I am not sure that what you are talking about under the guise of 'bad faith' is not really a misuse of the term bad faith. I certainly don't think you are using it in the way Sartre intended. However, I understand that the specific aspect of discussion was really between you and KK, so I will leave him to reply.

The idea of being of emotion detachment being a requirement to certain professions is worth reflecting on. My own slant on it is one in which in some ways I was required to do and in other ways, it was had limitations. That is because I was working in the care profession. In some ways, I had to be involved in the implementation of some decisions which people didn't like, such as being expected to administer medication to Sectioned patients against their choice, which meant a certain amount of detachment was needed. However, if one became too detached in this kind of work, the whole notion of compassionate care would get lost altogether.

I think professionalism is also important. In particular, I feel that the way people express views is bound up with this. Personally, I probably adhere more to the guidelines I have been taught than if I had not had that training. I am not saying it is necessarily better, but a whole way of being taught to express ideas. Even when I am writing on this site, it probably comes into play, in how I express my views and in what I include or exclude. However, I would say that some people keep their work and private self entirely separate. I know someone who told me how when at work he put on a professional persona. I am not sure that I could divide myself up so much. Of course, when I am not at work I relax and can be more free in expression, but I am the same person in most situations.

The relationship between toxic masculinity is an interesting area. Because we could ask to whom is the masculinity toxic? In some senses it can be toxic to the man if it involves being confined to traditional interests, such as football and male orientated jobs.

On the other hand, it can be toxic on the level of toxicity which is about keeping women in their place, such as the view that women should be at home, in the kitchen, as housewives. I remember being at school and one of my teachers telling me that a lot of heated discussion took place between the teachers in the staff room, along this line.

Most people don't think any longer that men should be the breadwinners and women as housewives. However, there are some who think that way, mainly those from a generation who were taught this value. But, of course there are still some chauvinistic attitudes which are subject to scrutiny. I know one man who actually calls himself a feminist. We could ask if it makes sense to identify as a 'feminist man', or is it a contradiction in terms?

You speak of the importance of looking for the bad in someone. I would say it depends on what looking for the bad entails.

One situation in which you could consider the question is of an employer recruiting staff. Obviously, having chosen to invite certain people for interviews, which may in have involved some biase, we can think about the whole aspect of 'bad' played out in interviews. The employee has to seek to weed out potentially good employees. This will involve a certain assessment, which will be about the person's work history and attitudes among other criteria. This does involve perceiving potential problems like to trying to eliminate people who are lazy or careless. However, on some level this can go beyond that and involve prejudiced bias, against for example gay people or married women.

It would probably be difficult to raise an official complaint for not being selected for a particular job. However, the matter is different entirely once a person has been employed. If someone is dismissed from a job it could be down to the person's standard of work or conduct, or it could involve the prejudice of the employer. It is a grey area and so many complex industrial tribunals are based on the fine lines of this matter.

I would just add that you speak of the importance of seeing bad in others in order for evolutionary survival and one -upmanship. This is once again a difficult grey area, because where does one go in separating this from bullying.

I think that quality is a concept which extends into all areas not just maths. However, I think that it goes beyond beauty. This can be superficial and quality is about depth as well. The most obvious example that comes to my mind is if someone wrote a philosophy book, written in the most exquisite language but lacking in sufficient knowledge would it have quality? Certainly,I would see it as rather lacking.

Obviously, the idea of quality has some kind of subjective criteria. For instance, certain literature is viewed as literary fiction. I know many people who find this fiction rather pretentious. I have mixed feelings and read some of this but can see that it is not necessarily of better quality than some fiction which is not ranked as literary fiction. So, I would say that the whole idea of quality is about certain standards, which are socially constructed.

You are right to say that being 'chilled out' doesn't make for fighting for civil liberties. I have to admit that I have been on matches for certain causes I have believed in. Perhaps all this social distancing is making me get too chilled out. I also think work has made me learn to blunt my emotions a bit.In an earlier post, I said that I often have to avoid expressing too much personal opinion to 0patients, but I think that it was also a case of feeling that I had to be careful what I said to colleagues.

