Comments

  • How do you define good?
    hat's just another way of saying there is no actual goodness and badness; because you defined it as whatever suits a person's own non-objective dispositions.Bob Ross

    You could say it's Beyond Good and Evil, yea.

    My biggest complaint is not that you are siding with moral anti-realism, but that the OP wants to know where to startBob Ross

    The OP has a starting place. He or she is an atheist.
  • Ukraine Crisis
    Did you notice that when you bugged out from Afghanistan, the ally of yours collapsed immediately after you directly negotiated with your Islamist enemies without them?ssu

    Yes, but I thought Afghanistan was invaded on a quest to find Osama Bin Ladin. In the meantime, Afghanistan became a massive heroin producer, with much of that ending up on the streets of small towns in the US. It's been truly devastating, which I see firsthand because I work in healthcare. It's hard for me to see how the US screwing around in Afghanistan is a good thing for anyone anywhere.

    This Trump-Biden cop out made Putin to think you wouldn't react much if he attempted a takeover Ukrainessu

    Obama didn't react much to previous Putin maneuvers. I think that's because 1) it's not really in American interests to protect countries near Russia, and 2) the US is in decline, with a giant debt that will never be paid and concerns over how it's going to keep paying social security.

    Hence if you push for a similar "peace" that is very unfavorable for Ukraine, just like you did with North Vietnam and the Taleban (without caring much about South Vietnam or Afghanistan), then you embolden Russia, China and North Korea.

    Hope you understand the logic.
    ssu

    What do you think Russia, China, and North Korea are going to do?
  • How do you define good?
    As an atheist by practice and agnostic by believe how can I define whats good from evil?
    I have had this question for a long time, but only recently that I gave it serious thought. So I decide to build my own set of rules and values, this is my first attempt and I will need your help, so where should I begin? What question should I make?
    Matias Isoo

    Just picture who you want to be and what kind of environment you want to be in 5 years from now. You're like an arrow shooting through time. Good is whatever is conducive to the arrow's path toward your vision. Evil is whatever makes the arrow deviate down some other path. As long as your goal is in keeping with deeper imperatives, and not frivolous bullshit, it will be relatively easy, though trials and torments are part of any path.

    Good and evil are just ideas you use to keep the vision clear in your mind. They don't serve any other purpose.
  • The Mind-Created World
    If the world is mind-created, why is there so much misery in the world?
    — frank

    Because of ignorance, of not seeing what is real, and being attached to what is unreal. And that goes for me as much as anyone else.
    Wayfarer

    Is this a Buddhist take on it?
  • Ukraine Crisis
    NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has told U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that Washington would face a "dire threat" from China, Iran, and North Korea if Ukraine is forced to accept an unfavorable peace deal, the Financial Times reported on Dec. 2.

    What does he mean by that? That Ukraine is the only thing stopping a giant BRIC takeover? That seems a little crazy.
  • The Mind-Created World

    If the world is mind-created, why is there so much misery in the world?
  • Ukraine Crisis
    Potentially, yes. Trump thinks about things very transactionally. He wants to "win" any deal.Count Timothy von Icarus

    I'd be pretty surprised if he supports Ukraine in any way. Why would he?
  • Why ought one do that which is good?
    The OP is just asking if we do good because otherwise we'll be struck by lightning, or go to hell, or reap the crop of evil? Are we good for social acceptance and praise, or due to fear? If the highest earthly attainment is to live authentically, how does morality fit into that?

    Or if we're just meaninglessly falling through a void, does it matter? It would help if we gave an example.

    For instance, it's a moral good to treat people with respect. Do you do it? If so, why? Or why not?
  • The Cogito
    He did express pleasure in seeing new places. But the question of feeling compelled to move is the question raised above regarding opinions unpopular with those with power.Paine

    He liked to follow armies around, staying in his own encampment. I think he was just hungry for adventure. Do you have reason to believe he moved around because he was in danger of being arrested?
  • The Cogito

    Yes, he seemed to have enjoyed traveling around. That's interesting about Kristina Wasa. :up:
  • The Cogito

    Right, just where you deviate from the common narrative about Descartes, point out that you're offering your own theory. That reduces confusion.
  • The Cogito
    Is that a fact or an opinion? Evidence?Fooloso4

    He dedicated the Meditations to the Jesuits with an appeal to consider his new way of approaching knowledge. It's clear that he was attempting to engage with the Church. If he'd wanted freedom from the Church, that was easily available in nearby Protestant territory.
  • What should the EU do when Trump wins the next election?
    The objective is to simply weaken the US and European ties,ssu

    He doesn't need to put any effort into that.
  • The Cogito

    Right. Descartes was clearly not on a quest to undermine the authority of the Church.
  • The Cogito
    Wouldn't the Church consider this heresy?Fooloso4

    The Counter-Reformation happened a few decades before Descartes was born, so no. During his lifetime, the Church was focused on losing ground to the Protestants.

