Philosophy (1 Viewer)

LynFay

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Oh! Oh! I got some! I love philosophy! Mind you, i don't have the time rite now to read through this thread so sorry if they've been done already.

Ok, So, assuming that God can do anything and create anything (being God) would it be possible for him to create a rock so big he couldn't lift it???

Is the truth subjective or objective?

Are you uniquely 'you' by yourself? As in, are you 'you' if you're all alone, or is it the ppl around you that make you you?

And the all time frazzler.... if you went back in time and killed your grandfather would you exist in the future?
:haha::bomb:
 

mggail

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Re: Philosophy<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

<HR style="COLOR: #d1d1e1; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #d1d1e1" SIZE=1><!-- google_ad_section_start -->is there a chance that sometime in the distant future we will be able to enter a door and come through another door in a different country in a matter of seconds:eek:<!-- google_ad_section_end --></SPAN>
__________________

I heard on the radio the other day that some scientists thought that they were only 50 years away from developing teletransportation or whatever its called... I have to say I'm rather sceptical on that idea but then again who knows where we'll be in 50 years?! I'll live in hope that when I'm old and grey I'll have something to look forward to :p

On the general subject of philosophy, I am currently doing a year 12 course of Philosophy and ethics at my school that I find asks some really interesting questions like what makes a person a person etc etc
 

lolokay

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<hr style="color: rgb(209, 209, 225); background-color: rgb(209, 209, 225);" size="1"><!-- google_ad_section_start -->is there a chance that sometime in the distant future we will be able to enter a door and come through another door in a different country in a matter of seconds:eek:<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
trick question, time and space are mere illusions
 

klaris

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I once read a book which was called "If Minds Had Toes". It was basically philosophy for beginners; it made philosophy simpler, as the book's genre was YA with a bit of fantasy. For example, at the start of the novel two infamous philosophers make a bet that they can change a young persons' life through philosophy for the better. It then makes the journey of finding a normal kid and then teaching him the basic concepts (e.g, what is the meaning of life, is there an afterlife? Your perception is not always as others see it, etc) and determining if it changed his life for the better.

It was an overall excellent book. It really got me thinking about the "bigger questions" about life.
 

Stefanie2010

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If a tree falls in the forest with nobody there... Does it still make noise??
 

many-eyeshere

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Transdescenitalism (Immanual Kant) intrigues me to no ends. Existentialism is very interesting, I'd like to study Metaphysics in uni, the concepts of different realities and such. Post-Moderism and Post-Structuralism are ones I'd like to learn about in depth more. Nihilism is one I think people must be familar with in the 21st century. I really should read some Satre and Foucult. There are so many philosophies these are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

But Transdescenitalism is my love.
 

NewiJapper

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Lexicographer said:
The ultimate question:

WHY?

:)

(your brains should soon explode)
(unless you're just confused)<!-- google_ad_section_end --></SPAN>
Simple.

Because.

:eek:
 

lonely-lass

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I'm really interested in Philosophy.. so I am reading a very good book written by Bryan Magee, it's called The Story Of Philosophy.
 

moll.

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This thread is a pathetic excuse for philosophy. We should just get KFunk a new account and then watch as he debates himself. lols for all.
 

lonely-lass

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Are there any contemporary philosophers? Someone please help.. list some good books on philosophy.
 

KFunk

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Are there any contemporary philosophers? Someone please help.. list some good books on philosophy.
What follows are some recommendations of mine that I posted in the 'reading room' a while ago. Do note that NTB disagreed with some of my suggestions so you may want to read our exchange in order to counteract some of the biases in my selection. Stars (*) indicate reasonable places to start.

- I think that Plato's Republic is a great 'beginner' text in philosophy given its breadth (themes in politics, metaphysics, epistemology, etc) and presentation in the form of dialogue (not to mentioned Plato generally). *

- Descartes' Meditations (dry but approachable. Metaphysics and epistemology to the core)

- Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter. Eclectic, creative, brilliant. Grounded in cognitive science but deals extensively with metaphysics (phil of mind), knowledge, logic, and so on. I can't think of a more entertaining way to be introduced to a formal logical system - in fact, this is the book which inspired me to go and learn logic coled from a textbook. *

- J. S. Mill is quite readable, as he wrote to reach a wider audience not limited to academics, notably Utilitarianism (ethics) *

There are a number of writers in the Anglo-American (analytic) tradition who write solid philosophy which at this same time is very accessible. In no particular order, with examples:

- Thomas Nagel - Mortal Questions *
- Daniel Dennet - Darwin's Dangerous Idea
- Simon Blackburn -Truth and Think
- Owen Flanagan - The Really Hard Problem
- Robert Nozick - Philosophical Explanations
- Bernard Williams - Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy

Continental/European philosophy is a tougher nut to crack (conceptually) but tends to be a lot more poetic and readable. Accessible examples include:

- Nietzche's Genealogy of Morals *
- Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus
- Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling
- Sartre's Existentialism is a Humanism (whilst avoiding most everything else of his) *
- de Beauvior's The Second Sex

[N.B. There are many of strands in continential philosophy not represented here (phenomenology, critical theory, post-structuralism, etc) which are great fun but hard to approach due to their historical nature, i.e. they presume a fair level of familiarity with philosophy. This is less problematic in analytic philosophy which prefers to approach the problem 'afresh' rather than by historically situating it.]
 

Paradoxial

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Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
- Epicurus [341–270 B.C.]


Favourite Quote.
 

thehollowowl

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FUCK YES!
My school does not have a class on that.
SUCKS SOO MUCH!
 

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