Morality is not determined by the church you attend nor the faith you embrace. It is determined by the quality of your character and the positive impact you have on those you meet along your journey
I'm sorry to hear about your loss of enjoyment of philosophy.
Yes, I can understand your dislike of the way philosophy has been/is being used to advance the ignorance of religion, but it can also be used as a fight AGAINST that as well. And it is always useful to assist in learning logical thought as well.
Philosophy is now and has always been a source of fascination with me. It was one of the first things I read as a child - even though much of it was very advanced for me. There was just something about it which caught my imagination and held it.
And all the different views presented helped me to accept tolerance as one of the 5 words by which I try to live.
Maybe some day more people will see its importance and use it to counter the stupidity of the fundies.
"Which is really saying somethign since I don't have much use for philosophers anymore."
Why is that? Philosophers provoke thought and discourse. They aren't necessarily factual. Philosophers observe the nature of man, but to understand their belief systems, one must understand the culture of the time. Studying a philosopher is to give us a window into the life and culture of man at a particular time and place in history. As we study them, we can see the error of their conclusions or a consistent pattern of human nature.
I used to define philosophy as "An intellectual journey which leads nowhere except back to where you first started more confused and bewildered than when you took your first step."
I loved philosophy as a young man, and even held out hope that it would someday lead to answers to questions that had long plagued mankind.
Eventually after reading more books than I can even remember, on everyone from Kant, to Plato, to Descartes, I found that though the questions became more defined, there were no definitive answers to be found.
So in the end it all seemed to be mental masturbation for those who did not want to ever really get to the truth.
And if anyone doubts the veracity of this brilliant man's quote, look no further than John McCain doing the rounds about, you guessed it, the weak leadership of President Obama for not arming..... oh hell.. see it for yourself.
If picking a moron for a running mate wasn't cause enough for him to step down, then this show of sheer lunacy surely takes the cake. Where are the Germans, English, French, Italians, Poland, etc. ??? This is an international fiasco of epic proportions, why should the US take the full brunt of fixing everyone else's wars with our military and our lives and limbs?
I'm sorry to hear about your loss of enjoyment of philosophy.
ReplyDeleteYes, I can understand your dislike of the way philosophy has been/is being used to advance the ignorance of religion, but it can also be used as a fight AGAINST that as well. And it is always useful to assist in learning logical thought as well.
Philosophy is now and has always been a source of fascination with me. It was one of the first things I read as a child - even though much of it was very advanced for me. There was just something about it which caught my imagination and held it.
And all the different views presented helped me to accept tolerance as one of the 5 words by which I try to live.
Maybe some day more people will see its importance and use it to counter the stupidity of the fundies.
My favorites Socrates quote:
ReplyDelete"I drank what? !"
:)
"Which is really saying somethign since I don't have much use for philosophers anymore."
ReplyDeleteWhy is that? Philosophers provoke thought and discourse. They aren't necessarily factual. Philosophers observe the nature of man, but to understand their belief systems, one must understand the culture of the time. Studying a philosopher is to give us a window into the life and culture of man at a particular time and place in history. As we study them, we can see the error of their conclusions or a consistent pattern of human nature.
True dat!
DeleteI used to define philosophy as "An intellectual journey which leads nowhere except back to where you first started more confused and bewildered than when you took your first step."
DeleteI loved philosophy as a young man, and even held out hope that it would someday lead to answers to questions that had long plagued mankind.
Eventually after reading more books than I can even remember, on everyone from Kant, to Plato, to Descartes, I found that though the questions became more defined, there were no definitive answers to be found.
So in the end it all seemed to be mental masturbation for those who did not want to ever really get to the truth.
Just an opinion.
All I know about So-Crates is from "Bill and Ted's Great Adventure"...
ReplyDelete;-)
And if anyone doubts the veracity of this brilliant man's quote, look no further than John McCain doing the rounds about, you guessed it, the weak leadership of President Obama for not arming..... oh hell.. see it for yourself.
ReplyDeletehttp://crooksandliars.com/2014/07/mccain-blames-president-obama-downed
If picking a moron for a running mate wasn't cause enough for him to step down, then this show of sheer lunacy surely takes the cake. Where are the Germans, English, French, Italians, Poland, etc. ??? This is an international fiasco of epic proportions, why should the US take the full brunt of fixing everyone else's wars with our military and our lives and limbs?
McCain's broke and beyond fixing.