Comments

  • Types of faith. What variations are there?
    Can you say something about what Heidegger thinks about god or theism?Tom Storm

    Philosophically, Heidegger had little to say regarding God or theism. He was born a Catholic and much of his higher education was financed by the Catholic church in one manner or another. He converted to Protestantism following his marriage. It is my understanding that he took more than a passing interest in pantheism in his later years. Despite what some may say, Heidegger was absolutely not an atheist. And unless something else comes to mind, I believe that is all I can say about Heidegger on this matter. I hope it helps.
  • Types of faith. What variations are there?
    I will crush you hereVaskane

    your worm-like reasonVaskane

    Read NietzscheVaskane

    Thanks for the recommendation on Nietzsche. Though Heidegger is the philosopher I tend to read most, you may rest assured I have read far more Nietzsche than the average person.

    I wish you nothing but the best.
  • Types of faith. What variations are there?
    How fucking dumb are you?Vaskane

    Impressive: bullying, demeaning, and spewing ad hominem all in a single sentence.

    Again, this is the Philosophy Forum. Instead of providing a dictionary as support for my position, I responded by providing you a synopsis of the supporting views (including a link thereto) of Oxford Professor of Philosophy Mark Wrathall. (he may have retired recently.). I presumed you would find the views of an eminent philosopher more persuasive than a dictionary. Silly me.

    Of course, it is possible that you did not understand what Professor Wrathall had to say. After all, I believe that is the point at which you said all you were hearing was "blah, blah, blah." I am pleased to note your hearing seems to have improved a bit.

    I use dictionaries as needed. But their necessarily colloquial nature renders them ill suited to philosophy. I have never used one as a primary (let alone only) source of support. Indeed, my experience suggests that people who do use dictionaries as a primary (let alone only) source of support within the context of philosophy usually do not know what they are talking about.

    And that is how dumb I am.

    I wish you nothing but the best.
  • Types of faith. What variations are there?
    Ad hominemsVaskane

    You are using your bullying, demeaning, and spewing of ad hominem in place of an argument in support of your claim that "semantics here does not matter." Fortunately, philosophy does not work that way.

    So if I may reiterate, you can either make an argument in support of your claim that "semantics here does not matter" or you can continue bullying, demeaning and attacking me. It matters not to me.

    Either way, I will wait here.
  • Types of faith. What variations are there?
    load of dog shitVaskane

    an ignorant foolVaskane

    worm-like reasonVaskane

    a push over.Vaskane

    You are nothing if not consistent (bullying, demeaning, spewing ad hominem).

    It is bad faith to an absurd degree to declare my point to be anything other than the only issue I have argued and the only issue to which I have repeatedly pointed, i.e., your claim that "semantics here does not matter." And since you have chosen to not even engage on the issue to which I have repeatedly pointed, there would be no point to moving the goal posts.

    As for being a pushover, since you have yet to even engage on the issue in a reasonable, manner, you may rest assured that I am still standing. And it will take a lot more than anything you have shown to push me over. Seriously, a dictionary?

    So I reiterate, you can engage on the issue or you can carry on bullying, demeaning, and spewing ad hominem. But you will not persuade without argument

    Either way, I am still here and I am still standing.
  • Types of faith. What variations are there?
    Your whole point was to counter what I said.Vaskane

    This is a philosophical forum. This matter began when I had the temerity to challenge your claim that "semantics here does not matter." How dare I! But instead of arguing the issue, you chose to bully, demean, and spew ad hominem in each and every one of your responses.

    You can either attempt to persuade me that I am wrong regarding the issue or you can carry on bullying, demeaning, and spewing ad hominem. But doing the latter will not make you right.

    Either way, Nietzsche will not help you and I ain't goin' nowhere.
  • Consciousness is a Precondition of Being
    'Virtue is it's own rewardWayfarer

    As if Heidegger would know. :-)
  • Consciousness is a Precondition of Being
    So there's regardless an ontological distinction accorded to humanity (acknowledging that his use of the terminology of ontology is very complex).Wayfarer

    Interesting. And the complexity of Heidegger's terminology notwithstanding, I agree.

