• A Thomistic Argument For God's Existence From Composition


    So the argument I saw in the Summa Theologica is:

    I answer that, God loves all existing things. For all existing things, in so far as they exist,
    are good, since the existence of a thing is itself a good; and likewise, whatever perfection it
    possesses. Now it has been shown above (Q[19], A[4]) that God's will is the cause of all
    things. It must needs be, therefore, that a thing has existence, or any kind of good, only
    inasmuch as it is willed by God. To every existing thing, then, God wills some good. Hence,
    since to love anything is nothing else than to will good to that thing, it is manifest that God
    loves everything that exists. Yet not as we love. Because since our will is not the cause of the
    goodness of things, but is moved by it as by its object, our love, whereby we will good to
    anything, is not the cause of its goodness; but conversely its goodness, whether real or imaginary, calls forth our love, by which we will that it should preserve the good it has, and receive besides the good it has not, and to this end we direct our actions: whereas the love of
    God infuses and creates goodness

    This is the same argument I put forward in the OP; but it weirds me out: is it really a demonstration of being all-loving to will the good of everything by merely keeping it in existence? Also, what about the clearly conflicting so-called love of each being (such as organisms tearing each other apart and eating each other alive)?

    If I only desire to will that you stay alive, or that you should exist to begin with, than do I really love you?
  • A Thomistic Argument For God's Existence From Composition


    When I first read the argument I thought of what David Oderberg calls "Reverse mereological essentialism," and you've here confirmed that this is an issue

    Interesting, I am not that familiar with that position. Is it essentially the idea that the esse (viz., the parts) depend also on the essence (viz., the whole)?

    It's not quite right to say that substantial wholes depend on their parts, because in a more primary sense the parts depend on the whole

    I agree with this insofar as living beings aren’t just composed like non-living beings: they have a form that has to do with a process of maintaining and developing as an organism. Is that what you are referring to by “substantial form”?

    For Aquinas existence is granted to the parts and to the whole, but it is not granted to the whole mediately through the parts.

    I guess I am not seeing the issue. I would say that a form is instantiated by way of the parts arrangement in such-and-such manners; and so the essence is not strictly reducible to the parts which comprise the being which has it; but this doesn’t seem to negate the fact that the essence itself is contingent for its existence on the parts.

    The second is more difficult, and it is Aristotle's belief that prime matter is uncreated and the universe is eternal. Aquinas is very conscientious of Aristotle's position on this.

    Now perhaps you are not positing a finite universe, but I think a subtle difference on the nature of prime matter (between Aristotle and Aquinas) may come into your argument. This is because if prime matter is necessarily eternal, then in some sense it is not a composition of essence and existence.

    That’s fair, and I hadn’t thought of that. I think this OP, if true, would necessitate that the universe is finite and that matter is not eternal; or at least that matter is eternal only insofar as it subsists in being (from God).

    We can also, I would say, object in a similar manner to time, space, and natural laws. None of these have parts themselves, and so they would be immune to the OP; but my point would be that the OP establishes the requirement for God, and establishes the nature of God sufficiently to know that these kinds of things which have no parts themselves must be only in existence through God as well. I would say this because nothing can affect a purely actual being (since it lacks passive potency), granted such a being exists, and given natural laws (or time or space itself—if you are a realist about those) would be a medium which does affect such a being’s ability to actualize, it follows that no such purely transcendent natural laws (or time or space) can exist; for God must be more fundamental than them, as their own actualization. They equally have a potential to exist or not, and God actualizes that potentiality.

    Why doesn't Aquinas appeal to the essence/existence distinction very often in his simpler works? I think it is because it is difficult to understand and know

    That is fair, but my thing would be that Aristotelian idea of ‘motion’ is misleading for modern people; and makes them be too dismissive of the argument.
  • A Thomistic Argument For God's Existence From Composition


    If God is pure act he would be everything

    Absolutely not. Pantheism would be false under this view, because the composed part is separate from the thing which ultimately provides the ability to actualize it; whereas if it were true, then the composed part just would be a part of God.

