Physician Heal Thyself

Can philosophers help resolve the real problems that people have in their lives?

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Systematic
Posts: 346
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2015 5:29 am

Physician Heal Thyself

Post by Systematic »

It occurred to me, while doing some free association, that absolute skepticism may in fact be a deeper issue than it seems. Sure, you can split nearly every hair, and that does seem to be reasonable. But what if you actually do know something? What if absolute skepticism is a defense mechanism. You could be guarding against those people in your past who doubted you. It's a bit like Nietzsche's conception of slave morality (i.e. skepticism is good, because you are a skeptic, and because you secretly want to be the good one.). Or it's like the saying: "You can't fire me if I quit first." You might say that skepticism is a way to keep you from being wrong, but actually, it keeps you from ever being right. Anything right that you think does not stand a chance.

What about those people who believe everything? Rather, what about you? Physician heal thyself.
Systematic
Posts: 346
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2015 5:29 am

Re: Physician Heal Thyself

Post by Systematic »

Philosophers are crazy, but is not something that cannot be cured. The root of the crazy is absolute honesty. It was not so long ago that philosophers were running for their lives from dogmatic psychopaths, and before that the Romans would literally excommunicate them from the city. And before that, Athenians killed Socrates.

But suddenly humanity has changed its own mind about free thinkers? I for one, am highly dubious of that.

So, for your own sake, and for the sake of truth, learn to lie. Learn to act normal. Seek the truth, certainly. But don't be foolish about it.
Spyrith
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2019 9:22 am

Re: Physician Heal Thyself

Post by Spyrith »

Systematic wrote: Thu Feb 20, 2020 2:03 pm Philosophers are crazy, but is not something that cannot be cured. The root of the crazy is absolute honesty. It was not so long ago that philosophers were running for their lives from dogmatic psychopaths, and before that the Romans would literally excommunicate them from the city. And before that, Athenians killed Socrates.

But suddenly humanity has changed its own mind about free thinkers? I for one, am highly dubious of that.

So, for your own sake, and for the sake of truth, learn to lie. Learn to act normal. Seek the truth, certainly. But don't be foolish about it.
If all philosophers thought like this, none would have come and put their own ideas forward to change the system into what we have today.

Also worth nothing is that the system that persecuted the philosophers was almost always built and legitimized by other philosophers.

To go back to your Socrates, one reason he himself was executed was because he despised Athenian democracy, and supported the regime of the Thirty Tyrants, that basically purged Athens at the time.
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