Not sure what point you want to make here? — Janus
Philosophy has roots in an anti-Dionysian stance. A philosopher likes to have rational grounds, and incorporating this attitude into other avenues of life has practical benefits to medicine, science, engineering, etc.
Freud was warning that taking this to an extreme can result in delusion. — frank
Anyway, your belief that "This is a hand" is not held irrationally. It's still grounded in something irrational: perception. Right? — frank
Would Freud say the delusion consists in having, or aspiring to have, rational grounds for all beliefs, or in thinking that one does have rational grounds for all beliefs? — Janus
It's held rationally, but grounded in something irrational.Did you mean to write "not held rationally"? — Janus
I agree that "This is a hand" originates in perception or, perhaps better, embodied existence. — Janus
No, it's that theory-building philosophers fall so deeply in love with their projects that they don't notice that they've become disconnected as if in a dream. — frank
It's held rationally, but grounded in something irrational. — frank
What is "embodied existence"? — frank
But would that not be the same as to say that they are delusional insofar as they believe they have rational grounds (as opposed to merely emotional attachment) for their beliefs (their theory-building projects)? — Janus
How can a rational belief be (rationally) grounded in something irrational? Perhaps you mean "caused by" or "originating in"? — Janus
What is "embodied existence"?
— frank
Existence as a body. — Janus
No. He meant that they get lost in the realm of the intellect. Rationality doesn't necessarily get you closer to the truth, that's the point. — frank
I meant "grounded" in the way it's used in the essay. — frank
As opposed to what? — frank
Thanks for your efforts here, but although you seem to be asserting that there are "basic beliefs" which are dependent on language for their genesis, you still haven't given an example of one. — Janus
I think beliefs that qualify as basic beliefs should be pre-reflectively and cross-culturally held by everyone; in other words the sorts of things that are believed on the basis of embodied human existence, and that most everyone would think you crazy for questioning. — Janus
I also think that the set of basic beliefs, as something like Collingwood's "absolute presuppositions" or Wittgenstein's "hinge propositions", would form the grounds upon which all other reason-based beliefs and knowledge are founded. — Janus
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