Philosophy Now Forum

People from Texas are overbearing and know all the answers, that has been my impression too, so far. But can´t you just ask questions in a friendly an inoffensive way and choosing a good moment ? For example you could ask about the freedom of speech being guaranteed by the American Constitution and ...

Umberto is my favourite Italian writer, his style is simple and clear, only sometimes he is a little bit crude. Last summer I read "Il pendulo di Foucault", it was about secret societies, free masons and others. The main character Casaubon was getting over-excited mentally by making associ...

So if a trustworthy person tells me that an apple tastes good, I know that it tastes good. But only if I eat it slowly myself, I grok that it tastes good. Could you say that the difference between the two is like between knowing something theoretically and experiencing something personally ? But how...

Hi M. it is "L´isola del giorno prima" (the island of the previous day), a novel about a young man, Roberto, who saves himself on a deserted ship, which happens to be full with food, and which is close to two islands, but Roberto cannot swim and there is no extra boat on the ship. A very s...

So when Socrates told people: "Know thyself", you could say instead: "Grok thyself" ?

And "Groktruth" means "very deep truth" ? As opposed to superficial truth ?

Hello Tom,

please tell us what new insights the book has given you so that the rest of us can share it vicariously.
Not everyone can read everything.
I read a huge volume on Philosophy of Language and Umberto Eco in Italian. I might contribute something later on, if I see an interesting connection.

One last question for today:

Does your name reveal or suggest something ?
I have found the word "grog" but not "grok".

"Every statement reveals something usufully true." Even if someone states a lie ? You can often hear a lie by the tone of the voice and the circumstances. But a written lie is much more difficult to detect. At least the fact that someone makes a certain assertion is true. Even if you do no...

But have you never regretted having learned about something that you would rather forget later on but couldn´t because your memory was so good ? Vita festinat. = Life goes on quickly. If you spend your time looking at the ugly face of human nature you may miss something delightful, because you canno...

Nietzsche and Marx ?
But you cannot agree with both of them at the same time, can you ?

Welcome to the forum.

This reminds me of a fable by La Fontaine: An oak boasted before a blade of grass that he was big and strong. A thunderstorm came, the oak was cracked in two and perished, and the blade of grass, which was flexible, survived and thrived. Someone wrote a counter-fable arguing that it is better to be ...

It is one thing to practice self-irony.
It is another thing to call someone else .... , as if he were perishing on his way to the nearest hospital.

Would you mind being called modern snug or brainy snail by people who do not want to feel impolite ?

Why this name ?
Would you not prefer to call yourself a little bit more cheerfully ?
Your name suggests some priest of ugliness ...

Latin letters would facilitate contacts between Russians and the rest of the world. By the way, for the same reason I would suggest to let go of many special signs in the Polish language too. You are right that innovations are strongly resisted at first. People need some firm ground to cling to, in ...

I was born in Poland, and I learned Russian as a child, and also later on a little bit. Because I made the acquaintance of some people who were able to show me the beauty of the Russian language. Would it not be easier to introduce Latin letters for the Russian language ? The Chinese have some sort ...