    Rather than reform the Church he attempts to reform man,Fooloso4

    I'll just comment that you do this a lot. You come up with some weird subterfuge related to a famous philosopher and then announce your theories as if they're facts. Just signal that you're doing this so you don't end up causing confusion.
  • What should the EU do when Trump wins the next election?
    I'd disagree with that. Putin isn't under the thumb of Xi. Just look at how many times the Russians have disappointed Xi with their wars.ssu

    Xi publicly chided him for talking about nuclear engagement. I took that to be a sign that Xi is in charge. No?

    First of all, when Putin says that he's at war with NATO, you really shouldn't underestimate this.ssu

    Unfortunately, it's impossible to tell what he's thinking until he actually puts troops on the border. He lies all the time. And at this point he's using North Korean troops. Is he really at a point where he could unilaterally declare war on any European state?
  • The Cogito
    But Descartes' concern was not simply personal. It was to displace the authority of the Church from the mind of the thinking man,Fooloso4

    He wanted the Church to reform, and he thought he could help it do that. He was a wild guy. He travelled around engaging in warfare when he felt like it, he was actively seeking members of esoteric groups (we know he knew one of them, but the connection was never revealed to him.) He was a rich man and a genius. He wasn't under anyone's thumb, and he knew it.
  • The Cogito
    to displace the authority of the Church with the authority of the thinking/reasoning subject.Fooloso4

    He wouldn't have needed to displace the authority of the Church if that was his agenda. He could have just left and gone to live in Protestant territory.
  • What should the EU do when Trump wins the next election?

    This is a little discussion moderated by the Brookings Institution about EU defense:



    It's a long discussion about nothing. I think the EU will pull itself together when and if it needs to. Since Russia is relatively gutted and under the thumb of Xi, I don't think it presents much of a threat right now. As time goes by, I would guess that the EU will work on ties with China and look in their direction for a diplomatic base. Maybe play China and the US off each other.
  • The Cogito
    How else would you say “disunity”? What other word carries similar implication?Mww

    Divided? Although it's more than that. As an idea, the self makes sense relative to its negation: the not-self, whatever that is. The Cogito signifies that I don't just blend into a monolithic universe. I arise out of it as a distinct thing.
  • The Cogito
    ….or, we always were, and must necessarily be.Mww

    I agree. The most fundamental duality is unity vs disunity. The Cogito points to the indubitability of the disunity part.
  • The Cogito
    Is there an answer that doesn’t just invite another question?

    Comprehension needs to be bestowed on something representing a particular accomplishment, iff one wishes to express himself in regard to it. The cognitive system, in and of itself, in its normal modus operandi, doesn’t require it, insofar as it just IS it.
    Mww

    Right, there's experience, which is seamless, and then when we reflect on it, and go to say something about it, we automatically become dualists of some kind. To talk about it, we need to pull it apart:

    experience -- the one doing the experiencing.

    Does it just have to do with talking about it? Or maybe it's just the way consciousness turns back on itself, whatever you call that.
  • The Cogito
    but moreso that upon which the comprehension is bestowed.Mww

    Why does the comprehension have to bestowed upon something? I'm not so much arguing with Descartes, just asking the general question.
  • The Cogito
    That consciousness of mine that proves that I am, insofar as its negation is a contradiction, says nothing at all about what I am.Mww

    So there are thoughts and feelings, sights and sounds, etc. Why does there have to be a seat of consciousness? Why does there have to be an observer for the observed? A thinker for the thought?
  • Climate Change (General Discussion)
    Of course, subsidies don't help much when the company supplying and maintaining your solar panels goes broke.Agree-to-Disagree

    True. And the government shouldn't interfere in a case where the company was mismanaged, or just not suited to its intended market.
  • Climate Change (General Discussion)

    My state subsidizes roof solar panels, so basically all tax payers contribute to make solar energy available. Doesn't New Zealand do that?
  • What should the EU do when Trump wins the next election?
    That being said I don't think Trump would care about that.Mr Bee