I think that different situations allow for different levels of voicing of opinions. In some cases, anger does seem to arise from the people not expressing an opinion. Also, some people are less able to articulate their views more than others. Personally, I am probably more in the habit of writing than arguing with people. Even at work, if I was angry about something I was usually emailing about something rather than talking about it. I also used to get so stressed by some emails at work. But, life leads to so much emotion, especially anger, and the whole channel for this is an underlying issue.

Your example of the thoughts which can come into mind is an example of the way in which people can drift into prejudiced assumptions. You are able to stop and think about how the person may have underlying health issues.

You mention that you don't get yelled at because you have a posh voice. I have to say that at times I can look a bit of a yob. Even though I think white, I did get stopped and searched by the police on one occasion.

When people meet others for the first time, the whole set of assumptions they bring is interesting.I know many people who claim that they go by first impressions. To some extent, we use first impressions. If someone speaks to us and we don't feel at ease with them we are not likely to continue the conversation. However, it is a complex area because if people form impressed of others and aren't prepared to go to this it gives so much opportunity for prejudice to creep in.

Yes, you make some good points. Also, some people are so patriotic in defending the British, getting heated as those in many philosophical arguments. I am half Irish but I prefer to see people as people rather than in terms of nationalities.

Of course, it is only natural to get emotional in arguing certain views. I am sure that I have done so on many occasions. I am really opposed to nuclear weapons and against capital punishment and I can remember getting really heated about these topics, especially at school. I used to get into very emotive debates about religion with my father as a teenager.

Also, I have to admit that sometimes even when I read this site I get quite worked up by some posts I read. To some extent, emotion and anger do have a motivating effect in enabling us to fight for certain causes.

Probably, I have just got to the point where I like to listen to viewpoints and avoid arrogance about the views and ideas which I feel passionate about.

Everyone has privileges in the structure of the social world, such as being male, white etc. In a way, we could say that the most disadvantaged could be the black, disabled lesbian. We live such hierarchical structures in a way in which these categories are almost invisible but they permeate life.

Thinking of the example of the earlier thread of the way in which men often feel treated badly in education establishments, this does need to be seen in the light of the whole way in which men were the elite in education in the past. This history of male dominance is being overturned and it makes some uncomfortable. I remember in sixth form English class how one boy decided to leave school because he just couldn't cope with our feminist teacher who went as far as calling God 'she'. This was quite interesting really in a Catholic Comprehensive school.

But of course there are situations such as in groups, in which people proclaim their disadvantages almost like trump cards. But, despite this it has to be remembered that such people probably have a history of being treated badly. And, it is complicated because there are also invisible differences. For example, I have seen disabled people objecting to so called able-bodied people using disabled toilets and they are making the assumption that all disabilities are visible. So, it is extremely complicated.

When I studied sociology, I was always interested in the way labelling occurs. I love the way in which Becker's theory of labelling portrays the way in which people, especially deviants are labelled as outsiders and this affects their whole identity, usually negatively. The whole way in which people are categorical as 'bad' or 'mad' has big consequences too.

So, I would argue that the whole way we are seen in social life and the way life involves power structures has major impact. Also, when changes occur some are going to react to their privileged position being challenged.

Yes, I am trying to use it constructively. I have moments when I am too great about it but I do believe that, by the end, we will have learned a lot, especially about ourselves. We are not used to spending so much time by ourselves. It feels like it has lasted for much longer than a year. I definitely feel that I am very different from the way I was before it all started and I am hoping that I am a much better and wiser person. I have certainly reflected enough on philosophy in that time, and I am sure you have, as you post a lot. I am hoping that this is all worthwhile in the long term scheme of everything.

I think that you are correct to say that fear is at the centre. I think that we are all fearful of difference and probably any loss, including the loss of personal privileges.

Yes, but if life carried on as it is now I would question whether there would be any quality of life at all, because just about every outlet available is closed down. I don't know about you but I haven't met any friends for just about a year. I haven't worked since May and can't really look for work.

I do remember at some point replying to you when pubs were open, and I was saying that I was reading a book. So, it might appear that London is better but in order to enter premises I was having to fill in forms of personal details. In some places, i couldn't even buy a cup of coffee because I hadn't got the right app on my phone to scan in. I think that is the kind of social world we are going to be in for a very long time. I am sorry if this sounds negative but this is because the whole lockdown life is making me unable to sleep. It is all just going on and on, but I do hope that we start to see some way out by spring.

