I am the teacher. Disprove me on the battlefield (dialectic), or bend the knee x

Aurelius' stoic observations were excellent. As the first and hopefully not the last Philosopher King, he seems to be the gold standard.

In terms of Seneca, his book letters is one i frequently pick up. He had a beautiful mind, but youll feel the shorticmings of Stoicism in his words x

Both statements are completely true.

Tell me clearly and concisely, where are the holes in my arguments?

I'll wait for the tumbleweed.

Ignorance is just vile.

You can slander me all you like.

"The tragedy isn't when children are afraid of the dark, but when adults are afraid of the light."

I think you'd have a hard time being more off base.

I am enlightened, meaning I see the truth, and on this forum and this thread, I speak the truth, and you're coming back with pseudo philosophical BS. How can I be egoic if I am enlightened? If you want to question the veracity of this claim, call me out on a post and let's talk.

Philosophy is a noble pursuit. It's so sad to see that a forum with this name is really just a bunch of men trying to outdo each other. Side stepping incisive statements of truth to try to score a point.

And when Socrates knew that he knew nothing, we get you making this preposterous claim: "life has no intrinsic meaning. I find one can either choose to become something greater than they presently are, or suffer themselves while blaming others. It seems a lot choose the latter, but they don't understand they are doing it." Can you please explain to me how you managed to gain a greater insight than the great Socrates?

Have a conversation with them. If one is enlightened you will know within 30 seconds of conversation. If 2 or more are enlightened it might take you about 2 minutes to find the one that has attained the highest state of knowing. I know not how high I am in terms of every human being on the planet, but I have never met, seen or heard of anyone who has anything like my level of insight.

I find that - and this is certainly true in this forum - Philosophy has been ambushed by sophists trying to be clever - this is a real shame as Philosophy is a noble art, and doesn't deserve to be sullied by this nonsense.

This forum is impossible... it's a load of guys trying to be more pedantic than the next.

I gotcha. I gotcha.

It's just an ego-fest. And the ego is blinding.

And your closing sentence is completely wrong. It is when you are truly present that you find peace. Not the other way around.

the Philosopher King concerns himself with what is true. He collects up all the information and then makes the right choice.

You can't be a king because you study Philosopher. Plato didn't mean that. He meant that you give the top spot to the greatest Philosopher alive. And that man knows where to eat x

Oh god... Wrestle the facts, stop peddling pedantry. You will improve as a philosopher. Debate the central tenet or don't waste the megabytes.

Let me start you off. "Aristotle was every bit as great as Socrates because... " - If you aren't willing to go there, don't bother posting on this thread.

The soul is immortal, your body is not. Ignore the Zeno crap. Focus on the eternal truths. What is love? What is justice? What is beauty etc... This is true philosophy. I am not castigating Zeno and his thought, I am simply saying that if you can get your head around the eternal truths, you realise that a whole load of Philosophy is a waste of time

1 - The original texts are the word of God. When they are then taken and used to create contemptible and abhorrent structures of control - that's the work of man.

2 - The entire texts with no additions or addendums.

3 -

on your argument falls in the category of fallacies called "appeal to authority". Plus you refer to an alleged text without — god must be atheist

You're being pedantic and trying to be clever. When you're enlightened you don't need to quote. Did Einstein quote a load of scientific bods when he upended physics with relativity? No sources - he saw a truth. And he spoke his truth.

4 - I don't accept 3, which is why your 4th point is nonsense.

5 - You're 4th and 5th points are built on a foundation of sand.

6 - I don't even know what we are talking about here.

Stop the pedantic nonsense... Stop focussing on trying to win arguments with gotcha bullet points. Philosophy is a love of wisdom, which is to say it is the pursuit of truth. You've just had the truth ripped in front of your face and you can't see it. What standard of Philosopher does that make you?

I am enlightened... With the greatest respect, you don't know what you don't know... Ask Socrates, he knew that he knew nothing, and he was leagues above this forum.

Me

It's pedantic... "pioneer" "harbinger" "Piledrive" "duck-quack" - It doesn't make any difference what word you use. Whether you research and bring technical chronological excellence into the debate - this doesn't make you any wiser. To suggest that Aristotle didn't have an absolutely TITANIC in the field of ethics and in this sense YES, he was a "PIONEER." Thumb through Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics and then give me the name of a Philosopher who did it better.

This is what is wrong with Philosophy. You get very smart men wrestling over stupid, pedantic details so they can say "There I gotcha" - This is just an egoic play. "Took out that guy on the web... he didn't even know whence Ethics sprung from." It's nonsense.

Now... What other bit do you want me to elucidate?

This is just a complete load of rubbish.

Peace is eternal. You're judging it through the lens of Capitalism. Which is fleeting.

At the words "peace is boring" any sane man just stops reading... As did I.

Ignorance is the root and stem of all evil - Plato
There is only one good, education. And one evil, ignorance - His teacher... Socrates

No. The meaning of life is peace. Every single major religious text that is not interpreted by man confirms it.

Yes... He was the pioneer of ethics - everyone with a base level of Philosophical understanding is aware of this fact.

