Shit, to be frank... we - in the States, that is - have the very best government and justice system that private money can buy. — creativesoul
Well, having a socialist Prime Minister in a Catholic kingdom is not a good strategy for achieving success. — Gus Lamarch
On the other hand, Nordic countries have high taxes and their HDIs are in Top 10 or so. — litewave
Prices in the U.S. were cheaper on January 1, 1900 then they were on January 1, 1800. — synthesis
How do you understand happiness? — Athena
Capital gains tax is terrible and disincentivizes investing — BitconnectCarlos
All that I can say is that to oppose taxes seems to be irrational. What happens to all the tax revenue a government accumulates? It goes into essentials such as infrastructure development, maintenance, revamping, paying government employees, financing activities of national importance and so on. — TheMadFool
there is a wealth tax — T Clark
Taxes are necessary for government and society to function... in the States anyway. Best thought of as user fees. — creativesoul
, I am saying: «If God exists, then God might have this and that attribute». — Amalac
we proceed toward the belief the hypothesis provides some sort of truth. — Metaphysician Undercover
Exactly. There is a correspondence between the quality of belief and the quality of the presentation (enactment) of the belief. That would be the fundamental (or to use Collingwood's term, absolute) presupposition. — Pantagruel
Yes, people don't 'believe' they want to be happy, they just do. — Pantagruel
This is a more specialized use of "believe", to say "believe in". It is better represented as having faith in a particular power, or capacity, to overcome obstacles. To simply "believe" is to have faith in one's power of memory, but to "believe in" is to have faith in some capacity to act. — Metaphysician Undercover
It is easier to hypothesize something as a belief than actually to believe it. — Pantagruel
. This point makes and proves why we are so different from animals or other creatures inside the savage world. The fact that abstract concepts created in our vocabulary as "metaphysics" or "beliefs" shows why we always want to improve our lives the better we want... Probably to reach the best goal everyone aspire = happiness (I just say this because it remembered me so fast when you quoted Aristotle).something
What is a belief, other than a memory? Nothing. And to believe is to have confidence in what is believed, i.e. the memory — Metaphysician Undercover
We cannot take off the credit from the Germanic countries. They were the most civilized countries in the world between the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. — Gus Lamarch
Can't there be another point of view? — schopenhauer1
The noble classist spirit of Europe should again be revived with pride! Not repudiated as a sin that they have committed! — Gus Lamarch
@god must be atheistI am not sure if that is one of the mandates of Philosophy: to create a better world. There is a trend that subscribes to that, but I don't think philosophers do. The closest philosophers come to this, is moral philosophy, but that in and by itself tells you only (if at all successfully) how to behave morally, and not how to reduce carbon dioxide or how to reduce the accelerating population explosion.
It is very complex this one. Because he is speaking about positive realism. So I guess he wants to put a divisional line between tangible and non tangible realities. Let me put another example of this. Descartes said perfection is that realism which even dreaming does not drive to failure. It is pretty similar as yours but one important point here: Awareness.The magnitude of positive reality, taken precisely, beyond the limits or boundaries in the things that have them. And where there are no limits, that is, in God, perfection is absolutely infinite.
This also answers the objection that not-existing might be better than existing, and that therefore non existence might be a perfection
@Gus LamarchToday's Europe forgets that the West was founded thanks to the base of the romance countries, who are descendants of the Roman Empire, which was also sustained and developed at the expense of ancient Greece.
While this kind of irrationality takes place in Europe, we Americans forget that we owe everything and more to Europe itself, and so on.
this plays into stereotypes Dutch people (and Swedish, Austrian and Danish) have of southern european countries like Spain, Italy and Greece. You're lazy, and we're hard working. — Benkei
To my knowledge, the Spanish flu was less contagious, but don't quote me on that, not sure. — Paul S
It is indivisible because elementary particles are indivisible.
- It is a monistic theory. — SolarWind

@Jack CumminsBut I am not sure how ECT would address nihilism.




@Jack CumminsYou are the first to speak of the way in which I have mentioned nihilism in my introduction. I am not sure if it is a red herring or not, because I do think that the experiences of nihilism is a position of despair, but it is not simply the experience of depression, or is it?
@Gus LamarchThe European Union is an economic prison created by a State larger than the States that compose the European nations.
