Are Philosophers Cracked?

Yes

7 (33.3%)

No

5 (23.8%)

Sometimes

9 (42.9%)

Total Members Voted: 6

[Evil Muppet]

No, philosophers are more interested in making themselves look clever.  I think that a lot of them, especially political philsophers are simply attempting to justify their own opinions as present it as the ultimate truth.  Their philsophy, ideology or whatever you want to call it is simply an abstract excuse to justify a course of action which otherwise wouldn't be looked upon favorably.  No one wants to be wrong or immoral but many people also are in positions which require them to do just that.  They are doing something wrong but they don't want to stop doing it, so they come up with some convoluted reason why what they are doing is right. 
"We are not stealing from you poor subjects because we are a band of thugs but because we are noble government and we are protecting you and establishing justice"  It is a way for bad people to feel good about themselves and to sleep at night. 

[goten1201]

No, philosophers are more interested in making themselves look clever.  I think that a lot of them, especially political philsophers are simply attempting to justify their own opinions as present it as the ultimate truth.  Their philsophy, ideology or whatever you want to call it is simply an abstract excuse to justify a course of action which otherwise wouldn't be looked upon favorably.  No one wants to be wrong or immoral but many people also are in positions which require them to do just that.  They are doing something wrong but they don't want to stop doing it, so they come up with some convoluted reason why what they are doing is right. 
"We are not stealing from you poor subjects because we are a band of thugs but because we are noble government and we are protecting you and establishing justice"  It is a way for bad people to feel good about themselves and to sleep at night. 

I agree, they want attention.  Also many quips and quotes are taken and fit to a situation that has no link to one another in an attempt to be smart.  Its all about what people define the words in the quotes and how they apply them to their situation. 

[ladyattis]

I guess you never talked to Dennett then. o.O He tends to be a down to earth dude. Hell, he has a farm if memory serves. o.O

Then there's Quentin Smith (*drools*) and his work in Quantum Mind theory and what not. ^.^ And a fellow evil Atheist! MUAHAHAHA!

-- Bridget

[Taors]

No, philosophers are more interested in making themselves look clever.  I think that a lot of them, especially political philsophers are simply attempting to justify their own opinions as present it as the ultimate truth.  Their philsophy, ideology or whatever you want to call it is simply an abstract excuse to justify a course of action which otherwise wouldn't be looked upon favorably.  No one wants to be wrong or immoral but many people also are in positions which require them to do just that.  They are doing something wrong but they don't want to stop doing it, so they come up with some convoluted reason why what they are doing is right. 
"We are not stealing from you poor subjects because we are a band of thugs but because we are noble government and we are protecting you and establishing justice"  It is a way for bad people to feel good about themselves and to sleep at night. 

I agree, they want attention.  Also many quips and quotes are taken and fit to a situation that has no link to one another in an attempt to be smart.  Its all about what people define the words in the quotes and how they apply them to their situation. 

How well can you play that thing?

[goten1201]

No, philosophers are more interested in making themselves look clever.  I think that a lot of them, especially political philsophers are simply attempting to justify their own opinions as present it as the ultimate truth.  Their philsophy, ideology or whatever you want to call it is simply an abstract excuse to justify a course of action which otherwise wouldn't be looked upon favorably.  No one wants to be wrong or immoral but many people also are in positions which require them to do just that.  They are doing something wrong but they don't want to stop doing it, so they come up with some convoluted reason why what they are doing is right. 
"We are not stealing from you poor subjects because we are a band of thugs but because we are noble government and we are protecting you and establishing justice"  It is a way for bad people to feel good about themselves and to sleep at night. 

I agree, they want attention.  Also many quips and quotes are taken and fit to a situation that has no link to one another in an attempt to be smart.  Its all about what people define the words in the quotes and how they apply them to their situation. 

How well can you play that thing?

talking bout my guitar?  i can shred very well

[Johnny_]

Studying philosophy (not in a college class or some other structured environment) is an amazing experience.  Truly understanding a given theory, thinking about it, comparing and contrasting it with others, etc, can (and for me, did) cause a profound change in one's worldview. 