    A thing being purely actual means that it lacks passive potency: it does not entail that everything actualized by a purely actual being is a part of that being. On the contrary, we can prove this is impossible; for a purely actual being cannot have parts and for everything to be a part of God entails that God has at least everything in the universe as His parts, therefore God must be separate from the universe.
  • A Thomistic Argument For God's Existence From Composition


    It looks like you disagree with every premise; so I am going to ask you to pick one that you would like us to discuss, and I will respond to that. Responding immediately to every rejoinder to every premise at the same time is an unattainable and unproductive task (I would say). So, which one do you want me to address first?
  • A Thomistic Argument For God's Existence From Composition


    The original text probably would have had ‘created’ where this text has ‘composed’, would it not?

    No, as far as I understand, Aquinas didn’t forward this exact argument; but his version is of essence vs. esse.

    Using the word ‘created’ shifts the focus towards per accidens causal series; which Aquinas believes could—in principle—go on for infinity. Using this word would essential focus the argument into a kalam cosmological-style argument (like William Lain Craig’s).

    1. Created beings are made up of parts.

    The problem I have is that a created being does not entail that they are necessarily made up of parts; at least not when beginning the argument. Composed beings are made up of parts (obviously); but we only learn that there is an uncreated being from a deduction from the originally inferred absolutely simple being—not the other way around. Even if there was a thing which was uncreated, if it is composed of parts then that composition cannot be an infinite regress.

    Ancient and medieval philosophy recognised the ‘creator-created’ distinction which is fundamental to this form of argument.

    I don’t remember Aristotle’s argument for God (as the Unmoved Mover) talking in terms of created vs. uncreated things…

    As we see ;-)

    That is true :smile:
  • A Thomistic Argument For God's Existence From Composition


    No 'mind' or 'will', for that would be a composite system that has memory, foresees, plans, designs, implements forms, etc.

    I don’t see why that is the case at all. The OP clearly demonstrates that an absolutely simple being—with no parts—has active potencies; and one of which is willing. One would have to reason from some other starting point than the OP to derive (perhaps) what you are saying. My question would be: from which are you starting your reasoning?

    Rather, it is energetic, and so stillness is impossible, and higher and higher forms come forth from the elementary 'particles', unto our complex minds that have doing - this at the opposite end of the spectrum, but not as the simplest. Higher being lies in the future.

    The Ground-Of-Determination', G.O.D., underlies all, but it isn't a God Being.

    I don’t know what this means; and I am not following how it relates to the OP.
  • A Thomistic Argument For God's Existence From Composition


    Arcane, with all due respect, everything you say is just superfluous and superficial. I am advancing this Thomistic style argument, as mentioned in the OP, because I think it is true.
  • A Thomistic Argument For God's Existence From Composition


    Why not?

    Because it would be an infinite series of beings which lack the power to exist (i.e., are contingent).

    This statement does not follow (e.g. numbers are infinite and each is an infinite composite).

    Numbers are not composed beings—at least not in the concrete sense I am discussing in the OP.

    Besides, classical atomists argue otherwise.

    Good point. Here’s my response:

    Here an Atomist will say that atoms (or whatever fundamental building block they choose) is purely simple and yet distinguishable via its "spatiotemporal properties." That is, the spatial location of something is an accident of that thing, but why think it is a compositional "part" of that thing?

    That’s a good question. I would say, if the thing is spatial, then it must have parts; because anything that is spatiotemporal can be broken up into smaller parts. Anything, e.g., with extension must be capable of being broken up into the succession of some unit—e.g., a succession of dots form a line. Something is space is necessarily the succession of some some smaller things; and something in time is the succession of a thing temporally, which is also a form of being dissimilation.

    "Cause" here is undefined

    By cause, I mean it in the standard Aristotelian sense of that which actualized the potentiality.
    but even so, this idea corresponds in conception to atoms in void.

    What do you mean?

    even if both "lack parts" they do not occupy the same positions simultaneously in space and time – necessarily "exist separately".

    They cannot lack parts if they are in space and time: spatiotemporality implies divisibility.

