It occurs to me that most of us are first attracted to philosophy out of genuine curiosity, for truth and beauty as ends in themselves, not means for power as preached by marxist or freudian ideologues. For them there is neither truth, nor beauty, only the power of sophistry or satisfaction of attitudes. — jkop
Anyway, I've never felt that I was "searching" for anything--truth, etc.--via philosophy.
Also re sophistry/the sophists, I never saw that as anything other than Plato badmouthing, and likely mischaracterizing, straw-manning etc. philosophers who disagreed with him, and there was good reason to disagree with him. I love Plato's writing, but he was wrong about far more than he was right in my opinion. — Terrapin Station
With God, though, it was partially because I had very little notion of any relgious beliefs or concepts prior to when I was maybe 14 or 15. My parents never brought it up--my mom's an atheist (and her father was an atheist, too), and my dad is just indifferent towards religion. We never went to church of course, it was never mentioned, and I didn't really have any religious friends when I was a kid. We were focused on other things. When I finally started learning about religious beliefs when I was around 14 or 15, I basically went, "Wait a minute--you believe what???" I literally thought people were putting me on--that it was a big practical joke (exacerbated by coming from a family with quite a few practical jokers in it). So I've never had the slightest inclination to believe anything religious, because the beliefs were so alien to my formation, and they still seem surreally bizarre to me. — Terrapin Station
We can also abandon (along these lines) the very notion of "one truth for all."
..."Radical pragmatism" is itself just something someone might try (put in their toolbox). — Hoo
Am I saying that my pragmatism is radical with respect to other strains of pragmatism or that pragmatism is radical with respect to non-pragmatism? Well, my pragmatism isn't apo's in that it abandons the "scientistic" paradigm altogether. It's "post-metaphysical" in terms of its reduced ambitions. So maybe it's a little radical with respect to other strains.(especially of change or action) relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching or thorough.
"a radical overhaul of the existing regulatory framework"
synonyms: thoroughgoing, thorough, complete, total, comprehensive, exhaustive, sweeping, far-reaching, wide-ranging, extensive, across the board, profound, major, stringent, rigorous
"radical reform" — dictionary
I use "sophistry" as a symbol for the notion of words as weapons in the war between the individual and other status-seeking personalities. I call it an "obscene father" because one can view the (apparent) invention of non-sophistry ("philosophy") as the work of sophistry. — Hoo
I agree with the thrust of the OP. I think it's interesting, though, that the two hidden motives you've identified in the quest for absolute truths are purity (disgust for dad) and power (I'm an extra-cave initiate!). Both are rampant, I agree, but I feel like there's an even more fundamental need - security. That there are absolute truths and that one can discover them and be sure of them- how profoundly comforting!
Though all three 'hidden' motives would share, I think, themes of withdrawl and preservation. The apprehension of a truth has a finality; you can find it on your own and once you have it and no one can take it from you. — csalisbury
The problem I see with what you are apparently proposing (that the difference between sophistry and philosophy is itself only apparent) is that you must thereby be denying that there could be any other motive for philosophical thought than engaging "in the war between the individual and other status-seeking personalities", which is merely a very questionable psychological thesis, and which as held, would be purporting to itself be universal; which would really be a performative contradiction. — John
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