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(c.470-399 BC)
Socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living.
He also equated knowledge with virtue and ignorance with evil.
No argument here.
(c.428-347 BC)
Father of idealism and, ipso facto, archvillain.
Plato believed the objects of the real world as being merely shadows of
eternal Forms or Ideas. Only these changeless, eternal Forms can be the
object of true knowledge; the perception of their shadows (the real
world) is merely opinion. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Ideas exist, but only as
patterns in matter and energy. The world of ideas is supervenient on the
real world, not vice versa. Plato's effect on western civilization is
nothing short of profound which makes him one of most successful memetic
engineers of all time.
(c.384-322 BC)
On scholasticism...
A philosophical and theological movement dominant in Europe from the
middle of the 11th century to the middle of the 15th. Its focus was on
using human reason as defined in the philosophy and science of Aristotle
to understand Christian revelation.
On Descartes...
(1596-1650) French philosopher, scientist, mathematician. Father of
modern philosophy.
Right in his method (skepticism), wrong in his conclusions (dualism).
On Kant...
(1724-1804)
On Hegel...
(1770-1831) Hegel has been called "greatest of the German idealists".
He claimed that everything is interconnected and nothing is unrelated,
the ultimate reality is the Absolute Idea. He equated Truth with System.
His method at arriving at the Absolute Idea is called the Dialectic.
First you have a proposition, the "thesis".
In opposition to this there is a contradictory position called the "antithesis".
Out of the opposition comes the "synthesis" which embraces both.
One way to look at Virus is the synthesis of religion (thesis) and evolution (antithesis).
On Kirkegaard...
On Marx...
On Nietzsche...
On Spencer...
First one to come up with the idea of an evolutionary-based philosophy.
Wrong about evolution meaning progress and leading to perfection.
On Dewey...
On Russel...
On Wittgenstein...
He claimed that the meaning of language lies in its usage. This is
correct to some extent but doesn't go far enough. The meaning is in the
usage because the language is used to effect, to control, to influence.
On Husserl...
On Heidegger...
On Sartre...
On Derrida...
On Searle...
The "chinese room" argument against machine intelligence basically says
that there is more to consciousness than merely following formal
rules. If that is correct, then computer programs can never be conscious
(no matter how intelligently they behave) because they are executing
instructions which is the same as following rules.
On Dennet...
On the Churchlands...
On Objectivism...
On pancritical rationalism...
On Extropianism...
On vitalism...
On neuro-linguistic programming...
On complexity...
On evolution...
On Paganism and Magick...
Paganlink,
which recognizes that there are many belief systems that fall under the
rubric of paganism, claims that the common theme is to honour and respect
the spirit of the Earth.
On Christianity...
On Satanism...
Satanism is surprisingly rational for a religion based on
mysticism. For instance, they advocate "vital existence instead of
spiritual pipe dreams" and "undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical
self-deceit". They also view humans as just another animal (albeit more
vicious than most). Still, it is difficult to reconcile their rational
viewpoint with their self-professed belief in magic and demons.
On Buddhism...
On Scientology...
On agnosticism...
On atheism...
On Socialism...
On Libertarianism...
On gun control...
On abortion...
On machine intelligence...
On the internet...
On cryonics...