And once you start getting into it, you realize that we as humans don't understand anything.  Even the philosophers know this.  Things like truth, right or wrong, morality, words, ideas; all these things we take for granted as a constant, when they may not be.  What is an idea?  How can you know that someone understands the idea that you have?  What is time?  Anyone who's tripped knows that how we perceive time isn't even constant: our consciousness can be altered to make minutes feel like hours with a mere chemical.  So then what is our mind?  If it's a mere chemical process, why are we self-aware?  Where does that awareness come from?  If it's all chemicals, do we have free will?  If it is just a chemical reaction, than we are just infinitely complex robots who, at the lowest level, cannot be any more responsible for our own actions than water is for turning to ice, yet if we do have conscious free will, than there's something beyond a mere complex chemical reaction going on up there in your noggin.

These are all extremely basic, yet never-endingly debatable, philosophical questions.  To dismiss anyone trying to seek the truth to those questions as looney is, well, telling of the person doing the condemning.  Don't get me wrong: I'm just as skeptical toward anyone who claims to have the answer to those questions and refuses to change their opinion (religious people, for example), but to close one's ears and skip through life ignoring these questions is no way to live, IMO.

Besides, it's fun to be able to blow your own mind trying to fathom all of existance, and what would exist if the universe was never created (and the paradox of existence without existence).

[Brian Wolf]

Studying philosophy (not in a college class or some other structured environment) is an amazing experience.  Truly understanding a given theory, thinking about it, comparing and contrasting it with others, etc, can (and for me, did) cause a profound change in one's worldview. 

And once you start getting into it, you realize that we as humans don't understand anything.  Even the philosophers know this.  Things like truth, right or wrong, morality, words, ideas; all these things we take for granted as a constant, when they may not be.  What is an idea?  How can you know that someone understands the idea that you have?  What is time?  Anyone who's tripped knows that how we perceive time isn't even constant: our consciousness can be altered to make minutes feel like hours with a mere chemical.  So then what is our mind?  If it's a mere chemical process, why are we self-aware?  Where does that awareness come from?  If it's all chemicals, do we have free will?  If it is just a chemical reaction, than we are just infinitely complex robots who, at the lowest level, cannot be any more responsible for our own actions than water is for turning to ice, yet if we do have conscious free will, than there's something beyond a mere complex chemical reaction going on up there in your noggin.

These are all extremely basic, yet never-endingly debatable, philosophical questions.  To dismiss anyone trying to seek the truth to those questions as looney is, well, telling of the person doing the condemning.  Don't get me wrong: I'm just as skeptical toward anyone who claims to have the answer to those questions and refuses to change their opinion (religious people, for example), but to close one's ears and skip through life ignoring these questions is no way to live, IMO.

Besides, it's fun to be able to blow your own mind trying to fathom all of existance, and what would exist if the universe was never created (and the paradox of existence without existence).

I totally agree with you.
I guess I stated my point the wrong way.
I am not trying to dismiss anyone as looney. Part of what makes me think that way is that I myself have what some describe as a "mental illness" even though others would call it a hormonal imbalance. At any rate, I have struggled myself with many of the questions that you list. I do not dismiss myself or my ideas just because of my motivations behind being interested in it. That would be absurd. "Mental illnesses" can be cured. People can overcome them. In fact a lot of people who do overcome their handicaps end up being stronger people for it.
Many "great" people throughout history were 'eccentric' in certain ways. I am sure you have all heard the old myth of the person who is a genius but has no 'common sense'.
A example people like to use is how Einstein used to leave the house without shoes sometimes or without combing  his hair.
I don't know about the shoes part, but he did not seem like he was extremely concerned with keeping his hair meticulously combed.


Maybe it takes a person who is a little bit 'crazy' to see things from a different perspective? Or maybe simply having a strong incentive to understand the world around you is enough to give you a slight advantage over 'normal' people?