    This statement does not make sense since there are "two" which implies differentiation by more than just internal composition. "Parts" (i.e. internal compositions) are a necessary but not sufficient condition either for describing or of existing (see my reply to #9 above).

    The point of #10 is exactly what you just noted (I believe); as two purely simple things could not exist since that implies differentiation.

    On the other hand, if by this you mean to imply that two uncomposed beings could be differentiated by some sort of relation (which is non-spatiotemporal since the contrary would imply parts) then I would need more elaboration on that.
  • A Thomistic Argument For God's Existence From Composition


    Sorry, I thought you were just copying and pasting something you found elsewhere. I will look at it more closely given that you wrote it yourself. :blush:

    Thank you, I appreciate that :smile:

    I know you know more about Thomism and Aristotelianism than I do; so your input is much appreciated.

    It's actually pretty creative, and I can see some of the things you are drawing from. I have never seen an argument phrased in quite this way. Interesting thread. I will respond again to the OP eventually.

    Yeah, I wanted to write it in a way that made the most sense to me and was less entrenched in Aristotelian and Thomistic concepts. For example, change, as far as I understand, for Aristotle is any actualization of a potential and everything around us has passive potency; so a thing persisting as it were through time is considered change for him, which to the modern mind sounds bizarre.

    Ed Feser still keeps in line with this tradition, and talks about the need for a cause for the, e.g., apple persisting as it were on the table (without being affected by other things); and from which he draws essentially from Aristotle’s Unmoved Mover argument.

    The closest to it I found, and which inspired the argument from composition over motion, was Aquinas’ argument that if all essences do not in-themselves necessitate esse than none of them could exist; and so there must be an essence which is identical to its existence—God. It makes more sense to me to formulate it in terms of ‘composed being’ than forms and matter.

    I am reading "infinite series of composed beings" as individual composed beings ordered in a series. That is, we can't just be referring to the composition of a being because we are talking about the way that multiple beings are related to one another in a series.

    I am not sure I followed this. The infinite series of composed beings I was referring to is an infinite regress of composition for any given, single, composed being. Sorry, I see how that might be confusing in the OP: I will rewrite that part.

    Going back to my suggestion that the premise requires defense, why should we accept it? What is the rationale?

    The idea is that there is a form instantiated in matter by way of particular things arranged in particular ways—and so, as a side note, this argument presupposes realism about forms—and complex being has its form contingently on the parts which make it up (in some particular arrangement). This means that, similarly to how Aristotle notes that an infinite per se series of things changing do not themselves have the power to initiate that change (e.g., an infinite series of inter-linked gears have no power themselves to rotate each other, so an infinite series of rotating gears is ceteris paribus absurd), forms comprised of other forms comprised of other forms comprised of other forms <…> ad infinitum do not have the power to keep existence (let alone to exist at all). If each is dependent on the smaller comprised thing—which exists with a form and matter alike in the same contingency patter—then there could not be anything at all there (without something that they subsist in); just as much as if each gear does not have the power to move itself then there can’t be any of them moving (without some outside mover).

    For Aquinas’ essence version, it is the idea that the essence of a thing normally does not imply its existence, and so the essence of a thing is distinct from its existence. If there were an infinite per se series of composition of things sorts of essences, then none of them could exist; for they are all contingent. There would have to be some essence—which he argues is only one of this kind—where it just is identical to its existence (i.e., is a necessary being).

    Here an Atomist will say that atoms (or whatever fundamental building block they choose) is purely simple and yet distinguishable via its "spatiotemporal properties." That is, the spatial location of something is an accident of that thing, but why think it is a compositional "part" of that thing?

    That’s a good question. I would say, if the thing is spatial, then it must have parts; because anything that is spatiotemporal can be broken up into smaller parts. Anything, e.g., with extension must be capable of being broken up into the succession of some unit—e.g., a succession of dots form a line. Something is space is necessarily the succession of some some smaller things; and something in time is the succession of a thing temporally, which is also a form of being dissimilation.
  • A Thomistic Argument For God's Existence From Composition


    Well, if your argument had only two premises and a conclusion, like a syllogism, then it would be easier for people to read, and more difficult for people to attack.

