Philosopher's Group : Philosopher's Group

[hodge]

Hmm, I'm thinking some of Escher's drawings might be appropriate pictures for this group since they relate to aesthetic and perceptional philosophy, but I'm sure they're copyrighted. Maybe I can find a link to a collection of his stuff.

Aha - here's the official Escher website: http://www.mcescher.com/

 

[No-Twitch-Tabitha]

My life's philosophy can be summed up in this quote:

Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.”
Jean-Paul Sartre

I am an existentialist -- Man has free will (granted, earned, or innate is up for argument as we all know) and he is ultimately responsible for what he does with it.

 

[reallydown]

Nice...I have no idea what the heck I am... othe rhtan a phobosopher, of course ;^)

 

[Seeking_Nirvana]

Oh, I will love this group. I love philosophy and learning.

 

[spiritofnow]

Apologies, fumbling around! Trying to assign this pic to me.

 

[Seeking_Nirvana]

I have a topic I would like to start. It's about our shadow and we all have one. Some believe it is our basic instinct and that we are all born good, but instincts make us show our dark side.

 

[No-Twitch-Tabitha]

I wouldn't say we were born good, per se...I'd say that everyone is born capable of doing both. That's the nature of the free will we all have.

I don't think instincts make us show our dark side in themselves -- the experiences we have imprint upon us and create instinctual behavior...

 

[Seeking_Nirvana]

Actually when we are born we are born sinless. Until we can speak and act on our own is when those things are determined IMO.

For instance if we are born into a place and we are the only person living there all alone. Our shadow would show up when it was time to eat if we had to catch our own food.

 

[Andre]

When I was younger I ascribed to a combination of stoicism and utilitarianism, primarily to give an excuse to deny everything that hurt and to punish myself for being weak when I faltered. I dropped the first half of that when I finally came here at the start of last year, and dropped the second at the end of last summer when I was hit again. What I am now, well I don't think there are specific terms for it. Maybe a kind of epicurian, but I am also a mildly reserved hedonist now. Hope somebody else gets how conflicted that can be... I still think a lot of some parts of utilitarianism too, but no longer just to give me an excuse to deny things.

 

[Marlene]

Self-satisfaction is something we're born with. Watch a group of toddlers play. They're not playing together, they just happen to be sitting close to each other. And if Johnny has something that little Susie wants...she takes it because she wants it and could really care less that Johnny wants it, too. And then Johnny tries to take it back and the battle erupts from there.

As we get older we're taught concepts like sharing, not taking just because you want something, manners, etc. But inside we all still have that angry toddler that says, 'But I want that and I should have it because I want it'.

Being born good or evil is a bit black and white for me. I feel we're born human and have to work to overcome a whole lot of that in order to be able to live together with other humans.

 

[dlross]

OK...so now my heart rate is off the scale, having just reponded 'yes I want to join this group'...but this looks like an interesting beginning of somthing. I am currently finishing the job of editing the translation of a book of Buddhist philosophy from German to English. To sum up the whole book in one idea (oh the audacity!), it is a philosophy of non-attachment. I find it can lead me to question the point of everything, until I remember that Buddhism also teaches that there are two truths.The absolute, which is often the realm of pure philosophy, and the relative, which is where we actually live. The challenge is to have each inform the other, so as not to go floating off into the clouds or get mired in the muck of the mundane...

 

[dlross]

I am not 100% sure, but I believe the concept of 'the shadow' comes to us from Karl Jung. My understanding of the shadow, which is also influenced by my exposure to Buddhism, is that it is literally a place within is that is sheltered from the light of awareness. Since those things about ourselves we are most likely to tuck away in such a place are those which we have been taught (shamed into believing) are 'bad', the shadow can seem like a scary place, full of aggression and whatnot. But to the extent that we can, and choose to, bring the light of awareness to bear on the shadowy places within us, we will not be prone to surprise attacks of perhaps unwanted behaviour originating in some dark supposedly 'evil' place. Nothing original there...pretty standard psychology :)