cogito ergo sum

[Wings of Fire]

i prefer going to work so i can pay the rent and go down the pub rather than sit pondering whether i fucking exist.

I agree actually, if we truly exist or not is ultimately pointless. Are you saying all philosophy is pointless?

Except for all schools of philosophy that aren't.

Like

You know

Political philosophy, moral philosophy, philosophy of language, philosophy of religion, logic, environmental ethics etc etc

And even then, that doesn't necessarily make epistimology, metaphysics and suchlike useless if you believe in knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Which I do.

[MA]

no, i really don't give a shit. to be honest, i find it fucking irritating that there are people out there who go around questioning their own existence or whether there is such a thing as good and evil or whether Santa Clause really can get around the world in just one night.

i mean, i'm not into all this shit about questioning things just because we can in an attempt to further ourselves in the quest for knowledge or whatever the fuck it actually is. i'm for the here and now. i would prefer people to try and better the world that we live in before we start daydreaming about our purpose in life, because i don't believe its ever going to change our world for the better. that may seem like a pretty big statement, but its what i believe.

[Wings of Fire]

Okay, that's your opinion.

It's not one I could ever agree with, but you're damn well entitled to live your life the way you want to.

[Wil]

i would prefer people to try and better the world that we live in before we start daydreaming about our purpose in life, because i don't believe its ever going to change our world for the better.

How are you defining 'better'?

[Laser]

i don't believe its ever going to change our world for the better. that may seem like a pretty big statement, but its what i believe.

What about tolerance? thats a pretty important philosophical subject. That could help making the world 'better'

[Wings of Fire]

He means pure philosophy, tolerence is a concept of applied philosophy.

[Bullet Magnet]

My preference is for natural philosophy, which is interesting because philosophers can no longer contribute to it unless they are also trained scientists.

[Wings of Fire]

My preference is for natural philosophy, which is interesting because philosophers can no longer contribute to it unless they are also trained scientists.

I'm getting there.

[Bullet Magnet]

You have ten seconds.

[Wings of Fire]

That's not even enough time to write a literature essay.

[MA]

i think i was a bit of a cunt with my last post and i feel bad about it. apologies.

i also realise that i was concentrating too much on being stubborn and was being very close-minded when it came to anyone else's views. i spose you could just take what i said and sort of water it down. a lot.

[Bullet Magnet]

i think i was a bit of a cunt with my last post and i feel bad about it. apologies.

i also realise that i was concentrating too much on being stubborn and was being very close-minded when it came to anyone else's views. i spose you could just take what i said and sort of water it down. a lot.

So basically:

"You guys can ponder the mysteries of the self, but I'm going to ponder the mysteries of BEER!"

[Ridg3]

"You guys can ponder the mysteries of the self, but I'm going to ponder the mysteries of BEER!"

Sounds better IMO.

[Bullet Magnet]

I'm not a fan of beer myself. I'd pick a night with WoF over a night at the pub any day.

EDIT: that didn't come out right.

[Wil]

I'd pick lots of things over a night in a Glaswegian pub.

[Wings of Fire]

Did

did

diiiid

BM just flirt with me?

[enchilado]

No, I think he just really dislikes beer.

[Bullet Magnet]

I meant a night talking philosophy with WoF. It didn't come out right.

In regards to beer, however, I think any interpretation works.

[Wil]

All my plans to seduce BM involve beer.

[used:)]

Solipsism is for losers.

[Sekto Springs]

I have a friend who's a Solipsist. She thinks I cease to exist when I'm not talking to her. This very post is proof that she's wrong.

[Wil]

Not really. Our experience of the passage of time, and all the events contained therein, between the moment you last spoke to her and the moment you next do, is really just an emergent property of the spontaneous generation of reality that occurs when you next talk to your friend.

[scrabface]

I have a friend who's a Solipsist. She thinks I cease to exist when I'm not talking to her. This very post is proof that she's wrong.

she's crazy. I am god.

wait, this has nothing to do with this thread.

when I die and therefor stop thinking, but someone (hopefully) remembers me, do I exist?

[Wings of Fire]

when I die and therefor stop thinking, but someone (hopefully) remembers me, do I exist?

Their perception of you exists.

[Nate]

Correct. Being able to doubt yourself is proof of your own existence.

Just like how I must be sane if I think I'm crazy because a really crazy person would think he's sane. Right?

I agree totally with that table, but still don't see where Philosophic wankery is meant to fit in to it.

[Sekto Springs]

I forgot to mention my friend is a schizophrenic who will believe any crackpot philosophy or conspiracy theory you sell her. I can assure you that the philosophical validity Solipsism has as a skeptical hypothesis went right over her head and she only subscribes to it because she thinks it's cool.

She once accused me of being an alien wearing a human suit and swore she saw a zipper on the back of my head. And no, she wasn't joking.

[T-nex]

Just like how I must be sane if I think I'm crazy because a really crazy person would think he's sane. Right?

I've actually done that on more than one occasion X_x

Dunno.. Personally I find it pointless to ponder about these things. I mean, unless you're like some hyper-scientist who can incorporate philosophy in whatever he does, pondering about this stuff just causes headaches >: (
I haven't ever gotten any conclusions or good things out of discussing these things with myself, and in the end it doesn't matter. Whether we exist or not, we at least still have our feelings, or think we do, which feel very much real. Meaning, if I get hurts... It fucking hurts!! And thinking that I don't exist wont change that.

On the other hand, I've never ever really studied philosophy beyond shallow googling and restless nights
But if anyone could tell me what the good in pondering these things is, I'd appreciate it.

And I don't mean to say that pondering these things is wrong. If some people feel enlightened by this stuff, then more power to them. But I just don't see what the ultimate goal is

[Manco]

I always hate the "why do you bother with/what's the point of philosophy?" question because it implies actually thinking about things not directly useful to your life is completely worthless.

[T-nex]

I always hate the "why do you bother with/what's the point of philosophy?" question because it implies actually thinking about things not directly useful to your life is completely worthless.

Maybe it sounds like that to you, but perhaps it's because you feel threatened about thinking about such stuff. No one abolishes thinking about things that aren't exactly useful... At least I don't. I ponder about a lot of useless things =)

I'm just curious why people do it, and if there is actually something more to it than just wanting to philosophize a bit.

[OANST]

I have little to no interest in philosophy, as WoF can attest to. I think that much of it is pretentious nonsense.