body problem. When we do any sort of action, it is first registered in the brain-then the body completes the action.

I don't know that we can actually do nothing. We are always thinking, and our brains are always working. So we are doing something then.

This is very interesting. I have never read about that before. Thanks for the link!

How can the self be both selfish and selfless at the same time? This seems like a contradiction to me. Of course, people can be both selfish at times and selfless at other times. Does anyone have any ideas?

I think that we are in awe of the choices made in scenario 1 because we think that it is right to help other people in need. This choice to put the other persons' life before our own says that we are not only selfish beings. Our conscience here is at work saying- "You can't leave this person t...