Why I cannot be in a relationship: Philosophy Forums

Calendar

Quick Links open

New Posts Member List

Help

Philosophy Forums » General Philosophy » Why I cannot be in a relationship » Why I cannot be in a relationship

Why I cannot be in a relationship

Page: 1 2 3 4 5

Why I cannot be in a relationship

Benkei
Self-hating Dutchman

Usergroup: Sponsors
Joined: Feb 06, 2004
Location: Netherlands
Total Topics: 44
Total Posts: 1665

Posted 05/06/08 - 02:00 AM:	#101
Oh dear, I am wondering what Socrates was going on about when he was talking about the Ladder of Eros and the categories it related to. Read a book instead of watching Walt Disney movies.
_____________________ We all warm ourselves on fires we did not kindle. We all drink from wells we did not dig. - ancient Celtic saying

yiming
Student

Usergroup: Members
Joined: Apr 25, 2008
Total Topics: 0
Total Posts: 61

Posted 05/06/08 - 10:30 PM:	#102
Hey Benkei, you think Socrates has more substance than Walt Disney to intellectuals? What is the difference between Eros, a winged baby, and Mickey Mouse? They are both representations of our fantasies. Lex is right about love. It is an idea. Fancy, but still nothing more than an idea.

Benkei
Self-hating Dutchman

Usergroup: Sponsors
Joined: Feb 06, 2004
Location: Netherlands
Total Topics: 44
Total Posts: 1665

Posted 05/07/08 - 01:31 AM:	#103
The fact Socrates spoke of Eros disproves your point that "love" was recently invented, which is all I set out to counter. The "substance" of Walt Disney, whatever you might mean by it, is really not the issue here. However, I would defend at any time that the dialogues contain more knowledge and entice us to think than all the Walt Disney movies taken together. Open another thread if you want to discuss it. As to love being an idea. Love is a concept that has been expressed as a result of human experience. The articulated idea in society is a collective description, partly over-romanticised, partly true but no one will identify with it 100%. In fact, emotions being so elusive and fluid it is probably not possible to "know" what you are feeling, only recognising you are experiencing a certain emotion you would classify as ... love, anger, apathy etc. The point is that we cannot have ideas entirely unrelated to experience. There's an interesting thread here, recently started, how a baby devoid of any desires and senses could ever develop consciousness, ideas and intelligence. I would expect it can't. If we imagine an imaginary creature we are limited by our experience and will "add up" pictures of animals we have seen. Love, similarly, is based on experience but unfortunately we can't draw a picture of it and are stuck with speaking in metaphors and relying on empathy of those who listen. Love is imaginary in the sense that there is no "thing" in objective reality for us to perceive as being "love". Interestingly, as proof Lex would accept personal experience but such personal experience would not be something I would experience and therefore nothing I would know as true. When I subsequently claim I have had this personal experience he assumes I am lying because he has no personal experience. That's called a double standard. Never mind that the only conclusion he is logically allowed to make is not that love does not exist but that if love does exist he has not experienced it and that it is possible love does not exist. since he has no experience of it. Of course, I have never experienced 8000 degrees Celsius. But I trust that the guy who build the thermometer did a good job and when I look at it when it says "8000 C" I assume that's correct. I also trust that the underlying physics support the measurement and that at the time of measurement will remain constant. Of course, it is also possible that universal constants are never constant except exactly at the moment that we try to measure them. We also trust the microwave works, the TV works, the car works etc. without knowing how it works because we trust others. But hey, I am all for common sense, and common sense dictates people do experience certain emotions that they call love - some confuse it with attraction - but throughout the ages we see a constant return of the idea of a higher love. For people, things, concepts and ideals. Without this underlying experience, there would be no concept of love to begin with.
_____________________ We all warm ourselves on fires we did not kindle. We all drink from wells we did not dig. - ancient Celtic saying

Techeth
Graduate

Usergroup: Members
Joined: Mar 19, 2008
Total Topics: 6
Total Posts: 161

Posted 05/07/08 - 03:14 PM:	#104
Yiming as I told Lex I don't really care whether or not you believe love is possible, just come up with a decent reason for this thinking beyond, Walt Disney invented it, if you wish to argue it. I am more than willing to listen to serious ideas, beyond your Mickey Mouse theories, get it lol.
_____________________ Studying is like rowing against the current, if you are not moving forward, you are moving backward. - Chinese proverb Life's a bitch but God forbid the bitch divorce me! - Anon

Page: 1 2 3 4 5

You don't have permission to post.

Please login or register.