Getting started in Philosophy

Copernicus did not prove it however. With Copernicus it was strictly speculation, just like all the other predecessors of Galileo whom we erroneously call "scientists".

Galileo was indeed the first scientist.
 
Copernicus did not prove it however. With Copernicus it was strictly speculation, just like all the other predecessors of Galileo whom we erroneously call "scientists".

Galileo was indeed the first scientist.


More nonsense from the 'scholar' of the book jacket...^^^^^
 
The study of philosophy is only worth a damn if your motivation is primal fear towards the widely-accepted idea that death leads to eternal oblivion. The Pipe asked its father at age 6 and a half, What is death?, and its father basically said that death leads to eternal oblivion---"when you're dead, you're dead". The Pipe could not accept that as true. This kicked off a lifelong scrutiny of the notion of nihilism/eternal oblivion. This eventually led to boiling it all down to three fundamental questions that all philosophers should address: Why am I alive as a temporary creature? Is there a singular, dominating creator? Is there consciousness after death? They are loaded questions that spawn many extrapolations. In the end, the answers are reached via logic, reason, heart, intuition, and a tiny leap of faith in a fearless & eternal idea. Furthermore, like it or not---and most of you won't---studying philosophy, spirituality, and enlightenment without resorting to drugs like marijuana, MDMA, LSD, and shrooms, is like studying an ocean whilst camped in a desert.
 
The first philosophy book I read was The Decline of the West by Oswald Spengler. I chose that book because I knew it would be offensive.
 
The first philosophy book I read was The Decline of the West by Oswald Spengler. I chose that book because I knew it would be offensive.
How did you know it was offensive? And, specifically, what was offensive about it?

When Hitler was in prison and wrote Mein Kamph he was reading the works of Spengler. I hate Hitler but wanted to read what made him go insane.
 
The first philosophy book I read was The Decline of the West by Oswald Spengler. I chose that book because I knew it would be offensive.
How did you know it was offensive? And, specifically, what was offensive about it?

When Hitler was in prison and wrote Mein Kamph he was reading the works of Spengler. I hate Hitler but wanted to read what made him go insane.
Fair enough. Any specific points about Spengler's book that you found offensive? Any passages you think responsible for Hitler going insane?
 
The study of philosophy is only worth a damn if your motivation is primal fear towards the widely-accepted idea that death leads to eternal oblivion. The Pipe asked its father at age 6 and a half, What is death?, and its father basically said that death leads to eternal oblivion---"when you're dead, you're dead". The Pipe could not accept that as true. This kicked off a lifelong scrutiny of the notion of nihilism/eternal oblivion. This eventually led to boiling it all down to three fundamental questions that all philosophers should address: Why am I alive as a temporary creature? Is there a singular, dominating creator? Is there consciousness after death? They are loaded questions that spawn many extrapolations. In the end, the answers are reached via logic, reason, heart, intuition, and a tiny leap of faith in a fearless & eternal idea. Furthermore, like it or not---and most of you won't---studying philosophy, spirituality, and enlightenment without resorting to drugs like marijuana, MDMA, LSD, and shrooms, is like studying an ocean whilst camped in a desert.


What a load of ignorant, juvenile nonsense.
 
The first philosophy book I read was The Decline of the West by Oswald Spengler. I chose that book because I knew it would be offensive.
Many if not all of Spengler's ideas proved to be merely speculative fallacies.

The West (Caucasian Land) has dominated Asia, Africa, Arabia, and even Latin America since the dawn of European exploration.

There is no end in sight, although if China plays its cards right (unlike Japan which did not) then it may gain some dominance if it can curb its population and feed its masses.

Simply put, the USA (and Russia) have the most vast natural resources of any of the other 206 sovereign nations.

Whether Adolf went insane reading Spengler seems unlikely to me.

Judging from the pages of "Mein Kampf," which was co-authored as a joint effort not just by Adolf himself, but judging by it he was already insane when he wrote it.

He was insane with hate.

Hate is an emotion and it can easily drive you insane.

When Jesus said to love your enemies he probably meant to look at their good side and try to make amends with them, or else perhaps to kill them mercifully and humanely, but not hatefully.

