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Cj-B
All the same...I saw it first.



Registered: 07/16/11
Posts: 4,479
Loc: The Library of Babel
Last seen: 4 years, 14 days
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Knowing the philosophy without knowing the context in which it was spawned and used is worthless. Plato and Socrates are the building blocks upon which all following European schools of thought were built on. Doesn't hurt that nearly EVERY one of their contemporaries works have been lost to time whereas almost the entire body of Plato's work has been preserved. It's fine to not particularly enjoy or agree with Platonism, but if you want to have any real grasp of the western tradition of philosophy you have to know this stuff. You aren't learning this because he's white or because his worldview is widely accepted, but because it's pivotal to grasp the more advanced models of thought that were built on Plato.
-------------------- "I have no way of knowing whether you, who eventually will read this record, like stories or not. If you do not, no doubt you have turned these pages without attention. I confess that I love them. Indeed, it often seems to me that of all the good things in the world, the only ones humanity can claim for itself are stories and music; the rest, mercy, beauty, sleep, clean water and hot food (as the Ascian would have said) are all the work of the Increate. Thus, stories are small things indeed in the scheme of the universe, but it is hard not to love best what is our own—hard for me, at least."
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Turtletotem
Dutch Delight



Registered: 09/02/13
Posts: 3,763
Last seen: 4 years, 11 months
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LiquidVisions said:
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Turtletotem said:
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nicechrisman said: Just an angsty youngun. I used to know it all too. I'm not sure what happened to it all though.
First you think adults know it all, then you think you know it all, and then slowly, but without fail, it starts to dawn on you that nobody has got a fucking clue and we're all just trying to do our best and suddenly I got 5 kids to feed, what's going on?
Damn man. I don't think I know it all but I do have that attitude towards things I guess. But this..this scares me.
Don't worry about it, it's natural. And when it comes, you'll find yourself much better equiped for it than you might think right now.
Especially users of psychedellics, I believe. You get used to uncertainty real quick.
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Edited by Turtletotem (09/29/15 02:08 PM)
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Mr.GuessWork
Stranger

Registered: 03/30/13
Posts: 4,563
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LiquidVisions said: I'm not saying don't teach plato but why talk about greek history non stop? Its been weeks now and every class seems to cover the same stuff while the professor talks about his average life in between. He also told me I was wrong when I said it is possible to love someone without knowing them. He said in order to love someone you have to have respect for them care about them and feel responsible for them. He then proceeds to say that if your family member needed you to take them to the hospital while you were busy would you? to which everyone answered yes and my argument is that if you saw a homeless man break his leg while on your way to something important wouldn't you take him to the hospital? and he said that it is not love. By his standards I love everyone but this guy puts us in a box and told me I'm wrong when I questioned him.
On some level you do know that homeless guy, and that's why you can have compassion for him. But the real issue here is that you've got to avoid blind sophistry, and you can only do that by learning and understanding the the well developed ideas of other people. The old greeks are as good a place to start as any, especially if this prof knows something about them.
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Psilosopherr
A psilly goose



Registered: 02/15/12
Posts: 12,278
Last seen: 1 month, 10 days
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Quote:
LiquidVisions said: I'm not saying don't teach plato but why talk about greek history non stop? Its been weeks now and every class seems to cover the same stuff while the professor talks about his average life in between. He also told me I was wrong when I said it is possible to love someone without knowing them. He said in order to love someone you have to have respect for them care about them and feel responsible for them. He then proceeds to say that if your family member needed you to take them to the hospital while you were busy would you? to which everyone answered yes and my argument is that if you saw a homeless man break his leg while on your way to something important wouldn't you take him to the hospital? and he said that it is not love. By his standards I love everyone but this guy puts us in a box and told me I'm wrong when I questioned him.
there are many stories of professors acting this way. Getting all hung up on semantics and essentially saying "nope I'm right"
Especially funny that he picked love. Love is particularly ambiguous in my mind.
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