EisenFaust wrote:
heatseeker wrote:
See, it's this "everybody's right, nobody's right" view that I struggle with, mainly because every legit philosopher in the history of mankind has said that truth is universal (rather than relative to each person)(...and yes, I have studied some philosophy). On one hand, I don't want to say that I know the absolutely correct answer, but I also can't say "Okay, you say this, I say that, everybody's right."
Also, would you go to a prostitute? ...........
If you have studied some philosophy you should definitely study some more before making so absolute statements as "every legit philosopher...". The implications of that statement are that you don't consider Sartre, Hume, Nietzsche, Spinoza among others, as well as a big part of the general existentialist 'movement' legit philosophers . Universalism implies that in order for a statement to be true in the absolute sense it has to be true in all possible contexts. Regarding the subject at hand the alleged 'truth' has already been disproven by this very discussion and the fact that we are having it...
Anyway I wasn't talking about truth as much as I was talking about the validity of morals. I'm not advocating absolute relativism in my post, just moral pluralism (with a hint ethical subjectivism). I don't really think that "everyone is right" (obviously I think that I am more right than most other people). What I am saying is that since it is not clear who is right (that is a matter of perspective) you should not be so fast to judge other people and their motives and actions through your own conception of morals. Especially not when this value judgment (that's what it is, you know) is actually reflected in legislative practice that restricts other people's rights and possibilities to live their life by another moral norm than yours. Why do you even care who marries who? Why should people submit to your judgment? Is it an absolute truth that two people shouldn't be able to make a legally binding agreement to bugger each other for the rest of their lives?
On the subject of prostitution: I probably wouldn't go to a prostitute. That is however because I'm not sexually frustrated enough to want to go to bed with a woman who have already had 5 intercourses that day. I have a girlfriend and generally prefer a little more intimacy than just the physical act. Not a moral standpoint, just a matter of my personal preferences regarding sex. Hypothetically, if I ever wanted to seek out one, I would make sure to avoid the slave-like sort that is just profitmachines for pimps because anything else would violate my own personal 'decency' (in need of a better word). The aforementioned consent is the keyword here. But I don't have a moral problem with sexual relations between two consenting adults just because money is involved.
You're right, I shouldn't have said "every legit philosopher". That was stupid. But I was talking about guys like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Kant etc...I dunno, I consider them to be pretty smart
. But I can definitely see your points, you argue well. Absolute relativism is dumb, I think we agree on that...I guess I just believe that there IS a right answer to every question, whether I know it or not.
But yeah, if I think too much about this stuff, my head just starts to hurt.
And oh yeah...
Metalhead_Bastard wrote:
Well Sasheron, I guess that your life must be pretty boring if you need drugs to spice it up. I'll go as far as alchohol or weed but that's it for me and I've tried a lot of drugs, but they're mostly shit or stupid.
The irony of this comment is quite laughable.
There's nothing wrong with disagreeing with great philosophers like Socrates or Plato. They themselves knew they were probably wrong about certain things (such as Aristotle's belief that the human heart was literally the center of human thought). And it often irritates me when people use great thinkers like Einstein to back up philosophical arguments as if they're "trophies" for their beliefs and can do no wrong - Has ANYBODY ever stopped to think, "Could Einstein have been wrong about certain things"?
