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katydidnt · 61-69, F
As one who is still wrestling with the initial question, I like best the responses from those who are of the same mind. Less so, the unconditional declarative sentences written without stating the writer's premises.
It's a hard problem the O.P. posts; it deserves more than glib responses. If someone states their premises, that could spawn a separate thread whose participants find interest in debating the question based on those premises. You don't have to side with those premises in order to have meaningful debate, you just have to agree to speak with the assumption that they are valid.
Most of us like me don't have enough time to indulge in such thought experiments. That's why we have philosophers.
It's a hard problem the O.P. posts; it deserves more than glib responses. If someone states their premises, that could spawn a separate thread whose participants find interest in debating the question based on those premises. You don't have to side with those premises in order to have meaningful debate, you just have to agree to speak with the assumption that they are valid.
Most of us like me don't have enough time to indulge in such thought experiments. That's why we have philosophers.
katydidnt · 61-69, F
@robertsnj I'm 22 hrs late seeing your question; so much for my not having time to check SW.
By now you've likely already googled and, like me who had to do the same, came up with such names as Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Jean-Paul Sartre. I'll add Albert Camus, a more contemporary figure. Google picked them, not I. I am snowed quickly by their writings, and even by wikipedia's reportage about them, so I'm no source of original thought here. Sorry.
By now you've likely already googled and, like me who had to do the same, came up with such names as Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Jean-Paul Sartre. I'll add Albert Camus, a more contemporary figure. Google picked them, not I. I am snowed quickly by their writings, and even by wikipedia's reportage about them, so I'm no source of original thought here. Sorry.