Do you take your philosophy out into the world?

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chewybrian
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Re: Do you take your philosophy out into the world?

Post by chewybrian »

Fooloso4 wrote: August 6th, 2018, 8:34 am I am available for children’s parties, bar/bat mitzvahs, and nursing home appearances. Ask for the Philosophy Discussion Forums discount.
Can you make a Socrates bust out of balloons?

Seriously, I appreciated everything you had to say in this thread as well, especially cutting Nietzsche and Wittgenstein into bite-sized morsels for us.
"If determinism holds, then past events have conspired to cause me to hold this view--it is out of my control. Either I am right about free will, or it is not my fault that I am wrong."
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chewybrian
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Re: Do you take your philosophy out into the world?

Post by chewybrian »

Eduk wrote: August 5th, 2018, 1:19 pm Thinking about it. Perhaps philosophy is more like art. Much in the same way that one person can read Lord of the Rings and get a lot out of the experience and another can read the same book and be left cold (and neither person is wrong).
Perhaps most areas of study are both art and science. Having studied finance, I see it there. It is easy to rush off into the world of business, confident in your ability to construct spreadsheets and give concrete 'true' answers about how to proceed in the quest to maximize equity. But, these 'true' answers turn out to be theoretical after all, as they contain numerous (often incorrect) assumptions about the motivations of all the actors in the drama, first and foremost that money is also the answer to all of their equations. The spreadsheet method further assumes that if all these others will fall in line with your equations, that you will ultimately be satisfied with the money you earn or whatever your money could buy.

Reality is messy, and people will not line up to accept their roles in your equation as easily as you might wish, as customers, employees, suppliers, or investors. They all have their subjective views that may not mesh with yours, and may have needs or desires driving them that will never be known to you, perhaps not even to themselves. The job of a manager is largely that of a diplomat or politician, rather than that of a general leading an army. In sum, you won't make it without the science, but you also won't make it without the art.
Eduk wrote: August 5th, 2018, 1:19 pm But that would mean philosophy isn't the search for truth. Although I only value philosophy which is.
I fear you might be missing a lot with this stance, but it depends on how you mean it. Are you only after objective truth? If so, what about subjective truth? One could argue that objective truth is only baby steps. It nice to have an anchor you can trust and say 'this I know is true', but what of defining the person you wish to be, as only you can? All the artsy philosophy is there for you if you want to try, and it seems dangerous to ignore it:
The biggest danger, that of losing oneself, can pass off in the world as quietly as if it were nothing; every other loss: an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc. is bound to be noticed. (Kierkegaard)
Is he 'right'? Who knows, and really, who cares, if you agree that such statements are important and worthy of contemplating? If you could find value, motivation, or inspiration in such a statement, would you take it, or be forced to dismiss it for not being 'provable'?

If you charge out in the world of philosophy seeking only objective truth, wearing armor of logic and wielding the sword of science, don't you see a danger that you could miss yourself along the way? Ironically, by thinking you only want to view reality, you may nevertheless be creating yet one more type of 'true world' to avoid facing reality. Subjective reality, anxiety, absurdity, free will, and despair are all there for you on the inside. If you assume that abstract constructs that work for material things describe everything, including yourself, you are ignoring the evidence to the contrary in your own mind, like it or not.
...unawareness is so far from removing despair that, on the contrary, it may be the most dangerous form of despair. By unconsciousness the despairing man is in a way secured (but to his own destruction) against becoming aware--that is, he is securely in the power of despair.
"If determinism holds, then past events have conspired to cause me to hold this view--it is out of my control. Either I am right about free will, or it is not my fault that I am wrong."
Eduk
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Re: Do you take your philosophy out into the world?

Post by Eduk »

Are you only after objective truth? If so, what about subjective truth?
All truths are good. Personally I don't see the problem with logic V emotion. Logic which ignores emotion is illogical (in my opinion). For example Kinsey (as depicted in the film - in real life I have no idea) argues that logically there should be no issue with him or his wife having other sexual partners. But this rather ignores the fact that Kinsey (and his wife) are human.
Unknown means unknown.
Fooloso4
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Joined: February 28th, 2014, 4:50 pm

Re: Do you take your philosophy out into the world?

Post by Fooloso4 »

chewybrian:
Can you make a Socrates bust out of balloons?
Of course! And period appropriate attire with frequent costume changes for each philosopher under discussion.
Georgeanna
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Joined: October 29th, 2017, 1:17 pm

Re: Do you take your philosophy out into the world?

Post by Georgeanna »

Fooloso4 wrote: August 6th, 2018, 11:39 am chewybrian:
Can you make a Socrates bust out of balloons?
Of course! And period appropriate attire with frequent costume changes for each philosopher under discussion.
Oh dear, I was thinking it would take just one prick to come along...

Now,I'm wondering what you would look like as Mary Wollstonecraft...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Wollstonecraft
Fooloso4
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Joined: February 28th, 2014, 4:50 pm

Re: Do you take your philosophy out into the world?

Post by Fooloso4 »

Georgeanna:
Oh dear, I was thinking it would take just one prick to come along…
I’ve been called worse.
Now,I'm wondering what you would look like as Mary Wollstonecraft...
Me as Mary:



Image
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