I would say that it is probably about the extent of making judgemental biases. An extreme example would be when someone says, 'I don't like blacks- they are taking all the jobs,' This might sound over the top but it is one which I have heard many times in England. There are so many far more subtle ones and I would suggest that the problem is when people are not prepared to go beyond initial preconceptions.

It could be argued that most educated people have thought beyond this level. However, I am not sure that all the basic prejudices have been eradicated but become hidden. However, it is not just about race but about all aspects of difference. I think it is likely that slightly different groups may be on the receiving end of prejudice.

Of course, you or anyone else is welcome to say that in many ways prejudice, and the whole systemic imbalances of power have been addressed mostly. However, so far on the site no one has actually suggested this. Also, there have been a number of threads on aspects of difference, and two having been deleted has caused controversy. So, somewhere in the midst of the collective unconscious of this site, there may be some burning concerns. But the focus of mine is a bit more obscure because it is about the prejudiced mind and looking at ourselves.

I also think that mindfulness is useful, especially in conjunction with some meditation. The particular aspect of mindfulness that is useful in my experience is the whole process of observing the flow of thoughts which enter into our psyches.

I am not sure that the majority of people are going to be able to work from home. I only know a few individuals who are really able to do this, because it is mainly for people whose work is on computers. If only there was such a solution for climate change. As it is many lives have been more or less been put on complete hold, but we will have to wait and see what happens. I try to avoid doom and gloom thinking. I am also hoping that most people will have the vaccine because I am aware of many who plan to refuse it.

I try to keep an open mind about the future because the whole topic of Covid_19 and restrictions is one in which it is easy to get locked into positions of thinking. Sometimes, I go out and feel so negative. I have to kickstart my whole emotional mindset, and keep focused and try to think and approach all the challenges we are up against in the most creative way possible.

You say that it is 'about what which direction your arrow is pointed, what you aspire to'. I am not sure that many people consciously choose to remain prejudiced, but probably don't stop and consider their own prejudices. Perhaps, it is so much easier to see the problem 'out there' and point the finger of blame at others, and each of us may do this to some extent. I am probably coming to this from a bit of a psychoanalytic and I am translating it into the framework of philosophy.

Even though it is slightly off topic from my thread discussion I was interested to know that you are in Manchester. I imagined you in America and, generally, that not many people on the site are in England, so perhaps I am wrong there (ha ha!) I would imagine that you have it a lot worse time of almost indefinite lockdown.

Generally, I agree with what you say about people's attitudes and behaviour. But one thing which I am also thinking is that after all this time of just staying indoors, many people are almost going to need rehabilitation to go back to living the life that they have lived. I go out to the shops but I know many who have almost stopped, especially as so much can be delivered. I wear a mask, of course, but I have knocked items over and tripped over a step because I can't see properly as my glasses steam up so much.

I sometimes think that life in Britain will never go back to the way it was, and I really hope that I am wrong.

I would agree that some people don't think see the consequences of their religious beliefs in most senses.They don't seem to make connections between church doctrines and dogmas. Generally, I think these are more the people who view church more as a social convention. They are usually not the ones who are going to agonise or have any sleepless nights over the philosophy questions. But, at some point, something might happen in their lives which really makes them stop and question life and death.

But, equally many people who are not religious don't stop and question beliefs that deeply. I think a lot of people I know think that I am a bit of a nerd for reading philosophy books. There are people who have fixed beliefs, those who don't seem to care much at all, and a whole spectrum in between.

I think that in some cases people are so determined to 'know', in order to avoid stepping into the existentialist void of not knowing. Obviously, we seek to build pictures of how reality works, but this may involve deconstruction and time in the wildernes. How many are prepared to travel into this wilderness? I remember once saying to a woman I knew, that I had spent time questioning my way through the Catholic beliefs I has been taught. She replied, 'But that would be too much work.'

