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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 3:12 pm
by d-T-r
http://www.nigelwarburton.typepad.com/philosophy_bites/
philosophy bites has some nice free pocasts up. think its regularly updated too.
Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 3:18 pm
by alfie
Ashley wrote:alfie wrote:btw, if a tree falls in the forest and no-one is around to hear it fall, it DOESN'T make a noise. triple FACT
How do you know?
sound waves only become amplified when they hit something in the ear
i think
maybe only a double fact
Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 3:37 pm
by ashley
alfie wrote:Ashley wrote:alfie wrote:btw, if a tree falls in the forest and no-one is around to hear it fall, it DOESN'T make a noise. triple FACT
How do you know?
sound waves only become amplified when they hit something in the ear
i think
maybe only a double fact
They still make sound waves which is technically noise, because dictaphones don't have ears on them but somehow due to amazing wizardry and black magic they still manage to record.
Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 4:51 pm
by hysteria
Im doing philosophy at college atm,
i think the more interesting side of it is the religious sections, i did a paper merking out christianity.
Bare questions like
If gods all powerful, could he create a stone that even he can't lift? And if he can't lift it then surely he's not all powerful.
If god is all loving then why is there suffering in the world?
If god knows everything that were going to do, then do we still have free will?
There are better ones but i cant remember them off the top of my head

Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 4:56 pm
by ashley
Hysteria wrote:If god knows everything that were going to do, then do we still have free will?
How do you actually know its free will though and not fate that is making you change your mind to do something else?
Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 8:36 pm
by Dead Rats
Hysteria wrote:Im doing philosophy at college atm,
i think the more interesting side of it is the religious sections, i did a paper merking out christianity.
Bare questions like
If gods all powerful, could he create a stone that even he can't lift? And if he can't lift it then surely he's not all powerful.
If god is all loving then why is there suffering in the world?
If god knows everything that were going to do, then do we still have free will?
There are better ones but i cant remember them off the top of my head

I like them questions. They encourage me to want to do the course.
Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2008 8:47 pm
by black lotus
you should watch waking life.
Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 10:04 am
by limb
="If gods all powerful, could he create a stone that even he can't lift? And if he can't lift it then surely he's not all powerful.
If god is all loving then why is there suffering in the world?
If god knows everything that were going to do, then do we still have free will?
There are better ones but i cant remember them off the top of my head