    However and on some level, being ontologically distinct by actually doing ontology strikes me as a no brainer. And there is no prize for being the only known species to do ontology.
  • Innocence: Loss or Life
    What do we need to do other than convince the innocent they are not capable or prepared to accept the whole truth of something.kudos

    Great stuff. I do not disagree with it. But we often do the opposite by fostering the innocents mistaken belief (and perhaps our own) that we know the "whole truth". And rather than end the innocents continually asking why by admitting we do not know the "whole truth", we find ever more sophisticated ways to say "because I said so."
  • Types of faith. What variations are there?
    Meanwhile confidence that isn't faith is making conclusion about the odds, but without really risking anything to make a point?TiredThinker

    I agree.

    Though I suspect "confidence" and "faith" are related, I would not consider them synonyms. Generally, one's confidence is more easily eroded than one's faith? And people having the same degree of faith may not necessarily have the same degree of confidence? And wouldn't people be more likely to rely upon faith when their confidence wanes than to rely upon confidence when their faith wanes? They are not the same.
  • Innocence: Loss or Life
    I would agree that "we" don't have a drive for wisdom. Or if we do, it is not equal in all people. Perhaps some are more naturally disposed toward wisdom than others.
    Children lose their temporary innocence-advantage pretty quickly.BC

    We don't have a "drive for wisdom" as much as it takes time for individuals to develop it.BC

    Or do we shut it down? The socialization process is often heavily focused upon shutting people up. Though we do try to find kinder ways to shut them up, the goal remains the same.
  • Innocence: Loss or Life
    Great post. If wisdom is something we desire, then do all desire it equally? Or maybe it is something only certain people desire. And when we say things like "I learned that the hard way", aren't we confessing that wisdom may have been thrust upon us? And some of the wisest people I know strike me as people who have never been in search of wisdom per se. Instead, their wisdom seems to be a matter of profiting from their experiences, both good and bad. Great post.

    Philosophers are nothing but curious children, and children are our purest philosopherskudos

    I am more likely to agree with the latter than the former. Much of philosophy strikes me as anti-curious and focused more upon shutting down the curious rather than seriously considering their questions.

    Socrates may be a good example of the philosopher as curious child but we know what happened to him. His incessant questioning was not well received.
  • Types of faith. What variations are there?
    My question came about because of the use of the word 'confidence', which I had laid out in a different context earlier, as an alternative to faith.Tom Storm

    That is an interesting notion. Yet if we think about the way people use the words, I would expect someone's confidence to be more easily eroded than their faith. And couldn't one lose their and still have faith?

    I often think of faith as a measure of how deeply a belief is held. Isn't faith what we cling to when our beliefs are under serious attack and our confidence is waning? When it comes to our deepest beliefs, maybe faith is just the last thing we let go of.
  • Types of faith. What variations are there?
    Worms double downVaskane

    Instead of proving the above by example, you could actually discuss the philosophical issues presented. Either way, your dictionary definition, your ad hominem skills, and your deeply profound contributions regarding the variations of faith are noted.

    I'll be free from any TPF moderator backlash since you're digging for the meaning of my words.Vaskane

    What do moderators have to do with anything? Are you afraid I am going to tell on you? Though dealing with you would be more pleasant if you were not a bully, that is your problem to deal with. I have no desire to silence you or to adjust your poor behavior. And how un-philosophical of me to actually dig for the meaning of your words.

    Semantics didn't matter was a nice way of me saying: don't be a dumbassVaskane

    Though I appreciate your concern for my psychological development and emotional well-being, you are not my mother. You have no reason to believe that the fear of coming across as a dumbass (or any other fear) will silence me. It certainly hasn't silenced you.

    a debate you never should have started because you were completely ignorant aboutVaskane

    I again remind you that the discussion began in earnest when I took seriously your suggestions that I exercise "due diligence" and that I should "consult a dictionary." I make no claim to be any more or less ignorant on the subject than anyone else. But you have said nothing to indicate your ignorance is any less complete than mine.

