[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by pbradley

It has ruined my life.

sometimes I feel the same way about history, get the what did I do with my degree blues? but remember, you learned philosophy for yourself, and because of that, you will use it productive. at least that is my own mantra to get over this economic rut that is keeping me out of my career, both at home and abroad

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

here are no conclusions to be drawn from philosophy, just whether or not one agrees with a particular philosopher.

true. I agree and I believe that is entirely the point of philosophy

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Skuj

There's some wonderful posts here amongst the silliness, and I'm slowly digesting them. (And my new books.) Thanks.



Um, I had a gift certificate to a major book store, after 2hrs of wandering about the Art and History sections, I was a) stumped and b) out of time, so on the way out something made me stop at Philosophy. The Russell book seemed interesting, so I looked him up in the Philosophy distionary, and I just said "fuck it" and bought both.

Well, ok....that's not "it" completely.....in University there was a Philosophy class that I was in (as a mandatory Arts elective), and the teacher + subject always fascinated me. Plato et al wrote such incredibly thoughtful works literally thousands of years ago, and that fact always blew me away. Now I really genuinely do want to delve into this. And the good posts in this thread really are impressive....I have so much to learn from you learned people, hahaha.....

And, I'm having a mid-life crisis, plus a lot of stress in my life right now.

You are sorry you asked, I know.

ha ha, im not sorry at all-- on the contrary, this brings the discussion to a more concrete level.

re: lots of stress, i'd recommend the existentialists, camus in particular (the myth of sisyphus FTW). what to do in the face of absurdity, etc. another not-so-heavy and easy to read book would be viktor frankl's "man's search for meaning", which came out of his experiences at auschwitz. it's not academic philosophy but it's great shit.

another book i love for stressful times is not exactly "philosophy" but a great novel-- solzhyenitzin's (not sure of spelling) "a day in the life of ivan denisovich". brilliant fucking book.

hm, see, i'm more of a literature person than philosophy. but back to you:

re: mid-life crisis. before you start fucking strange women and getting diseases and involving yourself in acrimonious custody battles, read plato's symposium and/or phaedrus. it's not a cure-all but you might get some good ideas. these two are available online if you already burned through your gift card.

then again, perhaps i'm misreading the meaning of 'mid-life crisis" into its stereotypical interpretation and you just want to learn something new and i'm shitting, as the expression goes, outside the can (sorry, it's translated).

i remember reading bertrand russell ages ago but it was if i recall some kind of social commentary, nothing heavy. random note: the man apparently fucked around a lot in spite of having horrible halitosis. i guess those are the rewards of intellectual celebrity. anyway, enjoy your book.

[pbradley]

Originally Posted by Skuj

Um, I had a gift certificate to a major book store, after 2hrs of wandering about the Art and History sections, I was a) stumped and b) out of time, so on the way out something made me stop at Philosophy. The Russell book seemed interesting, so I looked him up in the Philosophy distionary, and I just said "fuck it" and bought both.

A History of Western Philosophy is a decent enough introduction to names but I strongly suggest that you don't uncritically adopt Russell's opinions. I'm not sure if it's in the foreword or somewhere else but he openly admits his bias in writing the book. For instance, his section on Nietzsche is rather rubbish and he omits Kierkegaard. In short, it's representative but not definitive.

[pbradley]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

random note: the man apparently fucked around a lot in spite of having horrible halitosis. i guess those are the rewards of intellectual celebrity. anyway, enjoy your book.

This very much reminds me of Bertrand Russell.

[pbradley]

Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous

sometimes I feel the same way about history, get the what did I do with my degree blues? but remember, you learned philosophy for yourself, and because of that, you will use it productive. at least that is my own mantra to get over this economic rut that is keeping me out of my career, both at home and abroad

It's not just the marketability of it, it's eccentricity inducing.

I don't stress about these things too much, though. I've accepted them years ago.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by pbradley

It's not just the marketability of it, it's eccentricity inducing.

I don't stress about these things too much, though. I've accepted them years ago.

yes, but eccentricity is the birth of innovation and inspiration, which emanates life.

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by Skuj

And, I'm having a mid-life crisis, plus a lot of stress in my life right now.

I second Rob's point about this grounding what you might want to get from philosophy. I'd go for something that's dealing with specifically current issues like John Grey's book Straw Dogs, which brings various philosophical ideas into play without being too heavy handed with them.

