Anybody want to discuss philosophy?

[Jackson]

Perhaps the opposite of love is "loneliness." We've seen families fall apart, people who have lost their way without considering the feelings of others and alienating themselves. We;ve seen victims of addictions who haven't lived up to their responsibilities and found they have no one in their lives any longer.

When a person has lost the ability to love, be compassionate and empathize with others they find themselves alone.

 

[Gideonprime]

Perhaps the opposite of love is "loneliness." We've seen families fall apart, people who have lost their way without considering the feelings of others and alienating themselves. We;ve seen victims of addictions who haven't lived up to their responsibilities and found they have no one in their lives any longer.

When a person has lost the ability to love, be compassionate and empathize with others they find themselves alone.

But you can still feel love and be lonely or even alone.

You can even love yourself (no masterbation jokes unless they are really funny).

Now surrendering to addiction is or could be a loss of love for yourself.

 

[JakeStarkey]

I think addiction may be despair for any worthiness of Self, more than a loss of love for self.

 

[Procrustes Stretched]

good OP. checked out the link to pdf -- good.

here is a bit of info: http://web.nmsu.edu/~jvessel/christian-what do you mean.pdf it's not a download so no worry. just a viewable pdf file

 

[Greenbeard]

Leaving aside the issue of whether there is in fact a better place (heaven?), do you think life is not worth living?

Probably depends on the life. I don't see why one should expect a uniform, blanket answer to this question from everyone, though among currently living folks I imagine you'll find a bias toward "no."

 

[Unkotare]

But this thread isn't intended to evolve into another pissing contest over whether religion is a bunch of hooey or not.

Good luck with that (really).

 

[Unkotare]

I'd live 1000 years if I could. More if I could.

You don't know that.

 

[Unkotare]

I'd enjoy immortality. Sadly I am starting to think I might not get there.

You're already there.

 

[Unkotare]

God did not create reality in order to love. God would have created this reality because God was bored!

Can God get bored?

 

[Billo_Really]

Because hate is easier. Love takes work if you want it to last. Hate just seems to well up when one is trwated poorly, disregarded, abused, etc.

I don't know, some people love to hate.

Got to agree with manifold obout apathy being its oposite.

No, it's not apathy.

 

[Gideonprime]

I think addiction may be despair for any worthiness of Self, more than a loss of love for self.

Nice! Yeah I can see that.

 

[amrchaos]

God did not create reality in order to love. God would have created this reality because God was bored!

Can God get bored?

If you know everything and know the future, what is left to contemplate or enjoy?

Existence loses interests. That is the beginning of boredom.

 

[Unkotare]

God did not create reality in order to love. God would have created this reality because God was bored!

Can God get bored?

If you know everything and know the future, what is left to contemplate or enjoy?

Existence loses interests. That is the beginning of boredom.

You are thinking of an omniscient human rather than God.


You're bored when you feel there is nothing to do. When you are everything that can possibly be done, and by your impulse for something to be possible it necessarily is so, how can you be bored? There can never be nothing to do when you are everything that can be done, has been done, or will be done.

 

[Something_Else]

First issue:
" Through the ages, humans have sought clues to life’s meaning through our reli-
gions and philosophies. To date they have given us immense help, but a contempo-
rary overview of humanity’s quest supplies us with a superabundance of answers, so
many answers in fact that we can’t decide among them,and any decision seems arbi-
trary and limited. " Philosophy: An Introduction to the Fine Art of Wondering, by James L. Christian (page 2)

Leaving aside the issue of whether there is in fact a better place (heaven?), do you think life is not worth living? I kind of have a problem with that idea, because it leads to a defeatist attitude and an decreased chance of experiencing the joys and successes that life can bring. Sure, life is full of the slings and arrows of outragious fortune, wrongs done with no justice applied. However, by reaching out to those who are experiencing those trials and tribulations I believe we enrich our own lives, helping each other through the rough spots can be enormously satisfying and rewarding, not to mention maybe getting a helping hand yourself when you need it.

Thank you for providing an overview so I don't have to download the book. (It looks like an into to phil text, so I'm probably not going to download it).

Personally, I think that aside from other issues which might be more group focused, this is a relative question by nature; hence all answers will be valid, since they are relative and not based on any kind of GUT (grand unified theory).

I like to think along the lines of "life is what you make it to be". And following further down that train of thought, I tend to subscribe to an existential perspective. Although I believe this "agnst" driven philosophy is still in vogue (for pseudo intellects anyway), I still think it has a lot of merit as a starting point for personal accomplishment and success.

Without placing great importance on actual tangible achievements, I am more de-motivated to meet my personal goals. In fact, I have recently started using the Zig Ziglar motivational media to help me accomplish my various goals: Goals are, for me, the zest, spice, color, and flavor of life. To really believe that you can simply work towards any goal you set, and have a great chance of success, if a really moving feeling for me personally.

I think a major barrier to people being happy in this world is due to a lack of realism (back to a little existentialism here, but I want to note that an existentialist would probably argue that comprehension leads to sadness, which I agree with). The ideas put forth by popular media and by modern institutions simply mean so little to people because they are fed these ideas without being able to "digest" them. I was recently thinking about this in my own life, about how I was exposed to various popular "truisms" that I simply wasn't prepared for. But I don't blame our American society, because every society deals with this issue.

I base my philosophy on my spirituality, so I won't go into greater detail here since because you mentioned it might be outside the scope of this thread. Great topic.

 

[Wiseacre]

" I like to think along the lines of "life is what you make it to be". And following further down that train of thought, I tend to subscribe to an existential perspective. Although I believe this "agnst" driven philosophy is still in vogue (for pseudo intellects anyway), I still think it has a lot of merit as a starting point for personal accomplishment and success. "


Okay, I'm going to hit on a few of your paragraphs separately so as not to get too confused, which I must admit happens all too often with me. "Life is what you make it to be" sort of suggests you are in control, which isn't always true IMHO. Each of us is presented with numerous decisions in our daily lives, each of which has consequences known and unknown. Sometimes things turn to shit even though we have the best of intentions, through no fault of our own, or at least not so much fault anyway.

It is believed that most of our values, beliefs, attitudes, and basic principles are formed in our 1st decade of life. And it takes a significant event to change them; birth, death, marriage, divorce, etc. So maybe we do make of our lives what we want, but also our lives have been shaped by forces outside of our control. So, what can we do about it? Keep on plugging, thinking, trying to make a better person of yourself and make better decisions.

 

[Wiseacre]

" Without placing great importance on actual tangible achievements, I am more de-motivated to meet my personal goals. [Why is that?] In fact, I have recently started using the Zig Ziglar motivational media to help me accomplish my various goals: Goals are, for me, the zest, spice, color, and flavor of life. To really believe that you can simply work towards any goal you set, and have a great chance of success, if a really moving feeling for me personally. "


I think that working towards any goal is what it's all about, whether you actually succeed or not. Honestry and integrity, industry and perserverence, those things you exhibit to attain your goals may be more important than the achievement itself. Don't know about "a great chance of success", but it would certainly get better if you work harder and smarter. Also, a word about what those goals are, there's nothing wrong with personal goals but there's something to be said for how worthy your goals are. Are you being too selfish, or more altruistic? Are you satisfied with smaller goals that do not require that much effort, or something larger that may may prove more beneficial not only to yourself but also others.

 

[The Irish Ram]

I was wondering if anyone around here was interested in a thread about philosophy. I'm getting a little tired of the wrangling over politics and the economy, and am looking for something a little less emotional. A friend showed me a book that I thought might be interesting; it has over 630 pages, with many potential topics of discussion. Gonna take awhile to work my way through this one. The book is:

Philosophy: An Introduction to the Fine Art of Wondering, by James L. Christian. The original version was written some 40 years ago in the early 70s, the latest is the 11th version written in 2011. You can by it online at various websites but it's expensive, costong over $135 in someplaces. But I'm a cheap bastard, I found a website where I could download the previous version (10th) for free.

file, Download

So, if anyone is interested we can talk about the the hell is going on and why. Note that this is not a thread about religion, I don't give a damn what you believe or don't believe. If you want to offer your views about God, one way or another, feel free. I believe the subject is going to come up anyway sooner or later. But this thread isn't intended to evolve into another pissing contest over whether religion is a bunch of hooey or not. I do hope any who contribute here will respect another's right to their own views.

Live Wyatt, live for me......

 

[JakeStarkey]

Goals: process plus product. That is what I think. To be free to maximize your living and love others. The following link (an LDS blog) floored me, about a gay LDS guy happily married in a heterosexual relationship with three daughters for ten years. The point was not theological or LDS or what one has to be. The points were to love and be supportive of others.

The Weed: Club Unicorn: In which I come out of the closet on our ten year anniversary

" Without placing great importance on actual tangible achievements, I am more de-motivated to meet my personal goals. [Why is that?] In fact, I have recently started using the Zig Ziglar motivational media to help me accomplish my various goals: Goals are, for me, the zest, spice, color, and flavor of life. To really believe that you can simply work towards any goal you set, and have a great chance of success, if a really moving feeling for me personally. "


I think that working towards any goal is what it's all about, whether you actually succeed or not. Honestry and integrity, industry and perserverence, those things you exhibit to attain your goals may be more important than the achievement itself. Don't know about "a great chance of success", but it would certainly get better if you work harder and smarter. Also, a word about what those goals are, there's nothing wrong with personal goals but there's something to be said for how worthy your goals are. Are you being too selfish, or more altruistic? Are you satisfied with smaller goals that do not require that much effort, or something larger that may may prove more beneficial not only to yourself but also others.

 

[Wiseacre]

" I think a major barrier to people being happy in this world is due to a lack of realism "

Are you saying a person can't be happy and realistic at the same time? Don't know as I'd subscribe to that, I can be very realistic about myself and still be happy with who I am.

 

[JakeStarkey]

" I think a major barrier to people being happy in this world is due to a lack of realism "

Are you saying a person can't be happy and realistic at the same time? Don't know as I'd subscribe to that, I can be very realistic about myself and still be happy with who I am.

I think the opposite is what is meant: that people who can't be realistic can't be happy because they cannot interpret matters as they are in time space.

However, we all know the person with whom we have all disagreed at one time or another, and not only are we wrong, we are evil, by that person's standards. That makes the person very happy in judging others, no matter how unrealistic that judgement may be.