[N]ature doesn't prescribe—it occurs. The term "Law (of Nature)" seems like a linguistic artifact. A more accurate expression would be "stable regularities of the physical world" or simply "physical invariants." — Astorre

Without compassion, the circle breaks into chaos. — Truth Seeker

So much of what we know and do is unstated and unconscious. For instance, we use language fluidly, and so clearly we all 'know' the rules of grammar, but when asked to explain them we are often at a loss. Words too: we 'know' what they mean, as we use them with ease, but we grope for definitions. The same goes for concepts, purposes, ideologies, worldviews.

And so goes the majority of our lives, acting without knowing why, doing without quite knowing what we do. This is the unexamined life. Philosophy remedies this: it can make the implicit explicit, the unconscious conscious.

As we bring the unconscious to light, more often then not, we realize that these implicit beliefs we've carried with us don't really make sense. Then we have the opportunity to replace the unconscious and irrational with the conscious and rational. This is growth, the transition to true adulthood that so many make all too late, or never at all. The conscious cultivation of a worldview which is consonant with the world, rather than an artifact of upbringing.

This is the purpose of philosophy. — hypericin

I'm not being contrarian. I'm being irritated because your OP is so vague and inconsistent and you [@Gnomon] present half-baked ideas without support and without a willingness to take responsibility for them. It's not philosophy at all, it's a book report. — T Clark

The two implementations, or messengers, deliver the same message of being; it's like a music CD [eternal, nonlocal] versus a live band [present, local]. — PoeticUniverse

[O]ntology opens the space for encounter; ethics [even more than "love" pace Iris Murdoch/Plato] keeps that space from closing into self-sufficiency [solipsism, egoism, narcissism]. — Truth Seeker

the ethical and the ontological are not two regions but two inflections of the same opening — Truth Seeker

Pantheism and panpsychism are entirely different things. — T Clark

So, are trans gender rights human rights? Some of them are. Some of them are not. — Philosophim

... a form of wishful thinking.

A "right" which isn't a legal right (i.e. enforceable and subject to protection under the law, the violation of which is compensable) is nothing more than ... — Ciceronianus

I agree that if there is something similar to pneuma it will be established [falsified] through science, not philosophy. — Ciceronianus

a Dan Brown novel — T Clark

a type of rationalization of ones own prejudices — DifferentiatingEgg

To be a lowly worm and ask a question of the divine is to understand the value and purpose of philosophy. — Philosophim

In Australian culture low status workers habitually question and sometimes harass the management and ruling classes. — Tom Storm

[Philosophy]'s about one thing, and one thing only: "Thinking in the face of the pressure not to."

The reality is that there is often immense pressure to not think about things. For many, thinking about common ideas that hold society together is dangerous. 

Never stop thinking and never stop questioning even basic assumptions and outlooks. — Philosophim

Am I literally the only one left on the planet who is an AI optimist? — Colo Millz

It's just easier to do it with an AI, there's so much less at stake, it's so safe, and you don't really have to put any skin in the game [ .... ] Practicing ich-du on AI's is cowardly. — baker

Happy 10th anniversary, folks. :wink: — javi2541997

[God] is a moral concept ... — Constance

If “God” is a moral concept, then its worth must be judged by the moral outcomes it inspires. A concept that sanctifies fear, tribalism, or subservience fails on its own moral grounds. — Truth Seeker

Whether “God” is a phenomenological boundary-concept or an anthropomorphic myth, the question remains: What does belief in this fiction do to sentient beings? Does it cultivate compassion, or sanctify domination? — Truth Seeker

Please, can you give me a salient example where a decision has been made on good or evil that is not based on political expediency. — Pieter R van Wyk

It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God – but to [build it]. — Arthur C. Clarke

Not the TRUE reality. — Copernicus

'religion & science' are non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA) — 180 Proof

Some TPF posters are offended by my unorthodox views, but most accept a bit of oddity as typical of independent thinkers.
— Gnomon

Not always offended, but puzzled that you would be resistant to learning of the philosophers and scientists already saying much the same thing in a more nailed down fashion. — apokrisis

... Or one can go the "independent" route which at best can only end up with you repeating the semi-obvious in a suitably obscure way.

My current "research" is mostly Googling names and terms I'm not familiar with .... so the philosophical inferences are my own amateur musings — Gnomon

Somebody is doing it wrong. — T Clark

I'm wondering what it would take for a universal morality to be achieved, or if it's even possible. — ProtagoranSocratist

One of my goals is to read Copleston's entire works on the history of philosophy ...

A transman is a 'male who expresses with female gender'. A transwoman is 'a male who expresses with male gender'.

So are transwomen women? Are transwomen men? No. The terms man and woman indicate a person's age and sex, not gender. Are transwomen men who act with a female gender? Yes. Are transmen women who act with a male gender? Yes. — Philosophim

I think the point is that you can’t let your guard down anywhere, and you never could. — praxis

I avoid reading lengthy and didactic posts which are often poorly written. The AI stuff I’ve seen often seems peculiarly worded and difficult to read. — Tom Storm

I come here to listen to what others think and discuss ideas with them, not with chatbots. — Janus