I assume that you can easily show how the Four Noble Truths are factual. — praxis
The quote is from an old post (linked) that further elaborates. That thread was more or less the same topic as this one. — 180 Proof
The religion of science? — Roy Davies
That life is suffering is plain to see. — TheMadFool
That craving is, if not the primary cause, at least a major contributor to suffering. That to end suffering, craving has to be ended follows from these premises. — TheMadFool
Whether the 8-fold path is the correct method to end craving is, unfortunately, debatable. — TheMadFool
I've often wondered about the pessimistic view of the 4 noble truths.
What is the optimistic version?
1. Life is joy
2. Experience brings joy
ergo
3. To continue joy, one must continue experiencing and questioning
4. (I don't have a path for this) — Roy Davies
If you define religion as consisting in worship of a deity, then Buddhism both does and does not (and neither does nor does not :wink:) qualify as a religion, and this depends on its adherents/ practitioners. There are both superstitious and secular Buddhisms and Buddhists.
It could be thought to qualify to an equal degree as a philosophy as Schopenhauer's World as Will and Representation does, except for the twin irrational beliefs in Karma and Rebirth (Schopenhauer's philosophy arguably entertained only one irrational belief, namely the belief in Will). — Janus
ask 180 Proof about how pessimism is the only realistic attitude to adopt. Hint: entropy. — TheMadFool
As I mentioned in a preceding post, Hinduism had a major influence on Buddhism in its history. The core principles of Buddhism remain atheistic in the sense it doesn't subscribe to an all-powerful, all-good, all-knowing being. — TheMadFool
Why should the fact of entropy lead us to pessimism? — Janus
The Buddha is considered to be all-good and all-knowing if not all-powerful. There are many deities in Tibetan Buddhism (not to mention quite a few other schools). Buddhism may not be a "true" religion (in the sense that there are no "True Scotsmen") but it undoubtedly contains religious elements that most philosophy does not. Any philosophy that does contain religious elements would probably be better characterized as theology — Janus
ask 180 Proof about how pessimism is the only realistic attitude to adopt. — TheMadFool
There are more ways to suffer than there are ways to be happy. All things being equal, you're likely to experience more suffering than happiness. — TheMadFool
All I'm saying is that unlike the other three major religions, Buddhism doesn't have a god you have to pray to. — TheMadFool
How do we define philosophy and religion? — TheMadFool
The heart of philosophy is critical thinking and Buddhism meets that condition in being both based on facts (4 noble truths) and arguing for a worldview from them. — TheMadFool
I am not sure how well it would go in much of the East if you wanted to argue about Buddhism. I wouldn't recommend going into temples and giving that a shot, though Buddhism covers such a wide variety of people, it might go over well in some places. Yes, Buddhism is less focused on morals, which are actually more like practical heuristics, but then it seems to me you are conflating religion with Abrahamic religions. And even in that group you have Judaism which has much more focus on argument, reasoning the like than Buddhism.While religion may not be all blind faith, argumentation is frowned upon for the reason that god is perfect - among other things, is infallible and all good - and so to argue against good becomes, in the eyes of the faithful, both foolish and evil, with greater emphasis on the latter. — TheMadFool
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