    If it were a proper syllogism, then it would be utterly superficial and meaningless for an OP.

    A simple syllogism that aims to prove that God exists is much, much more difficult to formulate than an argument that has around 40 premises, give or take

    No it isn’t. It is much easier to formulate two premises that necessitate a conclusion than to provide a substantive argument for something. A proper syllogism is vague and usually frail.

    I could see your point if you wanted it trimmed down to like 10 or something; but 2 is over-simplification. In this case, I went with just enough premises for a laymen to follow the argument.

    do you really need 40 odd premises to begin with?

    Yes.

    It's not possible to simplify this argument of yours?

    If you don’t think some of the premises are necessary, then I am all ears to hearing which ones and why. So far you are just saying “well, it seems like 41 is a lot”. Again, keep in mind that this OP is meant to outline robustly each step to getting to God’s existence.

    Thomas Aquinas famously stated five arguments, also known as five ways, for one to be able to arrive at the conclusion that God exists. He did not resort to 40 or so premises in any of the five proofs that he gave.

    First of all, none of the five ways in their common form try to prove all of God’s attributes: this one is supposed to and given that Thomas needs about 10 premises for each of the five ways just to prove one aspect of God, I think 41 is pretty short for proving all of them.

    what is it about your argument that can be characterized as "Thomistic"?

    It is literally his argument from essence vs. esse and his conclusions about God’s attributes that can be deduced from Him being absolutely simple. Aquina's didn't just argue for God's existence with the five ways: those were more of a cheat sheet for laymen.
  • A Thomistic Argument For God's Existence From Composition


    Arcane, it is not helpful to say that there are 41 ways someone could object to a 41-premised argument.
  • A Thomistic Argument For God's Existence From Composition


    But this is not a real argument.

    :up:

    The argument is reminiscent of classical theism, but to prove 12 predicates [of God] in a single proof is excessive. Where did you find this?

    So it is an argument for classical theism—as opposed to theistic personalism—and I created it myself based off of various neo-Aristotelian arguments for a pure, unactualized actualizer. The three main one’s I read were Aristotle’s argument from motion, Acquinas’ argument from essences, and Ed Feser’s “Aristotelian Argument”.

    With respect to the first and third, I think the way Aristotle uses ‘motion’ is counter-intuitive now; so I didn’t want to word it that way.

    With respect to the second, the essence vs. esse distinction works but I think it harder to explain to people.

    This probably requires defense. It looks like the Kalam Cosmological Argument, which Aristotle and Aquinas disagreed with (but others, such as Bonaventure or now William Lane Craig, uphold). I forget the common scholarly name, but it is the question of an infinite series of contingent beings ordered per accidens.

    So, in the OP, I am referring to the composition of a being and not a temporal succession of causes; so it would be a per se series according to Aquinas because without the part you cannot have the whole: this is not like begetting children, where without the father the son can still beget children.

    I can add in the concept of per se causal ordering into the OP if that helps clarify it.

    The conclusion is too ambitious in my opinion:

    but to prove 12 predicates [of God] in a single proof is excessive

    But doesn’t it succeed in doing so? I get it is an informal pseudo-syllogism; but each point follows logically from the previous.
  • A Thomistic Argument For God's Existence From Composition


    Two things might be indistinguishable in their parts, and yet be numerically distinct. We don't distinguish two identical marbles by their parts, but by their distinct bodies occupying distinct spatial locations.

    The spatiotemporal properties are properties of the part; so it does hold that we distinguish them based off of the parts even if they are identical notwithstanding their occupation of space or place in time.
  • A Thomistic Argument For God's Existence From Composition


    For one, there are just too many steps for them all to have any hope of withstanding scrutiny.

    I second this observation. Think of it like this, Bob: your argument has 41 potential targets.

    This is the most controversial part of the argument, IMHO.

