peripeteia

AmbiguousUbiquity


You Like books do you..Well let me present an anecdote..Some time ago in one of my philosophy classes[ I think we were studying Quine] a student made the comment that he 'got' some of his philosophy from literature..The teacher and I burst out laughing..Now why would you think we did that? Oh one little informative note..This professor is well known in the philosophy of science and his symposiums are well attended by the top actors in the field[so no scoffing please]..

Im not saying that literature is irrelevant—hell I v been studying literary theory for quite some time now—but for doing philosophy sheesh might as well read the newspaper in order to learn poetry..

But i did chuckle at your comparison..So thanks..Never hurts to laugh at yourself..

Biff the unclean

What does "to do philosophy" actually mean to you? Is it a person who is the top student at several universities and achieved recognition and rapport from his professors?
Well I'm not Mageth but what the hell it's an open forum and I do have a great deal of experience with "talking" apes. It is being a philosopher instead of being a fan of philosophers.

Now since you placed me in the ‘former’ tell me was it solely because of my ‘obfuscations’ or even better my ‘obtuse convolutions’?
By your poor communication skills I would hazard to guess that you are an undergraduate, a sophomore…surely no more than a junior…who is wasting his parents money getting an education that will qualify you to become a night watchman. And that you hope to disguise your lack of content behind an inappropriate vocabulary.
Listen my little ‘Einstein’ do you actually believe you can ‘do’ philosophy and ‘think for yourself’ without acquiring some knowledge of the subject and the philosophies out there?
Judging by what you have written I'd say that you have clearly demonstrated that what little knowledge you posses has given you neither the ability to do or to think for yourself.

But since its obvious your enlightenment derives its impetus exactly from such procedures,, continue dancing to your drum..
It's a shame that they don't teach manners any more.

But sadly I cannot..I need to learn the subject according to my materiality..
Yes definitely not more than a Junior…at a second rate school. Perhaps a bitter drop out who was given a thesaurus for Christmas.

Mageth

What does “to do philosophy” actually mean to you?

Answer that for yourself - you're supposed to be the philosophy expert, remember? Regurgitating (poorly, I might add) rotely learned philosophical theories proposed by others who actually did philosophy does not qualify in my book, however.

Now since you placed me in the ‘former’ tell me was it solely because of my ‘obfuscations’ or even better my ‘obtuse convolutions’?

It was because, so far, you have exhibited all the traits of the former, and none of the latter. If it looks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck...

Listen my little ‘Einstein’ do you actually believe you can ‘do’ philosophy and ‘think for yourself’ without acquiring some knowledge of the subject and the philosophies out there?

Absolutely. But you may well gain some knowledge of the subject and the various philosophies out there along the way. Such knowledge one may find useful or one may not.

And how did you know I consider myself a reincarnation of Einstein? Actually, I was born in the same year both Einstein and James Dean died, and have always thought I was a reincarnation of the two of them. Unfortunately, I got Einstein's looks and James Dean's brains.

peripeteia

Biff the unclean

Oh really now..Undergraduate sheesh…A word of advise..Don’t ‘hazard’ so many guesses..You are wrong on all counts..And sadly yes since this is a forum selectivity is out of the question..But that doesn’t mean your opinion amounts to a whole hell of beans..The rest of your ‘opinions’ aren’t even worth commenting on..And about my profession..Kiddo do you actually believe that I am making a life with my studies..Dear this is the reason I went to several universities..But if you must know my main means of livelihood is law..Now I hope this provides you the closure you so richly deserve from all your ‘hazards’..Dear you know better then to allow mental dissonance to acquire the prominence it has..

Biff the unclean

Oh, you're a night watchman for a bail bondsman, thought it was something like that. Sorry about your getting kicked out of several universities. I hope things look up for you

Opera Nut

Yep Christians have to go around apologizing for the cruel horrible and unspeakable things those "Other" Christians did.

By their fruits ye shall know them -- divisiveness, hatred, feelings of superiority, self righteousness, censorship, anti intellectualism.

And yes I think you can get philosophy out of certain books that are fiction. If you can figure out the understory.

If you had seen the third episode of "Cosmos", Carl Sagan's masterpiece, you would know that the Church authorities put Kepler's mother in jail for being a witch, for telling him stories about going to the moon. Those stories inspired him to use Tycho Brahe's astronomical observations to come up with the elliptical orbits of planets, which put together all the heliocentric stuff of Copernicus and made it all fit together.

And Sagan's point is that if the Church authorities hadn't been so ruthless in torturing, imprisoning and abusing scientists like Galileo, Giordano Bruno, and so forth, we might have landed on the moon about 500 years sooner than we did.

"The Church says the Earth is Flat, but I have seen the Shadow on the Moon and it is Round; and I have more Faith in a Shadow on the Moon, than in the Church."

---Ferdinand Magellan (This is on a T shirt available from Northern Sun, complete with crescent moon illustration)

:notworthy :notworthy

AmbiguousUbiquity

Hey, no problem. And no scoffing from my end, at any rate; Reilly is one of my favorite characters in fiction.

Besides, I laugh at myself every day. Helps me get through it.

I think I have to disagree. I think a great deal can be learned from reading ANY book, and you can get a philosophy out of the story. Now, using books to learn how to life your life without making any observations on your own? I don't agree with that. I wasn't sure which you were referring to.

Xeno

Opera Nut -

I assume then you have a past without a single blood stain, your ancestors were never criminals, and no genetic link to you could reveal injustice of any sort?

If that is the case then on behalf of the good majority of us I beg you to forgive us, who were given our pasts which we cannot now amend.

Opera Nut

Well, anything I have done wrong I did not ascribe to Christianity.

TomboyMom

One of peripeteia's earlier posts reminded me of my first lover, back in the day when we were both undergraduate philosophy majors. She was a big Husserl fan, too. She later went straight and became a minister--don't know if these facts have any causal relation.

When I asked her whether she believed that God gave his only begotten son to die on the cross and save us from our sins, she replied, "I don't have to answer that question."

Well, just an irrelevant personal anecdote.

Rene, always preferred Berkeley, myself. (Bishop, that is.)