look around and notice it with others too. We simply don’t realize that so much of what we think we know, who we listen to, the company we keep, the jobs we do, and how we generally live our lives, is determined by factors beyond our control — the time and place you are born, your genes, your parents and upbringing, your culture and peers, early life experiences, education, etc. — Mikie
I wonder to what extent the stuff we read and write about is simply a product of our class, our parents class and education, and our upbringings — but also by the levels of energy we possess, how strong our stomachs are, how anxious or stressed we are, whether we’re sleep deprived or not, if we carry with us much physical pain, etc. Very different philosophies (and lives) can come out of such simple things. — Mikie
We simply don’t realize that so much of what we think we know, who we listen to, the company we keep, the jobs we do, and how we generally live our lives, is determined by factors beyond our control — the time and place you are born, your genes, your parents and upbringing, your culture and peers, early life experiences, education, etc. — Mikie
I wonder to what extent the stuff we read and write about is simply a product of our class, our parents class and education, and our upbringings — Mikie
I think a big part was not simply curiosity, but fear — Mikie
I look around and notice it with others too. We simply don’t realize that so much of what we think we know, who we listen to, the company we keep, the jobs we do, and how we generally live our lives, is determined by factors beyond our control — the time and place you are born, your genes, your parents and upbringing, your culture and peers, early life experiences, education, etc. — Mikie
My reading life grew through adolescence, especially when I became depressed in sixth form, and by the time I left school reading philosophy and related areas was an integral part of my life. It was partly sparked by the tension between religion and science too. — Jack Cummins
However, that doesn't mean that all people who are interested in are 'troubled souls', but they usually have some reason to go beyond conventional common sense understanding. — Jack Cummins
Our 'intellectual facilities' like to think they are above it all, not affected by all the good and bad stuff that compose our histories. — BC
We are all products of forces beyond our control - not just those of geopolitics and economics, but the ideas and very language we use to communicate. — Tom Storm
Does my social status and my environment contribute to how I think? To a large extent sure. But since I cannot live two lives in separate environments, I cannot say... — Manuel
Left politics - being mocked by a school friend's family because my family couldn't afford a dish washing machine. — fdrake
Something close to eliminative materialism - have suffered from people behaving incongruously with how they describe and motivate their actions. Minds are made for confabulating. — fdrake
Philosophy in general - who knows. Threat modelling? Making sense of a world which doesn't make sense? Growing up in places where what intuitions are taught/expected to work don't work at all. Needing to think like this to survive. — fdrake
In the years since, I’ve come to realise that maybe a lot of my quest was motivated by the ‘God-shaped hole’ that was left when I declined Anglican confirmation. — Wayfarer
For me, I think it was primarily curiosity. I just want to know how it all fits together. What happens next. It's fun, play. — T Clark
That's one of the main points of philosophy - to get beyond those cultural, social, and historical factors to the extent possible. — T Clark
Suffering; then later, that stupidity is somehow related to suffering.A. What had 'motivated' my interest in philosophy?
Born into an urban, working class family; an ethnic minority male (older sibling); raised in a loving, secure home by a single immigrant mother, daily threats of street / gang crime & police violence (but never any domestic abuse); disciplined parochial schooling K-12; all of my closest friends also came from close, polyglot, immigrant families; early love of science fiction & (electric) Blues ... then @16 I lost 'my religion' (I'd realized I did not 'believe in' Catholicism or the God of the Bible) and then @17 had my first philosophy class (textbook – From Socrates to Sartre).B. Which aspects of my biography 'determine' my philosophical commitments?
I’m completely confused by this one! The fault could very likely be mine alone. — Mikie
You needed to think philosophically to survive in a relatively unstable environment— does that sum it up? — Mikie
Interesting, but I can’t say I fully see the connection. Was it that being mocked made you more aware of your class position? — Mikie
So fear of the unknown was a big factor, especially when the stories of a fundamentalist Christian uncle became less convincing and additional questions were asked. But where did the fear come from? It wasn’t only the thought of hell — after all, lots of kids get told that and aren’t particularly afraid of it — and certainly most don’t develop a love of philosophy. — Mikie
how strong our stomachs — Mikie
Left politics - being mocked by a school friend's family because my family couldn't afford a dish washing machine. — fdrake
Just out of curiosity - is this some kind of accusation that I'm "cold and uncaring" because I "don't believe in minds" and "don't care how individuals are treated"? — fdrake
maybe we don't understand one another at all. — frank
Have you said something about yourself and I missed it? — unenlightened
Likely. I will generally interpret someone telling me my perspective is "cold and brutal", without invitation or further comment, negatively. Perhaps if you used more words, I would have understood you. — fdrake
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