    None of these are arguments, rejoinders, nor valid criticism.
  • Oizys’ Beautiful Garden
    What do you get out of the aphorism you provided? I guess, I am just not understanding it yet. Is it the idea that we should strive towards being with those who think differently than those who think the same?
  • Oizys’ Beautiful Garden


    Ah, I see. But what does it mean? An aphorism has an underlying principle of (practical) wisdom.
  • In Support of Western Supremacy, Nationalism, and Imperialism.


    The idea that western values are superior to eastern values in no way implies nor entails that the white "race" is superior to any other "race".
  • In Support of Western Supremacy, Nationalism, and Imperialism.


    Like "whiteness", "the west" is a myth

    Firstly, my OP is not arguing for white supremacy; and I don't know why you went there.

    How is the west a myth? Historically, the democratic values we all tend to love originated out of the west and the east has been playing catch-up.
  • Oizys’ Beautiful Garden


    That is pungent, short, and puzzling....but I have no clue what the moral of the story is. Could you elaborate?

    Is it that we should strive to push ourselves beyond our limits (viz., to avoid the comforts of joining a club which we already qualify for the hard work required to join one we don't)?
  • Oizys’ Beautiful Garden


    Good questions.

    First, I want to note that an aphorism is meant to be pungent, short, and puzzling. The point is to simplify a proverb down into a thought-provoking sentence, which will cause one to think about it more deeply exactly the way you are. (:

    Second, let’s dive into its meaning.

    Drinking salt water is ok, assuming the concentration is low, but maybe we are intended to think of someone who is drinking only sea water as opposed to broth, which is a death sentence. Drinking salt water is ok if you have the means to dilute with fresh water in alternation.

    The immediate point is that salt water doesn’t quench one’s thirst—not that it may kill you. Hope is the same way: when you are really thirsty—perhaps when stranded on a boat—it is really tempting to see the salty water as a viable solution, but the more you drink it the more it slowly causes more of the issue needing to be solved. Hope, schopenhauer famously stated, is the confusion of the possibility of something with its probability: it to latch onto something in a manner where it is despite its probability being disproportionate thereto.

    When we are in despair, we tend to see hope as a viable antidote—a solution to the problem—just like using salt water to quench one’s thirst; but, in reality, it is contributing to the problem. How so? The problem, the Stoic would say, is that the person is discontent with what is outside of their control; and the attachment thereto is causing their mind a disturbance—viz., from which the ‘problem’ arises in the first place needing to be solved—and procuring hope only temporarily alleviates the problem by consoling the person swiftly but making them, so to speak, thirstier. Hope just makes a person more attached to what is not in their control, which adds fuel to that fire of discontent. The Stoic is going to say that it would be better—and a real solution—to detach from what is outside of one’s control and to work towards whatever one wishes with respect to what is within their control.

    The important thing to note here is that the Stoics are talking about ‘hope’ as an irrational passion because it only arises when one is irrationally attached. They are not claiming that one cannot be wishful of the future—just that one needs to equally detached from what is outside of their control and they must be able to size up the probability of it occurring properly. Most instances of hope are not like this: they are, instead, irrational fits of emotion.

    I think in some of what you mentioned, you are just using the term ‘hope’ in the sense of merely wishing or desiring; and that is not what is meant by ‘hope’ here. Hope, traditionally, is more than a mere wish—it is more than a mere desire—: it is much stronger than that.
  • Hinton (father of AI) explains why AI is sentient


    I think about this all the time. There's a news article I read (probably 20 years ago) about some military official watching a bomb-clearing robot work it's way through a practice field. After watching the robot get blown up repeatedly and then crawling pathetically toward the next bomb, he said to stop the test. He couldn't stand to watch it anymore. Fast forward ten years from now and we have lifelike robots as intelligent as we are. What are we going to think when someone uploads a video of themself torturing/raping some childlike robot while it begs him to stop? I think we'll have laws protecting them.

    Yeah, I agree. People don't tend to be good: they are only as "good" as they have been conditioned to be and their environment allows. Most people think that human beings have rights just because they are humans and they only believe it because their conscience---the conscience of their ancestors---screams out for it.

    We are already seeing immoral acts with robots, and it is only going to get worse. I saw a video of someone who bought a tesla robot and had it watch the part of the iRobots movie where one of the robots gets executed: the tesla robot was visibly haunted.

    The worst part of it is that AI is being development for the purpose of slavery; and is being advertised exactly for that (although there are other purposes too). Eventually, e.g., we are going to have prominent adds of buying a robot for household chores.
  • Hinton (father of AI) explains why AI is sentient


    No I didn't: your OP denies the existence of consciousness. I quoted it...unless by "subjective experience" you didn't mean consciousness. Is that what you are saying?
  • Oizys’ Beautiful Garden


    I really don't mind if you want to keep discussing them in here: I just was pointing out that they are not aphorisms: they were quotes that you like, which is fine.
  • Oizys’ Beautiful Garden


    It is a tall order for sure; but that doesn't mean people shouldn't strive towards it. Everyone can do it: it just takes hard work and practice. I still struggle with this, and that is why it is one of my aphorisms I rehearse.
  • Hinton (father of AI) explains why AI is sentient


    @frank

    A super-duper slave.

    I am predicting that we are going to reinvent slavery with AI; since it is feasible that, although they are not conscious, these sophisticated AIs will be sufficiently rational and free in their willing to constitute persons, and I don't think humanity is going to accept that they thereby have rights.
  • Hinton (father of AI) explains why AI is sentient


    People don't have subjective experiences.

    This is patently false; and confused consciousness with sentience and (perhaps) awareness. An AI does not have conscious experience even if they are sentient in the sense that they have awareness.

    The solution here, apparently, in this OP to the hard problem of consciousness is to radically deny the existence of consciousness in the first place; which, I for one, cannot muster up the faith to accept when it is readily available to me introspectively that it does exist.
  • Oizys’ Beautiful Garden


    While there is plenty of suffering that might be avoidable if one could muster the courage/will to act rationally, there is plenty of suffering that is not avoidable.

    The aphorism doesn’t say all suffering is avoidable: it says all suffering is a choice. Suffering is not reducible to the pain or torment of the body: it is, rather, attachment to something by the mind in such a manner where the mind wants it to be other than it is (or is going to be).

    Ironically, I’ve found that most people don’t understand this until they end up with relentless and persistent suffering from some sort of trauma (and still many don’t realize it then too). Usually when I explain to someone that I have experienced being in extreme pain and physical unwellness for long periods of time in absolutely relentless manners while being completely at peace in my mind; it sounds absurd and almost unimaginable to them—nevertheless, that state can be achieved.

    If you think about it, suffering can only coherently be posited in this way—unlike pain; for two people with the same exact injury can suffer different amounts, and one person with a lesser injury can suffering tremendously more than a person with a greater injury. The mind’s attachment to what is happening—of not properly sizing up the situation and remaining irrationally attached to that which is outside of its control or outside of what will happen—is what generates the mental torment.

    The point of the aphorism to make a person aware that suffering—unlike pain—is always in their control; and that they can choose to properly shape their mind to be unaffected by (or only affected in a healthy manner towards) problems of the body.

    It is also worth mentioning that suffering can be chosen in a manner where it is a good thing; which relates to the other aphorism about the tree striving towards heaven. We must volunteer to suffer to become great; and this is the other aspect of the aphorism that is powerful.
  • Oizys’ Beautiful Garden


    Those are good: keep them coming. I like the "there are no antirealists in foxholes" :lol: :ok:
  • Oizys’ Beautiful Garden


    The tree which strives towards heaven must send its roots to hell. — Bob Ross

    This one gave me a chill.

    Yeah, it is one of my favorites. It stems from Jung and, in turn, from Nietzsche. The idea is that suffering and happiness are intertwined insofar as one has to be willing to suffer proportionately for what is good. We tend—or at least I tend—to forget this and think that what is good involves avoiding suffering. Nietzsche tries—many times—to break us out of that line of thinking—being that it is anti-thetical to natural life—in his works. I like to remember this every day so that I am more likely to embrace the suffering—no matter how small—I must go through to become greater.