    I wish you nothing but the best.
  • Types of faith. What variations are there?
    All I hear you saying is "blah blah blah, I don't know the definition of faith."Vaskane

    I remind you that what you choose to hear as "blah, blah, blah" is my response to your criticisms that I had not done my "due diligence" and that perhaps I should "consult a dictionary". I chose not to hear your criticisms as "blah, blah, blah."

    The "blah, blah, blah" you choose to hear will become a deeper understanding if you instead choose to hear that common-place definitions are inadequate to uncovering meaningful variations of faith as solicited by the title of the OP, i.e., "Types of faith. What VARIATIONS are there?" (Emphasis added by me.).

    You'll notice I never equated the two to be the same, so listing their differences is non sequitur.Vaskane

    You'll notice you "equated the two to be the same" by declaring "semantics here doesn't matter" and by subsequently offering commonplace definitions that either equate "faith" with "strong belief" or equate both as synonyms of the Latin word "fides". Consequently, my listing of their differences is in order.

    In closing, I took your criticisms seriously and responded by offering a VARIATION in the concept of faith (as solicited by the title of the OP) that unequivocally asserts significant semantic differences between "faith" and "belief" and that is not encompassed by the common-place definitions you offer. Presuming you would give my criticisms the same good faith consideration I gave your criticisms is a mistake I will not make again.

    I wish you nothing but the best.
  • Nietzsche source
    it is an excellent quote and it took me a while to track it down. But it was worth it. I rely heavily upon Kauffman for my understanding of Nietzsche and was not surprised to find out it was his.
  • Types of faith. What variations are there?
    Then I suggest you use a dictionary to find you're wrong.Vaskane

    Seriously? You are going to use a dictionary to throw down the gauntlet on a philosophical forum? :-)

    The thread is entitled “Types of faith. What variations are there?” (Emphasis added).

    If you had initially identified your variation as a commonplace dictionary-type variation, then I would not have bothered to respond to the notion that "semantics here don't matter." Perhaps the below variation on faith would be more philosophically fruitful.

    “It is commonplace to treat belief and faith as synonymous. . . but there are important
    differences. . . Faith involves reliance and trust, and it endures in the face of doubts,
    whereas belief is simply something we take to be true.” - Simon Laraway paraphrasing Mark Wrathall.

    https://hum.byu.edu/difference-between-faith-and--belief#:~:text=Faith%20is%20a%20different%20thing,we%20take%20to%20be%20true.

    Simply put, when it comes to the less commonplace variations on faith, semantics here do matter.
  • Types of faith. What variations are there?
    Semantics here don't matterVaskane

    yes it does
  • Types of faith. What variations are there?
    faith works via believingVaskane

    I think you have that backwards. Believing works vis faith. It seems simple enough that faith is generally what we rely upon when it comes to beliefs regarding the unknowable. When it comes to believing that which can neither be proven true nor false, believing either way must of necessity require faith. For beliefs of a non-empirical nature, what other metric could there be?
  • Types of faith. What variations are there?
    There is only one type of faith, blind, faith works via believing, not knowing.Vaskane

    I have faith in what I know.
  • Thought Versus Communication
    for me thinking in language is also literally picturing the written word/sentence in the mind's eye, I typically do that when I need to plan a sentence between uttering or writing it, as opposed to just speaking naturally and going with the flowLionino

    Fascinating.
  • Can a computer think? Artificial Intelligence and the mind-body problem
    Whether purely silicone based systems can produce sentience seems impossible to answer currently. Finding evidence of silicone-based life, while unlikely, would really shake this up.Count Timothy von Icarus

    I agree.
  • Thought Versus Communication
    I, for one, don't think in language but in imagesLionino

    How do you think when it comes to writing and re-writing?
  • Can a computer think? Artificial Intelligence and the mind-body problem
    My paper for my senior seminar almost 40 years ago was entitled Pylyshyn and the Mine/Body Problem. In a sense, the answer will always be no because humans will continually move the goal posts. And AI cannot do that. :-)
  • Quantum Physics and Classical Physics — A Short Note
    Therefore, conversely, it makes no sense to try to apply quantum mechanics to the macroscopic world — and this also applies to philosophical conclusions.Wolfgang

    The transfer of the quantum world to the mesoworld meant philosophy, not technology,Wolfgang

    The above statements strike me as inconsistent. The first seems to include more than philosophy (perhaps science and/or technology?) while the second seems to exclude all but philosophy (including science and/or technology?).

