Tolstoy's "My Confession": Where do you fit in?

[PsychoSerenity]

Tbh, the whole thing is predicated on the assumption of free will, which is almost certainly an illusion, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

I often think this is the only sensible response to large swathes of our current culture and philosophical discussion. I'm eager to read more written from a deterministic point of view (and not fatalistic point of view, which is a common trap for people to fall into) but beyond the initial discussion of determinism and free will. I think there are large areas to explore where it could have a huge impact on our philosophy and culture e.g. social justice, - but at the moment it still seems a struggle as the free-will, dualistic, non-determinism point of view is still a very deep route of our culture, language, and the way we are brought up to think.

[Audley Strange]

Evil doesn't need purpose. Human evil is purposed, or a byproduct of "greater" purposes. Nature is mindless and purposeless, it can nonetheless do untold evil.

It's boiling down to a semantic difference, which to me is important, but not to others, so I'll agree with your second sentence and first part of the third. Personally I'd go for harm, evil seems like a moral judgement.

[Svartalf]

There's a reason you refer to people who suffer from ill luck or natural disasters as "victims".
It's more than semantics, it's an insight.

[Drewish]

That his premise of life ultimately being pointless automatically meant to him that the world is evil and death is preferable is more an indication of a deep seeded bias that religion tries to infect people with (in order to keep them from questioning), defining 'good' in terms of deistic certainty to the extent that the word has no meaning to believers without it. Control the language, control the mind.

[Svartalf]

If there were a god, let alone a good one, the World would not be evil.

[Drewish]

If there were a god, let alone a good one, the World would not be evil.

Where you define the term 'good' to mean "that which is God's will."

[Audley Strange]

There's a reason you refer to people who suffer from ill luck or natural disasters as "victims".
It's more than semantics, it's an insight.

No it isn't. It's a word used to define people who have befallen unfortunate circumstances. Still if you want to believe in good and evil, have at it, take a side order of the Holy trinity as arbiters of such and you'll be all set.

[Svartalf]

I would, but there's no god, only Russian years.

Another insight is that the Russian for "god" is "bog"...

[Audley Strange]

I thought the thing about insights is that they transcended explanation, that they could be communicated directly and efficiently. Since I have no idea what you are going on about perhaps, "pondering" may be more accurate?

[Svartalf]

Pondering on the throne while making Offerings to the Porcelain Bog is a great source of insights.

[Audley Strange]

Pondering on the throne while making Offerings to the Porcelain Bog is a great source of insights.

No no no... outshites!

[pErvinalia]

Did you find gawd?

I thought it was a well established fact that i'am a theist.

A commie theist! Bloody hell. No I didn't know. I still don't know everyone here. Since I've been back in this latest iteration, there's been very few people posting. I figured everyone is waiting for me to leave before they come out of hiding again...

[FBM]

Tbh, the whole thing is predicated on the assumption of free will, which is almost certainly an illusion, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

I often think this is the only sensible response to large swathes of our current culture and philosophical discussion. I'm eager to read more written from a deterministic point of view (and not fatalistic point of view, which is a common trap for people to fall into) but beyond the initial discussion of determinism and free will. I think there are large areas to explore where it could have a huge impact on our philosophy and culture e.g. social justice, - but at the moment it still seems a struggle as the free-will, dualistic, non-determinism point of view is still a very deep route of our culture, language, and the way we are brought up to think.

As you probably already know, some neuroscientists have been working on gathering experimental data to show where and how the senses of self and agency are generated by a few areas of the brain working in concert. What I've read of the work so far is compelling, but little if any has made it to the wider public. (And I wouldn't characterize it as deterministic, so much as probabilistic.) Only a relatively few people are interested or willing to engage in the debate from a philosophical approach, maybe because it's so much easier to poke fun at philosophy and ignore the discussion. Maybe empirical data will change that. It should have a huge impact on concepts of justice. Hopefully, incarceration will become focused more on actual correction of behavior (therapy) instead of being overwhelmingly punitive.

[pErvinalia]

It should have a huge impact on concepts of justice. Hopefully, incarceration will become focused more on actual correction of behavior (therapy) instead of being overwhelmingly punitive.

God wouldn't approve of that.

[FBM]

Fuck 'im.