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Swami
Eggshell Walker

Registered: 01/18/00
Posts: 15,413
Loc: In the hen house
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Nihilism
#1313459 - 02/17/03 06:55 AM (20 years, 11 months ago) |
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Partial article - go here to read the full article. Surf around - there is lots of other food for thought on this website. Sclorch would love it!
The plain fact is that the scientific examination of human existence strips away every claim for a special status of humanity that would put us above the rest of nature. We discover that we are just one more animal and every human attribute is nothing but the sum total of a chaotic, purposeless evolution. There is no scientific proof of god, no evidence of special meaning for human existence, no set of eternal moral and ethical values, nothing in nature that can be described as good nor as evil.
Most humans find this a frightening conclusion, so frightening it's been given a dirty name, nihilism. Having made the inevitable result of a scientific, rational examination of the human condition an obscenity, the conclusion is dismissed as something too dangerous to even consider and even the philosophers retreat back into the last level of myths. If they are honest enough to admit they are doing so, they justify the retreat with claims that civilization couldn't survive without belief systems where words like justice, rights, fairness, ethics, morals, good and evil are concepts that require no scientific justification.
With the exception of a few tough minded philosophers, philosophy since the enlightenment, and especially since Darwin, has cut itself loose from any serious claim to adherence to scientific empiricism, especially when attempting to address the issues of moral behavior. Some philosophers who do dare to recognized the inevitable nihilistic truths of existence, still choose to avoid examining such truths by claiming that the human mind is incapable of dealing with them.
One such author, John F. Schumaker, in his book Wings of Illusion, proposes that paranormal myths are an evolutionary solution the allows human beings to cope with life by avoiding the dismal reality of our own inevitable death and the lack of a transcendental meaning in our lives. Schumaker argues that reality is so distressing that the human propensity for paranormal beliefs is a form of evolved insanity that allows humans to ignore the dismal truths while getting on with the business of living and propagating.
Adopting an intellectual elitism, Schumaker admits the truth of the nihilistic conclusions and seems to have no trouble with his own sanity as a result, but then suggests that the vast majority of humanity is incapable of surviving the same shock of understanding.
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The proof is in the pudding.
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Swami
Eggshell Walker

Registered: 01/18/00
Posts: 15,413
Loc: In the hen house
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Re: Nihilism [Re: Sclorch]
#1313929 - 02/17/03 10:22 AM (20 years, 11 months ago) |
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I "knew" you would get your "rocks off" on it. LOL!
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The proof is in the pudding.
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Swami
Eggshell Walker

Registered: 01/18/00
Posts: 15,413
Loc: In the hen house
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Re: Nihilism [Re: bert]
#1313990 - 02/17/03 10:39 AM (20 years, 11 months ago) |
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Who are these people who must be kept in line; and what is the line that they MUST be kept to? Please elaborate.
Are wars caused by large masses of people "kept in line" with their specific culture which is at odds with another culture? Are wars possible if everyone was an individual and rational thinker? Seems propaganda; whether from Bush or Hussein is necessary to "train" people into a collective group-think.
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The proof is in the pudding.
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Swami
Eggshell Walker

Registered: 01/18/00
Posts: 15,413
Loc: In the hen house
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Re: Nihilism [Re: bert]
#1314124 - 02/17/03 11:16 AM (20 years, 11 months ago) |
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I'm not sure if our involvement in Iraq could be considered a religious war.
Substitute the word "myth" for religion and then the answer becomes obvious.
The myth that Saddam is bad, while Bush is good; that Islam is bad while Christianity is good; that Saddam is selfish and Bush has no self-interest; that America's nukes are good and North Korea's nukes are bad and so on.
Note to any high-strung readers: I am making NO moral judgement NOR espousing any political views here.
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The proof is in the pudding.
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Swami
Eggshell Walker

Registered: 01/18/00
Posts: 15,413
Loc: In the hen house
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Re: Nihilism [Re: bert]
#1314194 - 02/17/03 11:42 AM (20 years, 11 months ago) |
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I think the North Korean government has gone completely insane...
And the USA's War on Drugs is a model of sanity? Insanity abounds in all nation-states.
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The proof is in the pudding.
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