Humility: Good or Bad?

[james03]

Interestingly Locke and Dennett are almost polar opposites.  Locke argues from Deism.  His argument about private property is actually in agreement with Pope Leo XIII.  And he argues for consciousness, denied by Dennett.

[james03]

Learn something every day.  The "agent" of Dennett is the homunculus fallacy.

[Probius]

Interestingly Locke and Dennett are almost polar opposites.  Locke argues from Deism.  His argument about private property is actually in agreement with Pope Leo XIII.  And he argues for consciousness, denied by Dennett.

Dennett doesn't argue against consciousness, he argues that it is only a physical phenomenon.

[james03]

No, he inserts an "agent", so it is not a physical process.

[rbjmartin]

Man cannot survive on his instincts alone, he must use his reason.  If he does not want to live, he need simply cease from acting and he will die soon enough.  To live, however, requires action, and action requires a choice, at least in men it does.

If men only listened to their passions, they would still survive (given a survivable environment). The passions aren't rational.

Animals also pursue values, but with instinct instead of reason.  Animals do not have the use of reason, and  hence do not have virtue.

No, they don't pursue "values." To place "value" on a thing requires the gift of judgement, which animals don't have. Strike two.

I prefer philosophers such as Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, and Frederic Bastiat to the ancients.

Based on a whim? Because it's convenient for you? Or have you actually read the ancients? You do realize that all of the above were familiar with ancient philosophy and stood on the shoulders of the ancient philosophers, don't you?

[rbjmartin]

Aristotle did some great things, but I prefer modern philosophers.

Like who?

Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, Frederic Bastiat, Stefan Molyneaux, John Locke, to name a few.  I have been very interested in Anarcho-Capitalism recently.

As mentioned above, all of these people pay tribute to the ancients. Molyneaux is really into Socratic method. You should listen to one of his talks on philosophy.

Bastiat's theory of law is 100% based on an acknowledgement of natural law (as was Cicero's, Aristotle's, Plato's, etc.).

So what do you have against the ancients? What are you afraid of?

[Probius]

No, he inserts an "agent", so it is not a physical process.

3:30

[Probius]

Aristotle did some great things, but I prefer modern philosophers.

Like who?

Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, Frederic Bastiat, Stefan Molyneaux, John Locke, to name a few.  I have been very interested in Anarcho-Capitalism recently.

As mentioned above, all of these people pay tribute to the ancients. Molyneaux is really into Socratic method. You should listen to one of his talks on philosophy.

Bastiat's theory of law is 100% based on an acknowledgement of natural law (as was Cicero's, Aristotle's, Plato's, etc.).

So what do you have against the ancients? What are you afraid of?

I have nothing against the ancients, I simply told you that I prefer the moderns, as in I prefer to read the moderns.  We all have much to thank the ancients for, and we have much to thank the Islamic philosophers from the 10th to the 13th centuries as well, such as Avicenna and Averroes.  Many cultures have produced great minds, I prefer to read Rand as she is my favorite.

[rbjmartin]

Aristotle did some great things, but I prefer modern philosophers.

Like who?

Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, Frederic Bastiat, Stefan Molyneaux, John Locke, to name a few.  I have been very interested in Anarcho-Capitalism recently.

As mentioned above, all of these people pay tribute to the ancients. Molyneaux is really into Socratic method. You should listen to one of his talks on philosophy.

Bastiat's theory of law is 100% based on an acknowledgement of natural law (as was Cicero's, Aristotle's, Plato's, etc.).

So what do you have against the ancients? What are you afraid of?

I have nothing against the ancients, I simply told you that I prefer the moderns, as in I prefer to read the moderns.  We all have much to thank the ancients for, and we have much to thank the Islamic philosophers from the 10th to the 13th centuries as well, such as Avicenna and Averroes.  Many cultures have produced great minds, I prefer to read Rand as she is my favorite.

You continue to talk in generalities and "preferences," but you have demonstrated very little substance with regard to your "preferences." My BS detector is going off.

[james03]

3:30

"There seems to you to be a red stripe".

Again he slips in the agent.  So there is an illusion "to you".  So what?  What has this to do with intentionality?  It proves that "you" can be fooled.

[Probius]

3:30

"There seems to you to be a red stripe".

Again he slips in the agent.  So there is an illusion "to you".  So what?  What has this to do with intentionality?  It proves that "you" can be fooled.

He clearly states that the mind is explained by the brain and that the brain is physical, so consciousness is something physical.

[Probius]

Aristotle did some great things, but I prefer modern philosophers.

Like who?

Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, Frederic Bastiat, Stefan Molyneaux, John Locke, to name a few.  I have been very interested in Anarcho-Capitalism recently.

As mentioned above, all of these people pay tribute to the ancients. Molyneaux is really into Socratic method. You should listen to one of his talks on philosophy.

Bastiat's theory of law is 100% based on an acknowledgement of natural law (as was Cicero's, Aristotle's, Plato's, etc.).

So what do you have against the ancients? What are you afraid of?

I have nothing against the ancients, I simply told you that I prefer the moderns, as in I prefer to read the moderns.  We all have much to thank the ancients for, and we have much to thank the Islamic philosophers from the 10th to the 13th centuries as well, such as Avicenna and Averroes.  Many cultures have produced great minds, I prefer to read Rand as she is my favorite.

You continue to talk in generalities and "preferences," but you have demonstrated very little substance with regard to your "preferences." My BS detector is going off.

There is no need to see me as an adversary, I was simply telling you whom I enjoy reading.  I enjoy reading many philosophers, some of whom I don't entirely agree with, yet I still get something from them.  I think Rand, Rothbard, and Bastiat are great.  I am still new to Molyneaux.  I haven't read much Locke, but what I have read I really like.  I enjoy Dennett's YouTube videos, I don't know what his whole philosophical system is, but I like the way he discusses the mind.  I have even a little Marx, and I can't stand the man.

Is there anything else you want to know.

[Probius]

Aristotle did some great things, but I prefer modern philosophers.

Like who?

Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, Frederic Bastiat, Stefan Molyneaux, John Locke, to name a few.  I have been very interested in Anarcho-Capitalism recently.

Rand was a complete nut.

What do you think about the other philosophers I mentioned?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Actually I always loved Bastiats..."The Law"

I love the law, it's a great book.  I'm a little surprised that you like it.  What did you like about the book?

[rbjmartin]

In reading your posts, I get the impression that you aren't very well-read in philosophy, yet you don't approach philosophical questions with any sense of humility because you dismiss the philosophical suggestions of others with BS statements like "I prefer the moderns."

Rather, you have certain opinions, and then you reason backward, making use of whatever supporting philosophers you can find to support your opinions. That is not the modus operandi of a lover of truth.

When I try to dialogue with you, I feel like I'm arguing with an adolescent. That's not meant to be an insult. It's just the impression I get by how much you value your own opinions and preferences. Seriously, you need to man up and let the truth move you when the path of reason is laid out for you. Your attachment to your own opinions is your biggest hindrance.

If you are sincere about wanting to arrive at philosophical truths, you need to be authentically open-minded. If not, you should just go somewhere else and stop wasting everyone's time.

[Probius]

When I tell you that I prefer the moderns, I am not saying they are the only philosophers worth reading, or that they are the only ones that are correct, I was simply telling you whom I enjoy reading.  I wasn't trying to be argumentative.  I enjoy reading Dostoyevsky, that doesn't mean that I hate Dickens.  I was merely mentioning whom I enjoy reading, don't take anymore into the statement than that,