I would say I view meditation as experiential. Perhaps it is not too important to question whether the zone we can enter into is objectively real or not. Philosophical analysis is important but perhaps it has it limits and that appreciation of experience is important too. But that is not to say that your question is not important because philosophy can be about understanding process and not just metaphysical.

I think that one underlying question is whether the need for religion can ever be overcome?Many of the ancient philosophers interweaved religious and philosophical speculations.

Personally, my own interest in philosophy grew in the context of issues raised in religious upbringing. I have stepped outside of the Catholic tradition in which I was raised. However, I am sure that in some ways the whole way I think borrows from religious seeking. Perhaps the people who were not brought up with religion think differently. Certainly, I can remember the point in childhood when I found out about the theory of evolution and it was around the same time that I discovered about sex, so it was like stepping into a new world.

But the point I would make is that religious thinking can be deconstructed, but it does not alter the way in which the questions of religion come from the same starting place. So, perhaps the most important thing is to be able to draw out the central questions of philosophy within religious beliefs. Obviously, every person answers these differently, but obviously that involves freedom of choice and thought.

I think that you are new to the forum, so I will try to explain where I am coming from in creating this thread question. My intention was not to suggest that we cannot know anything. Some of the big philosophy questions such as is there a God, life after death are speculation, but that doesn't stop people forming answers which are satisfactory to them. Sometimes people wish to defend their positions at all costs, and probably that is what I was thinking about.

Of course, most individuals do believe that they are right because they have spent time and energy coming to answers, so it is important to defend these. Certainly, I don't think it would be helpful to say that we cannot know at all about the questions of philosophy. Perhaps, a better starting point is to consider what do I know?

I don't think that it is always a mistake to claim that one might be or have been wrong. That is not to say that truth is unknowable, but that one's own position has changed. I think that it would indeed be wrong to think that since one has committed to a perspective that it can never be changed. I am not suggesting some kind of watery fickleness, but an ongoing honesty.

In certain instances, it could be bravery to admit to being mistaken and not a sign of weakness. It is not as if the philosopher, or any other thinker, is meant to be infallible. I would say that what is most important is an ongoing commitment to the quest for truth and this might change according to new facts which emerge, or due to a shift in the thinker's perception.To merely hold onto a conviction just for the sake of not admitting to being wrong would be a hollow sham, revealing the ridiculousness of trying to assert that one is right.

It's 2 am where I am, so I am becoming ridiculous reading and writing on this site at this time. So, I have just read what you have written quickly, so I apologise for that.

However, what my thoughts are is that I know that you are writing in the tradition of the romantic philosophers but I am not sure that the way that they write would be accepted nowadays. The whole academic culture has changed. I am certainly not saying it is better.

One reason why I prefer creative writing to academic writing is the whole way in which research is seen, and it is a lot worse in other disciplines from philosophy. In some disciplines absolutely every sentence has to be backed up by some research study. We are not talking about merely avoiding plagiarism but about having to find a study as evidence in order to make a point at all. It is as if the author is not allowed a personal voice at all. So, philosophy and this forum offers so much relative scope really.

The other thought that I have is that there is a big difference between writing for oneself and writing for others. When I write in my notebooks alone that is usually my writing for myself but I know that it probably needs to be different if I was to present it to others. I have not ever submitted for publication, but I think that getting writing published is tough.

Anyway, I won't go on because I am not sure that you will think much of my answer, and I really am tired, so good night. Also, I am not sure that this dialogue will help either of us in the eyes of anyone on the forum.

I am not saying your idea of meditation as an 'exotic experience' and of being 'a doorway to richly interpreted and subjectively mediated experience' is wrong. It is a good argument, but how can you know, for sure? What you are saying is just as much an interpretation as the person who sees the matter from the more exotic point of view.

I began reading your message while I was replying to Josh. It is interesting that you have all that experience of meditation. I have mainly attended meditation workshops and have done my own meditation techniques at home in improvised form.

One form I have tried is a lesser known form known as transmission meditation. It was developed by a rather unusual thinker, Benjamin Creme. I found the meditation really helpful although I am not saying that I think that all the ideas of Creme are particularly creditable. One main difference is that in this meditation practice the person is focusing on the ajna point, located in the centre of at the level of the eyebrows.

