Virus Takes A Stance


Category: Major headings return to top.

Philosophy

On Socrates...

(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.

On Plato...

(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.

On Aristotle...

(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...

Science

On vitalism...

On neuro-linguistic programming...

On complexity...

On evolution...

Religion

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...

Politics

On Socialism...

On Libertarianism...

On gun control...

On abortion...

Technology

On machine intelligence...

On the internet...

On cryonics...


Philosophy Virus Memes