8
votes
Accepted
Does mental illness imply that a person's philosophy is invalid?
To draw a conclusion as to the validity/soundness of a proposition/argument based upon the mental state of the person making it would be to commit a non sequitur.
Why? Because even a severely mentally ...
- 4,107
8
votes
Can happiness be purely a state of mind?
Well, I'd say that fits Buddhism, where not happiness in the sense of getting what you want, but Bliss rooted in understanding the true nature of things, is the fruit of meditation and cultivating the ...
- 20.5k
8
votes
Can happiness be purely a state of mind?
It would depend on how you define "happiness". If "happiness" is "absence of suffering", then Buddhism (there are many, many forms!) would generally say that cultivating ...
- 2,402
6
votes
What are some philosophical works that explore constructing meaning in life from an agnostic or atheist view?
“There is only one really serious philosophical problem, and that is
suicide. Deciding whether or not life is worth living is to answer the
fundamental question in philosophy. All other questions ...
- 20.5k
5
votes
Evil in Utopia?
Utopian philosophies (by necessity) presuppose that intrinsic evil does not exist. There are acts that may be considered evil and there are people who commit those acts out of ignorance or ...
- 18.5k
5
votes
Why is something coming from nothing seen as less intuitive than something existing eternally?
Your questions assumes that the prospect of something from nothing seems less intuitive than the prospect of something existing eternally. Why do you say it seems less intuitive? Presumably there are ...
- 13.1k
5
votes
Why is something coming from nothing seen as less intuitive than something existing eternally?
It all boils down to impossibility vs. tedium.
Something from nothing to Parmenideans is impossible but an infinite regress is not impossible, it's just tedious.
Now, if someone were to prove that ...
- 3,196
5
votes
Why is consent important?
Generally in modern societies it is accepted that you should treat people with respect for their individual rights, preferences and wellbeing unless there is an overriding reason to do otherwise.
The ...
- 13.1k
5
votes
Accepted
Which philosophers have considered irrational conviction
Most recently, the community of scholars who addresses irrationality with force and recognition is the behavioral economists, and one of the most famous scholars associated with it is Daniel Kahneman. ...
- 22.7k
5
votes
Accepted
Does Freudian/Lacanian psychoanalysis drives toward irrationalism and low self-control?
I find it interesting that this question cites all of the negative (pathological) forms of relieving inner tensions, but skips over the concept of sublimation, by which discordant internal tensions ...
- 18.5k
4
votes
Which Philosophical Ideas Best Protect Us From Existential Suffering in a Society Increasingly Accepting of the Claim That There is No Free Will?
There are a few different directions to go on this. The person suffering can study philosophy further and learn to distinguish the implications of propositions more precisely (e.g. come to understand ...
- 469
4
votes
What are some philosophical works that explore constructing meaning in life from an agnostic or atheist view?
The autobiography of Bertrand Russell (3 volumes) shows the different fields of interest Russell developed during his life. Russell gives a short prologue:
What I Have Lived For
Three passions, ...
- 24.1k
4
votes
What are some philosophical works that explore constructing meaning in life from an agnostic or atheist view?
Evidently, this is not a common academic problem of philosophy (this forum is moreover about such academic side of philosophy), but it is a serious problem of personal philosophy. The following ...
- 6,830
4
votes
Accepted
Evil in Utopia?
The base of utopian theory is that evil is not something inherent to humanity, but rather something that arises due to various conditions (economic, social, etc.)
If you believed that the desire to ...
- 156
4
votes
Does mental illness imply that a person's philosophy is invalid?
So far the discussion has taken quite a "Mentalistic" approach - that since the conditions are enumerated in phenomenological terms that might be prone to societal or contingent trends, the ...
- 5,279
4
votes
Why is consent important?
TL;DR Harm reduction?
People care about their autonomy and self-determination, taking that away from them is a direct attack upon them. An attack that is likely causing harm, doing damage and might ...
- 4,489
4
votes
Which philosophers have considered irrational conviction
I think we build models of the world outside and inside of us, and then use those models to be and act in the world. Very much like models in physics or in AI these days: we see various occurrences of ...
- 2,402
4
votes
Can happiness be purely a state of mind?
Happiness as a self-induced state of mind regardless of circumstance is the end goal of the Buddhist path as stated repeatedly in the Pali Suttas of Buddhism. The simile of the saw states this in no ...
4
votes
Does Freudian/Lacanian psychoanalysis drives toward irrationalism and low self-control?
I'd say psychoanalysis has to be understood as aimed at being a corrective, to the vision of humans as machines, or capable and even best when aiming to be like machines, which rose with science.
...
- 20.5k
3
votes
What is a "disorder"?
I'm not sure why you are disposing of teleology. We may not be able to derive an 'ought' from an 'is', but that doesn't mean that 'oughts' don't exist. If we have a car, there's nothing problematic in ...
- 18.5k
3
votes
Why is ontological relativism so hard to digest for many people (philosophers)?
You should look at relativism more generally, and epistemic relativism in particular https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/relativism/#EpiRel
If you hold everything is relative, you have to deal with ...
- 20.5k
3
votes
Accepted
Is stoicism still relevant in modern world?
For many people today, it seems so! I'm not much into Stoicism myself, but I am always surprised when I use "philosophy" as a search term in, say, book markets, to see how much Stoicism pops ...
- 13.3k
3
votes
Why is ontological relativism so hard to digest for many people (philosophers)?
It seems you muddle the difference between ontic and ontological thinking - which admittedly is probably the main reason for the term 'ontological relativism' in the misguided sense the question ...
- 13.5k
3
votes
Why is something coming from nothing seen as less intuitive than something existing eternally?
It's more intuitive because it matches with observation.
We see time affecting everything around us. In fact, there is nothing that time doesn't change. For a thing to be eternal, it has to be ...
- 1,094
3
votes
Why is something coming from nothing seen as less intuitive than something existing eternally?
It matches experience
In common life, we do not see things popping into existence with no obvious cause. So it is hard to imagine something coming into existence from nothing.
On the other hand, we ...
- 898
3
votes
Accepted
Freud and (German) idealism
No. Freud was very influenced by Schopenhauer, but most philosophers do not consider him a German Idealist, he is usually classified as an anti-Hegelian heretic. Freud deals with Schopenhauer's theory ...
- 1,255
3
votes
Why is consent important?
In less developed (tribal or hunter-gatherer societies) consent is important because doing things to others without consent invites violent retribution. If A steals B's chickens (takes them without ...
- 18.5k
3
votes
Is there a clear, objective difference between intelligence in the arts and the sciences?
Wikipedia: Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for
abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional
knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical ...
- 1,606
2
votes
What is the strongest argument against Robert Gordons 'radical' simulation theory?
It's disputed both that mirror neurons can possibly have such wide functional scope (generally they've been observed for motor function and for emotions), but it's also disputed that their firing, ...
- 1,942
2
votes
Accepted
What do philosophers mean when they say language has a psychological reality?
Devitt summarizes and defends his claims here.
He makes the following distinctions:
Distinguish the theory of a [linguistic] competence from the theory of its outputs/products or inputs.
Distinguish ...
- 11.1k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible