The dichotomy of pleasure and pain is slippery. — Cabbage Farmer
One may be pained in one respect and pleased in another by the same state of affairs. — Cabbage Farmer
I would say such cases of self-deception are not "willing", but rather inadvertent. — Cabbage Farmer
I don't think it's a mistake to recognize a significant opposition in experiences of pleasure and pain or in their roles as motives. But it is a mistake to oversimplify. I wouldn't say the opposition of pleasure and pain is a false dichotomy, just a slippery one.Good point. Life, taken as a whole, is exactly that. Yet, people have a tendency to make this dichotomy. Optimists fail to see the shadows, pessimists fail to see the light, etc. So, if this dichotomous view is an error then I'm not alone. Why do you think people are prone to this mistake? — TheMadFool
I agree that rationality is at issue here, that ways of thinking are at issue here. But I don't think rationality is the source of the problem. I'd rather say the fact that people aren't rational enough, and don't have time or inclination to sort out their thoughts and experiences, leads them to many errors and confusions, including an oversimplified view of pleasure, pain, and their relation to action and happiness, for instance.Methinks it's got something to do with our way of thinking, specifically rationality. Logic, if we're to use it effectively, requires sharply defined categories with no room for the possibilities you point out (situations evoking both pain and pleasure...life in general). — TheMadFool
I suggest there's a difference between rigid reasoning and rigorous reasoning. Rigorous reasoning may be as flexible and fluid as required by any subject matter, given a fluent reasoner with adequate information and time sufficient for the task.I think to be happy a person has to abandon rigid reasoning. — TheMadFool
By "inadvertent self-deception", I mean to suggest that the self-deceiver has not clearly acknowledged for himself that he is deceiving himself. In this respect he is unlike the liar who knows full well that he speaks falsehood.We'll have to argue on what ''inadvertent'' means but I accept that a person definitely wants to avoid contradictions. — TheMadFool
What does it mean to say that life is a contradiction? I'm inclined to reject the claim. What "categories" and "compartments" have led you to that strange assertion?That brings us back to the beginning of your post - Life is a contradiction. Can we, in that case, even with the utmost deliberation, avoid contradictions? Again, we see the role of rationality, trying to arrange reality into neat compartments with clear boundaries. I think this enterprise is a fool's errand. — TheMadFool
But it is a mistake to oversimplify. I wouldn't say the opposition of pleasure and pain is a false dichotomy, just a slippery one. — Cabbage Farmer
I'd rather say the fact that people aren't rational enough, and don't have time or inclination to sort out their thoughts and experiences, leads them to many errors and confusions, including an oversimplified view of pleasure, pain, and their relation to action and happiness, for instance. — Cabbage Farmer
If you think the facts and the evidence don't line up with our concepts and accounts, don't blame logic. Blame our concepts and accounts. — Cabbage Farmer
It seems to me that on balance, good information and good reasoning tends to increase the range of purposes and circumstances with respect to which we may be fit and satisfied and happy. — Cabbage Farmer
What does it mean to say that life is a contradiction? I'm inclined to reject the claim. — Cabbage Farmer
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