We STILL need a philosophy forum

Ah, I see it's already been done!

Now then, who's going to be the first to start a philosophy thread?

That makes sense thatbags. I have only popped in a couple of times so am getting used to the different boards so thanks for the clarification

Thanks, GNHQ!

Woohoo! Thank you!

I know I have been guilty of generalisations, elegran, it's laziness really and only looks at people on a very superficial level. I also know that I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, yet continually have to pull myself up for doing precisely that, so have to ask myself, is that because I have learnt that certain types of people won't have anything in common with me in the past? Or is it a natural instinct for self-preservation?

Yes, I do know exactly what you mean by terms. A friend of mine with ME is incensed by the term 'invalid'. As she says, Invalid means not fit for purpose.

Of course the automatic triggers should be challenged, but as soon as one trigger is defused another emerges for the same group - viz the old medical terms for certain mental conditions - cretin, moron, imbecile - meant seriously as diagnoses for professionals, which became terms of abuse very fast, and substitutes brought into use, which themselves became terms of abuse - I won't list any, you know them all.

The quotation about the supposed right not to be offended comes, I believe, from something Salman Rushdie said after all the hoohaa about his book, The Satanic Verses.

Blanket reactions to the trigger words

So should those trigger words be challenged more than the need of some people to belong to particular groups?

I don't think the writer is saying we should not belong to small groups, only that by using any one (or a few) of them to label ourselves, we run the risk of others seeing ONLY the label and not the human being behind it. We are them defined also by the concept that others have of the group label - certain groups are "the enemy", certain others are "rich bastards" while others are "council house tenants who are subsidised by taxes".

Blanket reactions to the trigger words then cause the violence (both physical violence and psychological attitudes to the group.) There have been examples of this on Gransnet, where one group has been demonised for what are assumed to be common traits, but which are by no means universal in the individuals in that group. No-one is immune to doing this.

Which group we perceive ourselves to belong to is flexible, demonstrated by the well-known phenomenon of people forgetting their differences and 'pulling together' when their country is at war.

My problem is that I do far too much thinking

I have often been accused of thinking too much Lona which, of course, I counter with 'many people do not think enough'.

Grumpa Maybe your income tax does not exist either and is a figment of your imagination. Try not paying it and when those other figments of your imagination, HMRC, ask for it plus a fine, just tell them so. The prison cell you are thrown into will be a figment of your imagination too.

Sorry, too many nots

There was no suggestion to exclude religion, gracesgran; it just didn't seem appropriate to put discussions that are not particularly about religion on that forum and, if religion and spirituality can have a forum why shouldn't the non-religious side of philosophy not have one too? The religious interpretations of various philosophical issues can still be discussed.

Having seen the replies to my reply and knowing I will spend the day thinking about whether we are subject to separatism or whether it is just human nature to belong to small groups but that we should think carefully about which groups we choose to belong to, or do we choose (?) I know I would love a philosophy board. However, could you really justify excluding religion which is the basis or extension of many philosophies?

Perhaps my back is playing up as an expression of violence between two of the categories in which I have placed myself. Or perhaps it is inflicting an ironic reference to my having come across the word sciatica in a recent crossword.

Am I one of Touchstone's natural philosophers? If so within which meaning of the word natural in Elizabethan English?

Deep questions to ponder at bedtime.

grumppa

If I do not exist why do I pay income tax? And why is my back playing up?

grumppa

Do any of us exist?
Or are we all virtual Gnetters?
I type, therefore I am.
Is quantum physics real?
Do worms live in cans?

I think we have certainly demonstrated the value of a thread to discuss the need for a philosophy forum. Is that enough in itself?

Quoting Bags, "no-one has the right not to be offended."



What does that mean?

(Btw, I don't actually like thinking. It usually ends up making me miserable).

We are such stuff as dreams are made of.......

ps (in fact, it can lead to one being gravely misunderstood!)