    I think this is probably coming from his VP.
  • What should the EU do when Trump wins the next election?
    They'll still be hurt regardless. Whatever will be made in the US will be more expensive and retailers will have to bear that cost or make prices higher. So even in the case where tariffs will bring back US jobs the inflationary effects will be permanent.Mr Bee

    North American free trade undermines the position of US labor. It gives the US a more flexible labor force by putting it in competition with Mexicans who have a lower cost of living. That issue was raised during the Clinton years when NAFTA was initiated, but the establishment promised that over all, free trade would help Americans. That hasn't turned out to be true. The only people who really don't want a return to the way things were pre-NAFTA are certain Wall St. entities. If Trump did succeed in returning the US to a pre-1990s trade position, it would be the first step in the recreation of American labor unions. It would mean demands for a better social safety net would have power behind them.

    I don't like Trump, mainly because I don't want to hear his mouth, but on this issue, he's actually lining up with exactly what he said he wanted to do back in 2016: shore up the position of American labor.

    The timeframe that's been thrown around is a decade. You can't just simply rebuild entire supply chains in a couple of years, one with the connections and an experienced workforce, especially if a good chunk of that workforce is gonna be deported.Mr Bee

    I guess it depends on what commodity we're talking about. I think the main thing we get from Mexico is agricultural products. What kind of supply chain were you thinking of?

    But if you think Trump should impose these massive tariffs permanently and that the economy and prices would somehow work itself out before the midterms or the next presidential election, that's fine by meMr Bee

    I mean, inflation is coming down. The Fed is set to decrease rates again next year. When I say I think the tariffs will be permanent, I mean that it won't be possible to form a coalition to get rid of them again. As for Europe, I don't think it's even on the American radar at this point. I think we'll be parting ways in terms of fundamentals.
  • What should the EU do when Trump wins the next election?
    A lot of those businesses rely on imports and they're the ones who have to pay for the tariffs.Mr Bee

    Or it might become reasonable to start making those items at home instead of importing them.

    As for manufacturing, it's not clear 25% tariffs will be enough to encourage investment in US production but assuming it is, it'll take at least a decade before those supply chains are builtMr Bee

    I'd say more like two years, but I believe the tariffs will be permanent. Bringing back North American free trade wouldn't be a popular move. It was never popular to begin with.
  • Degrees of reality

    :cool: :up:
  • Degrees of reality
    I agree. And that fourth kind is likely to be drawn to philosophy.
  • Degrees of reality

    Bernard McGinn wrote a good book on Meister Eckhart. I've never seen it spelled Eckhardt.
  • Degrees of reality
    Yeah. I wasn't gonna say that. Might be time for a check up for some.Banno

    I've found three reactions to mystical experience

    1. There's the guy who clearly describes an out of body experience, but is certain it was his brain playing tricks in him.

    2. There's the guy who is sure he has the keys to understanding the universe, and won't be dissuaded.

    3. There's the person who has always had it, but just lives with it without making many judgements one way or the other.
  • Degrees of reality
    Trouble is distinguishing what we know from what we just believe. The difference is truth.Banno

    To me, the trouble is distinguishing a mystical state from a possible tumor. I would have to pay out of pocket for an MRI, and I have no noxious symptoms. It does make me laugh to consider that Buddha may have an aneurysm. :grin:
  • Degrees of reality
    I'm pretty confident it isn't.Banno

    Imagine a diamond where each facet of the diamond is the whole diamond. This is Schopenhauer. Knowing that it's true, not wondering, but knowing, is part of an altered state. Think of it as a different brand of logic.

    Although, the saying is: the difference between a mystic and a philosopher is that the philosopher tries to explain it. The mystic doesn't.
  • Degrees of reality
    Did you have any success entering lucid dreaming states?Janus

    I woke up in a dream once, but I changed something that went against the integrity of the dream reality and I immediately woke up. That never happened again.

    When I got sucked into the limbo state was when I was doing that meditation where you ask "Who am I"? I never did that again, but sometimes I could feel the limbo coming. I discovered that if you focus on breathing, it goes away.
  • Why Americans lose wars

    The bigger they get, the harder they fall.
  • Degrees of reality
    I was sucked into a kind of deathly vortex which seemed to be a state of paralysis between waking and sleepJanus

    I would get that too. I eventually learned that if you focus on breathing you can get back out of it.