these questions just show you God is a load of nonsense. I did philosophy/english degree and it is really pointless and pretentious but nothing like what you'd expect it to be. Mostly it involves reading hundreds of pages of gibberish translated from say ancient greek or napoleonic french, going to a class and finding that what you thought it all meant was actually completely different to everyone elses interpretation of said gibberish, just about realising what your lecturer says its about before going to the pub, forgetting it all and talking utter bollocks with your fellow gullable, impressionistic, arrogant, useless students. I loved it but I guess I'm a bit of a dick.
I think therefore I am is from Descartes and he is kind of the start of decent philosphy. He was trying to basically strip away everything that he couldn't be sure of in the world, so was just left with his own thought, so far as I can remember, then he said maybe a demon profects all of the rest of life into your mind, but if a demon could project it all then really that is exactly the same as the demon making it in reality so theres no difference to you and you shouldn't worry about it. Or something, I can't really remember.
Wiittgenstein, Neitzsche and Sartre are definatly worth anybodies time reading. Most of the rest of it is a pain in the arse to work out, and at the end of it not very interesting or just plain wrong.
Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 10:33 am
by d-T-r
i guess it all depends on how naive of a defintion the individual has of what god is.
alot of people tend to externalize god which is where the 'i hate you, why do you let bad things happen' and all the other pretty shallow arguments come from. god isnt some guy with a beard moving shit around. god is the universe itself. you're god, im god ,the cats god the trees and the ocean is god.
and for the bad things happening and suffering, thats all bought on through human actions and perceptions. things die. its the cycle. the suffering isnt the actual event, the suffering is the mental reaction to the event.
its a bit esoteric and almost a cliche to mention but 'all is one'
remove the personalization and defintions from everyhting in life and what you are left with is your true nature.
Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 10:35 am
by d-T-r
Hey There, how, how’s it going?
Long time no see.
I know I haven’t been around much lately
But…it didn’t seem like you wanted me to be
The last time I sent down a message you nailed it to the cross
So I figured I’d just leave you to it, let you be your own boss
But I’ve been keeping an eye on you, I have, and it’s amazing how you’ve grown.
With your technological advances and the problems you’ve overthrown,
And all the beautiful art you’ve created with such grace and such finesse,
But I admit there are a few things I’m afraid have impressed me less.
So I’m writing to apologize for all the horrors committed in my name,
Although that was never what I intended, I feel I should take my share of the blame.
All the good I tried to do was corrupted when all the religion got into full swing,
What I thought were quite clear messages were taken to unusual extremes.
My teachings taken out of context to meet the agendas of others,
Interpretations taken to many different ways and hidden meanings discovered
Religion became a tool, for the weak to control the strong
With all these new morals and ethics, survival of the fittest was gone
No longer could the biggest man simply take whatever he needed
‘cause damnation was the price if certain rules were not heeded
Some of the deeds committed in my name just made me wonder were I went wrong.
Back at the start when I created this, the foundation seemed so strong.
See all the elements were already here, long before I began, I just kind of put it all together
I didn’t really think out a long-term plan.
I made the sun an appropriate distance and laid the stars across the sky
So you could navigate the globe or simply watch the sun rise
I covered the earth with plants and fruits,
Some for sustenance and some for beauty
I made the sun shine and the clouds rain so their maintenance wasn’t your duty
I tried to give each creature its own attributes without making them enveloped
I gave you all you all your own space to grow and in your own way space to develop
I didn’t know such development would cause rifts and jealousy
Cause you to war against each other and leave marks on this planet indelibly
You see, I wasn’t really the creater, I was just the curator of nature
I want to get something straight with homosexuals right now: I don’t hate ya
I was a simple being that happened to be the first to wield such powers
I just laid the ground, it was You that built the towers
It was You that invented bombs, and the fear that comes with them
And it was You that invented money, and the corrupt economic systems
You invented terms like just-war and terms like friendly fire
And it was You that didn’t know when to stop digging deeper, when to stop building higher
It was You that exhausted the resources I carefully laid out on this earth,
And it was You that even saw these problems coming but accredited them little worth
It was You that used my teachings for your own personal gain
And it was You that committed such tragedies, even though they were in my name
So I apologize for any mistakes I made, and when my words misconstrued
But this apology’s to mother nature, cause I created you
scroobious pip-
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7KnGNOiFll4
Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 6:00 pm
by hysteria
limb wrote:="If gods all powerful, could he create a stone that even he can't lift? And if he can't lift it then surely he's not all powerful.
If god is all loving then why is there suffering in the world?
If god knows everything that were going to do, then do we still have free will?
There are better ones but i cant remember them off the top of my head