There is a good wiki write-up on Spengler:

The Decline of the West - Wikipedia
 
The study of philosophy is only worth a damn if your motivation is primal fear towards the widely-accepted idea that death leads to eternal oblivion. The Pipe asked its father at age 6 and a half, What is death?, and its father basically said that death leads to eternal oblivion---"when you're dead, you're dead". The Pipe could not accept that as true. This kicked off a lifelong scrutiny of the notion of nihilism/eternal oblivion. This eventually led to boiling it all down to three fundamental questions that all philosophers should address: Why am I alive as a temporary creature? Is there a singular, dominating creator? Is there consciousness after death? They are loaded questions that spawn many extrapolations. In the end, the answers are reached via logic, reason, heart, intuition, and a tiny leap of faith in a fearless & eternal idea. Furthermore, like it or not---and most of you won't---studying philosophy, spirituality, and enlightenment without resorting to drugs like marijuana, MDMA, LSD, and shrooms, is like studying an ocean whilst camped in a desert.
Philosophy is critical to any understanding of life, whether physical, emotional, political, scientific, or religious.

What happens after we die is less relevant than what we do during our lives.

Philosophy helps us to understand meanings and gives us benchmarks for making choices.

Unless you want to live your life brainwashed by religion, or unless you make science your religion, you will need philosophy to free you from ignorance and bad thinking.

The ancient Greeks discovered this as well.
 
The study, and practice, of Philosophy does not preclude either science or faith. The ancient Greeks understood THAT very well.
 
...after you have taken one or two college classes then you already know all the philosophy that you ever need to know in your life.


If you really think so, you wasted your time starting this thread and you understand nothing.
Everyone needs to understand the basics of philosophical thinking.

But you can get the basics in just a couple or 3 semesters.

First semester -- survey course.

Second semester -- modern course.

Third semester -- logic versus rhetoric.

There you have it.

You really don't need to become an expert at every Tom, Dick, and Harry philosopher beyond the survey course.

The evolution of the history of Philosophy is worth studying for Greece AND for China because this tells how clear human thought arose.

Aristotle is the first philosopher that is worth studying. Plato is a big waste of time.

Aristotle gave us logic, ethics, identification of fallacies, the Prime Mover proof of God, etc.

Descartes is the next philosopher worth studying because he vanquished the skeptics with cogito ergo sum -- you cannot deny cogito ergo sum.

Immanuel Kant is the next philosopher worth studying.

It is also good to know Machiavelli and Nietzsche in case you need to kill somebody, such as for jobs like a cop, soldier, CIA, or head of state. Revenge is a dish best served cold. That which does not kill us makes us stronger.

Funny I was just reading about Kant in my Police Ethics book today and how his idea of absolutism is wrong on so many levels, because everything is based on as long as you do things for the right reasons, the outcome doesn't matter.
 
...after you have taken one or two college classes then you already know all the philosophy that you ever need to know in your life.


If you really think so, you wasted your time starting this thread and you understand nothing.
Everyone needs to understand the basics of philosophical thinking.

But you can get the basics in just a couple or 3 semesters.

First semester -- survey course.

Second semester -- modern course.

Third semester -- logic versus rhetoric.

There you have it.

You really don't need to become an expert at every Tom, Dick, and Harry philosopher beyond the survey course.

The evolution of the history of Philosophy is worth studying for Greece AND for China because this tells how clear human thought arose.

Aristotle is the first philosopher that is worth studying. Plato is a big waste of time.

Aristotle gave us logic, ethics, identification of fallacies, the Prime Mover proof of God, etc.

Descartes is the next philosopher worth studying because he vanquished the skeptics with cogito ergo sum -- you cannot deny cogito ergo sum.

Immanuel Kant is the next philosopher worth studying.

It is also good to know Machiavelli and Nietzsche in case you need to kill somebody, such as for jobs like a cop, soldier, CIA, or head of state. Revenge is a dish best served cold. That which does not kill us makes us stronger.

Funny I was just reading about Kant in my Police Ethics book today and how his idea of absolutism is wrong on so many levels, because everything is based on as long as you do things for the right reasons, the outcome doesn't matter.



You need to study it much more deeply than that Yoi kid ever has.
 

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