 

[alteredcourse]

Nice. When I was 20 I made lots of collages with bird heads and naked girls. Lots. Recently I played with a boy that made matches from man heads and beast bodies. It should be love, but it isnt.

[akprodr]

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com...ory/the-stone/

[ann ashtray]

Only real philosophical question is wether or not one should kill themselves (didn't Camus say something to this effect?) Makes sense, when considering how diving nose first into questions often leaves more questions than answers. It can become very frustrating.

I basically came to the conclusion some years ago that "not knowing" is the best route to take....for me. It's safe.

I occasionally watch these debates on youtube, no one ever "wins". But still, there's a fence and I lean slightly closer to one side than the other. So for the sake of argument, I tend to claim to be an atheist. If only because there's absolutely no reason for me to believe in a/any god. That, and there could possibly be a blue dragon eating away at empty beer bottles in my trashcan, I just don't think it's very likely.

If I had to guess, death means lights out. It's that time when I am no longer aware of my own existence. Scary thought some days, then I just remind myself that nothing is absolutely nothing to be afraid of. Together we will all fertilize the grass, animals will eat the grass, people will eat the animals. Maybe there is some sort of collective conciousness that takes place in all of this, something that defies my current ability to understand anything...it's just not worth the hassle (most days) of me stressing myself out over it.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by ann ashtray

Only real philosophical question is wether or not one should kill themselves (didn't Camus say something to this effect?) Makes sense, when considering how diving nose first into questions often leaves more questions than answers. It can become very frustrating.

I basically came to the conclusion some years ago that "not knowing" is the best route to take....for me. It's safe.

the book starts like this (in english translation):

There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. All the rest--whether or not the world has three dimensions, whether the mind has nine or twelve categories--comes afterwards. These are games; one must first answer.

you're talking about the afterlife or something though, camus has none of that, he doesn't wonder what happens after one dies or any of that wishful thinking bullshit. you should read it-- great book.

[pbradley]

The Myth of Sisyphus sits within my bookshelf. Perfect antidote for the anxiety of my college years.

[ann ashtray]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

the book starts like this (in english translation):

There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. All the rest--whether or not the world has three dimensions, whether the mind has nine or twelve categories--comes afterwards. These are games; one must first answer.

you're talking about the afterlife or something though, camus has none of that, he doesn't wonder what happens after one dies or any of that wishful thinking bullshit. you should read it-- great book.

Yeah, I'd like to + have full plans on reading it.

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

 

I got this catechism text from an Orthodox Priest who is also a clinical therapist with a doctorate in psychological counseling, his insight is DEEP in regards to theology with a psychological lens..

the most impacting point.

Embracing a God who can make mistakes.

He explains very simply that it is our OWN psychological baggage and control-freak tendencies that make is project them onto our own imagined conceptions of God. To be sure, God is real, but the concept of God most people harbor in their minds is purely imaginary and it is then no wonder that they have little experience with a real or true God(s) because they are to busy thinking about an intellectual construction of God(s) with their mind, and not feeling or experiencing God(s) directly with the capacities of their hearts.

He thus explains that "people tend to be nervous about the idea of a God who makes mistakes, but this is because our OWN need for control is so great."

It is not that God has to be perfect, it is that we humans always feel that WE ourselves have to be perfect, and when we naturally fall short, we then feel guilt and anger and fear. Naturally we project these feelings of inadequacy onto our God because we feel them ourselves. But reality is reality, and we have little actual control over that fact. That being said, what is so wrong with the idea of a God who makes mistakes? If God is truly omnipotent and All-powerful, is it not also in the free power of God to make mistakes?




We feel threatened by this idea not because it is foreign to God or because God has to be inherently perfect, but rather because we believe that we ourselves need to be perfect, and this need for perfection is anthropomorphically applied to God.

If God exists, His existence is not dependent upon our own belief, and further He is not limited by our own limitations. He does not have to be perfect simply because it is our own ideal, but rather much as we have to embrace life with all its mistakes and bad days which are entirely out of our control, so to do we need to relinquish the idea of a perfect God, and allow God to exist on His own terms, not our own..

deep as the waves as Redondo Beach man, got my head spinnin like 100 spokes!