I think therefore I am is from Descartes and he is kind of the start of decent philosphy. He was trying to basically strip away everything that he couldn't be sure of in the world, so was just left with his own thought, so far as I can remember, then he said maybe a demon profects all of the rest of life into your mind, but if a demon could project it all then really that is exactly the same as the demon making it in reality so theres no difference to you and you shouldn't worry about it. Or something, I can't really remember.
Wiittgenstein, Neitzsche and Sartre are definatly worth anybodies time reading. Most of the rest of it is a pain in the arse to work out, and at the end of it not very interesting or just plain wrong.
Yeh Descartes did well to start off the whole concept, but in general he's an idiot an most of his theories are massively floored haha
I like David Hume.
I think Plato's democracy is really interesting, its all about how only philosophers should lead countries, like be presidents and prime ministers. Because a real philosopher would only make decisions that are critically thought out, for the best of as many people possible. Whereas other leaders who arn't philosophers are more likely to make decisions because other people told them to, decisions that benefit some to whilst making other worse off that kinda thing.
Also the whole concept of not having family units in society, and children are brought up by the whole community, which means the children will learn alot of more etc
Re: Any ninja's do philosophy?
Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 6:49 pm
by surface_tension
fuagofire wrote:I got into an argument in a pub the other night over when a philosophy student said to me 'how do you know you exist?' - this struck me as a pretty stupid question, after saying - 'well i think there-fore i am' he was not sure that was an argument so i punched myself in the face and informed him that fucking hurt and something that did not exist couldn't hurt itself. anyway after a while of this him and his mate left the pub saying i was stupid and closed minded.
I'm pretty that's a bit like saying 'how do you know gravity exists?'
i just want to ask someone who knows a bit about philosophy, where this question comes from? and why i shouldn't think it's a stupid question?
I'm into philosophy, but people who argue for the sake of arguing bother me.
He's prolly on about the holographic theory or some shit. Just let him work it out.
Re: Any ninja's do philosophy?
Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 8:48 am
by anaphor
fuagofire wrote:I got into an argument in a pub the other night over when a philosophy student said to me 'how do you know you exist?' - this struck me as a pretty stupid question, after saying - 'well i think there-fore i am' he was not sure that was an argument so i punched myself in the face and informed him that fucking hurt and something that did not exist couldn't hurt itself. anyway after a while of this him and his mate left the pub saying i was stupid and closed minded.
I'm pretty that's a bit like saying 'how do you know gravity exists?'
i just want to ask someone who knows a bit about philosophy, where this question comes from? and why i shouldn't think it's a stupid question?
I have a degree in philosophy and the only idiots who seriously ask this question are hugely looked down upon in most circles.
Obviously, it's a stupid question. But, essentially, it doesn't much matter whether or not you exist because you have to live as if you do.
Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 9:32 am
by bagelator
Tomity wrote:Ashley wrote:What a pointless degree.
Surely you can't teach someone to be philosophical? You either are or your not. Its like teaching someone to be artistic.
i agree with your point. degrees are for further study, not teaching people shit imo. a degree in philosophy is interesting but not very useful. my english literature degree is much the same.
Re: Any ninja's do philosophy?
Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 9:36 am
by bagelator
Anaphor wrote:fuagofire wrote:I got into an argument in a pub the other night over when a philosophy student said to me 'how do you know you exist?' - this struck me as a pretty stupid question, after saying - 'well i think there-fore i am' he was not sure that was an argument so i punched myself in the face and informed him that fucking hurt and something that did not exist couldn't hurt itself. anyway after a while of this him and his mate left the pub saying i was stupid and closed minded.
I'm pretty that's a bit like saying 'how do you know gravity exists?'
i just want to ask someone who knows a bit about philosophy, where this question comes from? and why i shouldn't think it's a stupid question?
I have a degree in philosophy and the only idiots who seriously ask this question are hugely looked down upon in most circles.
Obviously, it's a stupid question. But, essentially, it doesn't much matter whether or not you exist because you have to live as if you do.
there's some quote goes like
"they say your life's mutable; until your cat dies"
dunno who said and can't find it...
Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 10:58 am
by nousd
Fugofire
doesn't exist.
1. I've never seen him or talked to him.
2. He's demonstrably mutable - previously combatitive, now communicative.
3. I don't believe what he contends.
4. Philosophy is the refuge of the unprovable.
5. Anything said in a pommie pub is, well, faecile.

Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 5:04 pm
by merkin
There is nothing wrong with doing degrees that don't necessarily lead to a job/are not perceived as 'useful'....I mean, I teach it and now earn a nice little wage in a recession-proof industry! If you want to do a really (vocationally at least)pointless but fascinating degree, do Theology with Philosophy. Then you could become an RS teacher, talk about God/Unicorns/4-sided triangles all day, and get your vinyl-addiction funded by the government

Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2008 7:32 pm
by anaphor
Alot of philosophy can be cool. Alot of philosophers are not.
Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:05 pm
by limb
Yeh Descartes did well to start off the whole concept, but in general he's an idiot an most of his theories are massively floored haha
I like David Hume.
True Descartes really cops out about half way through in meditations and gets a bit silly, but at least he's interesting and writes well. Hume and Kant suck cock. As for Plato, he was living in the a democracy where everyone voted on every issue, where politicians were randomly elected and could only serve a year and if they did something wrong could be summerarily executed. So he chose to write a book bigging up totalitarian philoso-theocracies IMO Plato was a twat. Also he was to blame for a lot of Christianity as much of their ethos is stolen from him i.e. having a crap life in this world for a better in the next, the soul/body thing, that heavon is a really lovely place up in the sky etc. so I'm not a big fan of Plato. Read some more modern stuff it tends to be written in more interesting ways and just seems to make a lot more sense to someone from today.
About the God is everything kind of Buddist theory, I really like that, and if I was religious I'd probably try to believe something nice like that.
Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:47 pm
by bagelator
Merkin wrote:There is nothing wrong with doing degrees that don't necessarily lead to a job/are not perceived as 'useful'....I mean, I teach it and now earn a nice little wage in a recession-proof industry! If you want to do a really (vocationally at least)pointless but fascinating degree, do Theology with Philosophy. Then you could become an RS teacher, talk about God/Unicorns/4-sided triangles all day, and get your vinyl-addiction funded by the government

i'm fully with you on this. learning for learning's sake is important, regardless of vocational "usefulness".
I'm just finding it hard to get a job I really want to do, but that's par for the course these days