    Needing a knife that is sharper than a knife is a sign of irrationality. — Bob Ross

    Yet this one escapes me.

    Yeah, that one isn’t too amazing; but I have it in there because I have a tendency to be like Kafka’s metamorphic creature in Der Bau: reason—and specifically my personality—tends to gravitate towards an irrational sense of security and absoluteness which cannot be afforded in real life. Kafka’s point—by my lights—was that reason tends to want something so incredibly secure that it is impossibly secure; and I just basically modified it to target my personality such that my soul wants a knife (for self-preservation) that is sharper than any knife—which is patently irrational and impossible. It serves as a reminder for me to let go of that OCD urge.

    It can basically be it's own 6-tenet religion.

    :up:

    (though I perhaps would have worded that last one as: "Pain is not a choice, suffering is." -- just to give it some context that might be otherwise easily missed or dismissed)

    This is fair and a good point. Personally, I like to force myself to think a bit about it by having to decrypt the message; but you are absolutely right that your version is more clear. I will add that as an additional version to the OP. Good suggestion!
  • Oizys’ Beautiful Garden


    I don't mind what you do with your previous post: I am just letting you know that most of them are not aphorisms and this OP is a list of aphorisms.
  • In Support of Western Supremacy, Nationalism, and Imperialism.


    I am going to read the Politics and then get back to you: I don't believe I've read that, or if I have then I don't remember it, and so that's probably the issue here.
  • Oizys’ Beautiful Garden


    It's a good one for sure. I also like the Stoic one about man suffering in the imagination more than reality: same idea.
  • Oizys’ Beautiful Garden


    I appreciate you sharing your favorites, but most of those are NOT aphorisms. An aphorism is a short and concise statement that contains a general maxim or expression. Most of yours are just long paragraph quotes.
  • Oizys’ Beautiful Garden


    That's a good point: I am open to people bringing to the table their favorite aphorisms and if I think it is worthy then I will add it to the list in the OP. I'll update the OP accordingly.
  • In Support of Western Supremacy, Nationalism, and Imperialism.


    If that's what it boils down to, then I prefer civic nationalism myself.

    I agree.

    I believe in continentalism, because I think that continentalism is to the continent what nationalism is to the nation. Non-Europeans and Non-North-Americans (what you call "The West", which is now a "global thing") would do better to just embrace Europeism and Northamericanism (respectively) instead of imperialism (and, of course, Europeans should embrace Europeism instead of imperialism, and North Americans should embrace Northamericanism instead of imperialism, as well).

    I don’t understand what that would mean in the context of the values currently shared in North America or Europe. It seems to me that the West has it better than the East; but there’s lots of petty disputes in the West about different topics.

    As for Western Supremacy, I don't believe in that concept, because I don't believe in Eastern Supremacy either, nor do I believe in Northern Supremacy, nor do I believe in Southern Supremacy.

    So you think cultures are just different, not inferior or superior?
  • How can one know the ultimate truth about reality?


    You said that you believe that you have good reasons to believe that the Absolute exists, but not that you have good reasons to believe in the sense that Hegel means it. I then asked what good reasons you have for believing the Absolute exists in this non-Hegelian sense; and you answered that you mean the Absolute in the Hegelian sense. :roll:

    If you can't reconcile or acknowledge that blatant contradiction, then this conversation is over. My patience is running thin with you, my friend.
  • How can one know the ultimate truth about reality?


    Not quite. I have good reasons to believe that the Absolute exists, and I acknowledge that. What I don't have, which I also acknowledge is that I lack good reasons to believe that the Absolute in the Hegelian sense exists.

    Right, here's the problem: I mean the same thing that Hegel meant

    This is a contradiction; and makes no sense at all. You can't say you believe in X sans a Hegelian interpretation (and that you have good reasons for it) and then turn around and say X is the Hegelian interpretation (which has no good reasons for it).

    I am now thoroughly convinced you are either a sophist or incapable of admitting that you clearly cannot explain any of the concepts that you believe in. This is turning into the same problem we had with the fact that you don't know what "factiality" means...