Please research "the Master of all Who Know"... Don't make me do your learning for you.

Life can be about a myriad of noble quests... But the meaning of life is peace. As evidenced by every major divine prophet that has ever been.

Buddha - Don't put your value in possessions. Peace
JC - If someone strikes you, turn the other cheek. Peace
Prophet Mohammed - It's OK to fight if the fight is noble. Peace.

Peace is the meaning of life. It's only when a man looks to interpret the word of God that you get abominations and genocide. You get Protestants Vs Catholics, Jihad and all that other contemptible nonsense.

God doesnt care if you believe or not. Only that you are morally right in this life. Do that and youll come back one rung up the ladder. Take enough steps up the ladder, and one day, you - or more accurately, your soul - will meet him x

aha but Marcus was a philosopher king first, filled with the wisdom of many great bodies of thought. A PHILOSOPHER first, a Stoic second. Read the devout stoics, like Seneca, and you will not find the mould of Marcus Aurelius.

it isnt a supposition. God exists and I have had many great, rich, visceal, divine experiences. If you don't believe me, read Socrates. He was not that into Zeus and his buddies, but he always spoke of God with an absolute certainty. Thats because he was enlightened, so he knew.

And this comes to your second point about having to invoke faith and that being an unsteady base to claim that God exists is a truism. When you are enlightened, you dont have faith. You KNOW. I do nor believe that God exists. I know it to be true.

neither did i suggesting erasing emotion from the mind.

I explained that whatever rhetoric a great stoic uses in the application of their calming philosophical method, Stoicism does result in a less passionate individual. If the reigning ideology of the world was stoicism, the world would definitely be cooler and calmer, but it would also be a lot less beautiful.

3017 amen nailed it above when he said: "its a useful tool not to be overused." This is abundantly wise, and therefore true x

You bet your life that one is better than the other. A democracy creates chaos with a myriad of conflicting view points. There is only one truth in terms of the BEST restaurant... and concensus building is not the correct way to find it. That just collects opinions, often conflicting.

You need one guy who knows... a philosopher king of the restaurant game. Then youll eat well for now and forever.

Nice words, but it makes no mention of the very highest peak of psychological attainment - and that my friend... is enlightenment. Which is when you learn (through direct experience) that we are all innately wise, and yet dumb and limited because we blinded by ego.

You are wrong - "digression" implies the redirection of an argument into an unrelated point - but that is not true. I invoke a very simple truism (about God) to explain why Stoicism is not the best lens through which to experience life.

When Plato said that we have 3 parts of the soul (thoros / spirits, appetites and rational mind), he was right. When he said that the just society is one in which man uses his rational mind to control his appetites - here he is wrong.

Man is polyamorous by nature. That's why until he finds "the one" he finds it insanely difficult not to cheat in a "monogamous" relationship. Because he is not living in alignment which his true nature, which is given to him by God (the creator).

In my opinion, that is a bit knotty and obtuse... there's no need to complicate issues with this idea. Wisdom is the bridge by which you reach the truth. It doesn't have a location. It is what it is, irrespective of it's moorings

Philosophy was the path upon which I attained enlightenment, and when you become enlightened you realise that what we call "learning is only the process of recollection."

You have all the wisdom inside yourself, and it is only the ego that stops us from experiencing it.

When I use the term Philosopher, I use it in its correct context, i.e. someone who loves, and therefore spends his life in the pursuit of wisdom. "Regular" is just an interchangeable word. Philosophers are the only people who are on the right path, or in the case of the enlightened mind, who have reached their destination in this life. But enlightenment is rare... I know because I am fortunate to have attained enlightenment... and I know of no one else in my social circle, or father afield who has attained my level of knowing. I watch some videos of Tolle (the Power of Now), and he for sure is enlightenment, but like Nietzche, he speaks such a knotty truth, his Philosophy is offputting to the herd. I am fortunate in the sense that I am fully enlightened (Moksha), and yet I can explain my thought to anyone with a reasonable (low) education.

In terms of the nice fiction, you are incorrect... People off the street would say "we do not want war" - the Yang is the dominant force in the overwhelming number of human hears... but all the world's a stage, and the dumbed down herd accept the propaganda fed through the state sponsored screen. ISIS is a threat etc...

Democracy is one of the very WORST forms of government. And Democracy doesn't even result in democratic decisions. Democracy is a sham - you generally just get 2 Capitalist morons as a choice. You pick one way and then you get a DICTATOR for 4 years.

Just look at the last slew of US and UK presidents - a laundry list of ABSOLUTELY DEMENTED individuals with Obama snuck in there to ensure Wall Street reigns supreme.

Ask 1000 people off the street if they want war... you'll get 999 NOs - and yet we live in a Democracy.

Democracy keeps people in line because it represents the illusion of choice. "I can change the direction of the country with my vote" - What a joke.

Karl Marx was on the right track. The correct form of government is SOCIALISM... But with a philosopher at the top. As Plato teaches us, there can be no peace on earth until kings become Philosophers and vice versa. When you put a regular man at the top of all the resources, the absolute nature of power corrupts absolutely.