A quote from russell: I nearly orgasmed.

[SMS]

In the Dawkins' forum, there is a some philosophy-bashing going on within the ranks of the poorly informed. They seem to be measuring philosophy on its ability to produce true or false answers. In response, someone posted this:

"The value of philosophy is, in fact, to be sought largely in its very uncertainty. The man who has no tincture of philosophy goes through life imprisoned in the prejudices derived from common sense, from the habitual beliefs of his age or his nation, and from convictions which have grown up in his mind without the co-operation or consent of his deliberate reason. To such a man the world tends to become definite, finite, obvious; common objects rouse no questions, and unfamiliar possibilities are contemptuously rejected. As soon as we begin to philosophize, on the contrary, we find, as we saw in our opening chapters, that even the most everyday things lead to problems to which only very incomplete answers can be given. Philosophy, though unable to tell us with certainty what is the true answer to the doubts which it raises, is able to suggest many possibilities which enlarge our thoughts and free them from the tyranny of custom. Thus, while diminishing our feeling of certainty as to what things are, it greatly increases our knowledge as to what they may be; it removes the somewhat arrogant dogmatism of those who have never travelled into the region of liberating doubt, and it keeps alive our sense of wonder by showing familiar things in an unfamiliar aspect."

(Bertrand Russell, "The Value of Philosophy", ch. XV in The Problems of Philosophy.)


Oh, man. What a beautiful writer. He's spot on, too.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Yes, well, the closer you get to a photograph in a newspaper, the more you see it's made up of tiny black dots (and the negative space between them) and the less you see of the picture they comprise. Get to a certain distance and you don't see the dots any more. And of course, go even farther and you don't even see the paper or, indeed, the macro scale any more.

While it's obviously fascinating to deconstruct anything like that and "valuable" in its own right, forgetting the gestalt of the picture itself is not justifiable, IMHO and that seems to be sorely lacking in much of philosophy (certainly in the "German" school). Or perhaps it's more accurate to say in many of the posts from certain proponents of philsophy who post here.

IOW, you study the black dots and the negative space not as a means to wallow in a generalized state of uncertainty about all "things," but as a means to better illuminate the more specific "certainty" of the photo that lead you to its deconstruction in the first place.

I believe the fallacy that would best describe that kind of incrementalist deconstructional thinking would be post hoc, ergo propter hoc, but then, I'm retarded.

[SMS]

"Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers to its questions since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves; because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible, enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the dogmatic assurance which closes the mind against speculation; but above all because, through the greatness of the universe which philosophy contemplates, the mind also is rendered great, and becomes capable of that union with the universe which constitutes its highest good."

(Bertrand Russell, "The Value of Philosophy", ch. XV in The Problems of Philosophy.)




Yeah, I'm fwapping to this.

[Pavlov's Dog]

Russell is pretty awesome.

[Nitrousoxide]

Russell is one of my favorite philosophers.

[SMS]

Originally Posted by SMS

"Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers to its questions since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves; because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible, enrich our intellectual imagination and diminish the dogmatic assurance which closes the mind against speculation; but above all because, through the greatness of the universe which philosophy contemplates, the mind also is rendered great, and becomes capable of that union with the universe which constitutes its highest good."

(Bertrand Russell, "The Value of Philosophy", ch. XV in The Problems of Philosophy.)




Yeah, I'm fwapping to this.

This quote of russell's is one sentence. wow.

[Blueskyboris]

Yup, Russell was the best of the "analytics" and "logical positivists".

[Bartholomew Roberts]

philosophy is dumb whether or not it provides answers.

but maybe I've heard too much brain-in-a-jar Matrix kinds of bullshit to take philosophy seriously.

[Blueskyboris]

I don't know if Bartholomew Roberts has read any philosophy, but I know that his birthday was Sunday.

[Blueskyboris]

Originally Posted by Pavlov's Dog

Russell is pretty awesome.

I like this post and the next, because they both come from members of TR whose actions are contradictory to the OP quote. They may respect Russell, but they don't live up to his words.

[Bartholomew Roberts]

If I wanted to read I'd go to school

[Pavlov's Dog]

Originally Posted by Blueskyboris

I like this post and the next, because they both come from members of TR whose actions are contradictory to the OP quote. They may respect Russell, but they don't live up to his words.

You just don't understand his words, because you are fucking retarded.

[JEROME DA GNOME]

“What a man believes upon grossly insufficient evidence is an index into his desires -- desires of which he himself is often unconscious. If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way.”

[Blueskyboris]

Originally Posted by Pavlov's Dog

You just don't understand his words, because you are fucking retarded.

""Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers to its questions since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves"

No, sorry, the above quote is the opposite of you, PD. You don't question... you spew..

[Pavlov's Dog]

Originally Posted by Blueskyboris

""Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers to its questions since no definite answers can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather for the sake of the questions themselves"

No, sorry, the above quote is the opposite of you, PD. You don't question... you spew..

I question whether your IQ is above 70.

[Bartholomew Roberts]

oh snap

[Blueskyboris]

Originally Posted by Pavlov's Dog

I question whether your IQ is above 70.

I know, and that's just all you question.

[FIGUER]

Philosophy is science being honest as to it being an aspect of psychology.

[Requiem for your dreams.]

Yeah, word salad, that should just about cover it.
It's odd that every time you post on any subject you say something retarded, no doubt similar to something sensible you once read, but something you have long since mangled.

[FIGUER]

It is not my problem if you lack the necessary wisdom to understand my previous post... or pretend thus.

[Requiem for your dreams.]

Originally Posted by FIGUER

It is not my problem if you lack the necessary wisdom to understand my previous post... or pretend thus.

Well, step away from the pith and say something substantial. The vague reference containing ill-defined terms (in the way you were using them) you offered was vacuous.

[FIGUER]

Originally Posted by Requiem for your dreams.

Well, step away from the pith and say something substantial. The vague reference containing ill-defined terms (in the way you were using them) you offered was vacuous.

Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius.

Or in plain language: Reality is a mental construct; Thus science is a branch of psychology.

[Requiem for your dreams.]

Originally Posted by FIGUER

Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius.

Or in plain language: Reality is a mental construct; Thus science is a branch of psychology.

That's right, throw in some dead language and other pretentious shit and think you're making a point. Way to go.

[FIGUER]

Originally Posted by Requiem for your dreams.

That's right, throw in some dead language and other pretentious shit and think you're making a point. Way to go.

Nice definition of philosophy.

[Requiem for your dreams.]

Originally Posted by FIGUER

Nice definition of philosophy.

Actually an idiot's idea of philosophy, and a fitting description of your posts. Weird.