One reason I would say that I question the idea of entering another reality is that the whole idea of transmission meditation is about energies levelled down from the divine hierarchy. I realise that this whole idea could be seen as complete nonsense by many, but when I practiced this meditation I found it really helpful. However, I realise that you are a practitioner of Zen meditation, so what you are talking about is probably different entirely.

I think that it may be a subject of debate in itself whether the meditators really go to another place or not, or whether this is a mythical belief. I know that I am someone who dabbles in meditation and sometimes 'feel' that I am going to other dimensions, and I have even discussed the idea of fourth and fifth dimensional in a couple of threads on art but I am not sure how these stand up for scrutiny of rigorous philosophy analysis.

I can imagine that you are a bit disappointed by having only one response so far. Perhaps the question is one that is a rather unusual slant, but it could just be that your thread is a slow starter.

I have to be careful when I speak of an 'other reality' because it is frequently taken for mysticism on this forum and I am not sure that it even is. I am talking about entering into the world of thought. This can involve meditation, but can just be about thought itself. I think many people who write on the forum dislike the whole idea of meditation but in some ways I am not sure that there is a real difference between what it is in practice from focused concentration.

I don't know why you or some others are concerned about their articles being accepted for the actual articles section because we can read your article anyway. Also, a couple of people have submitted articles by link. So, really by the time any were put into the section of articles most people would have read them already.

About a month ago, Hippyhead had ideas that the whole site should be altered with the articles being the main one. I strongly disliked this idea because I thought that it would set up a system where the people with accepted articles would be seen as of higher rank. I said to Hippyhead that I didn't like the whole idea of article submissions because it set up a power dynamic of people having their work accepted or rejected.

So, what I am saying is that I don't think that you need be concerned about your article not being 'accepted' because it is on the site. People have only to log into the Section on Articles Submitted and your article on Egoism is there, waiting to be read. Also, on my phone, the font is clearer than the one in the official articles section.

Yes, it is interesting how much going to university does bring a lot of changes to thinking. I am probably aware that I changed a lot more in relation to those I went to school with who did just left school and got a job. But perhaps that was because I was less conventional deep down than those people in the first place.

It is hard to know how much is about studying and how much is about experimentation in campus life. Initially, I gravitated towards the religious students but after a while I started to realise that I did not fit in with them really. I was studying religious studies as one of my first year options and this involved comparative religion and I started to discover an affinity with Hinduism and Buddhism. This was probably the beginning of my sliding away from Catholic ideas, and I do still have a sympathy with such systems of belief.

But I suppose that an underlying issue is to what effect does life experiences have on our ideas. I think that it was really the whole experience of having 2 friends commit suicide within a couple of years that led me to question absolutely everything. I do wonder if I would have ever really questioned to the extent that I did otherwise. Even though I had read a lot of philosophy, I do think that I might not have really entered into the limbo wasteland if I had not been pushed into emotional discomfort. I would also say that I have also had a fair amount of setbacks since university and this has made me open to speculation a lot.

So, I do think that apart from the whole question of whether university life and its opportunities for experimentation, there is the other one as to how much our life experiences pushes us out of our comfort zones. I would say that for most of my adult life I have felt pushed beyond the threshold of feeling 'comfortable', to the point where, at times, so in many ways I am prepared to explore and experiment with ideas. So, it is not that I don't wish to be right, but that I feel that I have gone beyond the stage of clinging to a specific set of beliefs.

Perhaps the question which I would pose for anyone reading this, is how far their experience has led them to question their systems of belief?

You may be talking more about art therapy than a form of philosophy in referring to art to express oneself but it could just come under the category of creative art. Aesthetics is probably a lot more complex because it is a field of philosophy in its own right. When you speak about a person drawing circles and geometrical shapes, I am of the view that it is best not to try to categorise it with a specific meaning outrightly but to ask the person to say what meaning this has, because this would depend on the significance for the person making the art.

I guess I have a high tolerance for ambiguity and that is because I was raised a Catholic and have moved away from what I believed but it did not happen overnight, but over a few years. As a teenager I was extremely religious and even when I started university. It was during that time, based on reading and many factors that I really began exploring and entering into a sort of limbo wilderness. I think I was uncomfortable with the limbo for some time, but grew used to it.

Also, I am used to being in the situation of having to not vocalise my views and feelings at work in mental health care. This has been mainly in working with patients, because one cannot disclose about one's life or views in this work. So, I am used to having to try not to get heated.

So, when you speak of conflicts being like 'a can of worms' , I am probably used to keeping the worms encased in my brain. Perhaps my head will explode like a nuclear weapon one day, just like the title of one of my favourite albums, by The The, 'Mindbomb.'

You speak about children being institutionalised and what I would add is that older people are being institutionalised more and more. Obviously, this is questionable, but I realise that it is complicated because people don't all have family members who are able to care for them. Also, people are living much longer. That means that if people are living into their nineties it could mean potentially that their children could themselves be in their seventies.

I suppose the biggest problem with institutions is if it is a way of dumping people who are less able, as a means of casting them out as the forgotten citizens.

The only one thing I would add about romantic philosophy is that it may not be all rainbows and sunsets. It may be also the decadent romance of encountering the shadowy figure of the gothic depths, like a fictional vampire romance story. Perhaps some would say that this is not romantic, but there can be dark romance and this applies to philosophy because it can be about encountering the depths and the heights.

This is an unusual question. I am not sure how you are imagining the discussion to proceed but the thought that springs to my mind is that of the blank sheet of paper when one begins to put thoughts to paper. Often when one starts to think about an idea it is not with pen or paper in hand, but the whole generation of thought seems an important process.

When I have been working on ideas for some project I often feel that I have to psyche myself up, usually with a few cups of coffee. I think about it as being about the whole creative process, and it feels like going into another dimension for a time, and bringing back the treasured gems of the other reality. But that is my experience of generating ideas and I am aware that others may experience it very differently.

It is quite funny that you see this thread as being similar to the one I wrote on prejudice because I see them as rather different. I suppose that the similarity is that obviously I am the same person on my various threads. Generally, I think that some people have engaged in both, but I have noticed some different people replying to the different threads.

This is the first forum I have ever used. So, even though I have written many posts and threads, I only joined in last September, so I am relatively new. I can't believe that it is only just over 5 months that I have been using it because it seems like much longer. I think that it is as if time has slowed down with all the lockdown restrictions. I don't know if I would ever join another one. I certainly wouldn't right now as this one is keeping me busy enough. I have sometimes felt recently that I have taken up philosophy as a full time pursuit, but it definitely feels like a worthwhile one for the present time.

It sounds like a good idea, so perhaps it might be worth finding your work if you still have it, and preparing it to launch as a book. If you put all that time into it, I am sure that you must have done a lot of work and it is an unusual idea, although that is not to say that nobody has written on the topic since the 1990s.

Yes, I think that there are many deep seated prejudices against people with learning disabilities. I have come across many well educated people who believe that all attempts to abort such people should take place, and I think that in the case of someone who finds out at an early stage of pregnancy that they are going to have a profoundly disabled child, physically or mentally must have an agonising decision to make. It is hard to imagine the full extent of this.

One thing which I have discovered in London and England as a whole is that many of the most severe learning disabled people are in institutions in remote places, in outskirts of villages. To me, this shows how they are cast out of view, in hidden places, where many will never have to catch sight of them.

One other prejudice from the earlier part of the last century was of unmarried pregnant women who were often incarcerated indefinitely in mental health institutions. I believe that there was a decision to free them back into the community at one point, but I think this was problematic because they had not acquired the necessary skills to live independently.

Yes, I think that many are inclined to make assumptions about the way certain people feel about how they present themselves without really entering into the meaning for those particular individuals.

I once worked with a Muslim woman who was having a conflict with a senior manager who took objection to her coming to work wearing a head covering. It was in an advice office and the senior manager had objected that people coming into the office would make all kinds of assumptions about the person they were coming to see for advice wearing certain Muslim attire. The woman, who was in fact tolerant of all people of all identities felt really upset about the objection because she saw her covering as one of personal expression. From my experience of knowing Muslim women in England, they do frequently wear their traditional clothing with a sense of expression and pride in their identity.