    And what is the demarcation line between science/technology/philosophy? And if working technology (transistors as an example) does rely upon both, then does that not have significant philosophical implications?

    Please advise.


  • Numbers start at one, change my mind
    Numbers start at zero. The counting starts at 1. If I am running a 100 yard race, I do not get to start at yard 1.
  • What’s your description of Metaphysics?
    my last post was intended for you.ENOAH

    and as somewhat of an aside, I greatly appreciate your initial comment to the original question. I would like to discuss it with you. So at some point in the not to distant future, I will contact you via your inbox.
  • What’s your description of Metaphysics?
    Thank youENOAH

    You are welcome. And I appreciate all your comments and efforts. As resistant as I sometimes seem to being pushed, pushing me is the most effective way to force me to examine and/or reexamine my positions and to clarify them. And that is priceless.

    So thank you.
  • Wittgenstein’s creative sublimation of Kant
    It is the logical structure underlying language and not mind that is a check against illogical thought. I take this to mean that any illogical thought or propositions would evidently involve a contradiction.and would not be accepted.Fooloso4

    Logic, language, and the world can only make sense to beings for whom logic, language, and the world can make sense.

    Why are you and I one of those beings and my hat is not?
  • Human beings: the self-contradictory animal
    I still only get talking the talk from Nietzsche and no walking anywhere.Fire Ologist

    Nietzsche did philosophy from the beginning to the end of his sanity. And he abandoned the ivory tower and did it his way. That was his talk. That was his walk. It was lonely and it ended in madness.
  • Wittgenstein’s creative sublimation of Kant
    there is a logical structure underlying both language and the worldFooloso4

    and doesn't there also have to be a logical structure underlying mind?
  • What’s your description of Metaphysics?
    Is there a reason one cannot say of ontology that any truth regarding same cannot be accessed by Language but only by being (that) Being?ENOAH

    The nature of being (ontology) is inaccessible in the absence of being.

    A deeper understanding of the nature of being (ontology) can be facilitated with the use of language.

    I suspect the above is "truth regarding" all intellectual pursuits.
  • What’s your description of Metaphysics?
    Is there something about ontology that necessarily transcends human ConsciousnessENOAH

    Perhaps. Dasein is constitutively pre-ontological. Please see Being and Time.

    Also, consciousness is derivative of being-in-the-world. Ibid.
  • What’s your description of Metaphysics?
    Is there something about ontology that necessarily transcends human ConsciousnessENOAH

    Not all ontologies are the same. Heidegger would say yes. Please see Being and Time.
  • What’s your description of Metaphysics?
    didn't even H in B and T, purport to embark upon ontology but really end up providing a philosophical reflection upon the Human as Subject, Mind as opposed to its Natural Organic Reality?ENOAH

    What Heidegger does in Being and Time is consistent with Heidegger's intentions as set forth in the Introduction to Being and Time. Please see Being and Time at page 64.
  • What’s your description of Metaphysics?
    Is metaphysics for skilled specialistsJoshs

    The systematization (schematization?) is nothing new. Plato schematized as have many philosophers throughout history. Some wish to explain everything while others wish everything to be explained.

    And in contemporary philosophy, those wishes are evidenced in responses (including some of mine) to questions such as "What's your description of metaphysics?"

    I suspect one could Google and find a chart with "Metaphysics" at the top.
  • What’s your description of Metaphysics?


    It has more to do with the dynamics of conformity. Metaphysics is what One does.
  • What’s your description of Metaphysics?
    but what is your best description of Metaphysics?Rob J Kennedy

    Contemporary metaphysics represents the systematizing of philosophy.