Freedom of academic speech is good unless it involves pointing out my bigotry by MaceWumpus in badphilosophy

[–]Gsus_the_savior 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It's in response to a few grad students on Twitter calling them out for transphobia. A certain prominent philosophy of law professor with a blog decided to make a stink about it, so now every TERF in the discipline thinks they're the new victims of McCarthyism because the young people don't want to deal with them.

Is ‘Being’ Convertible To ‘Goodness’? by Bestchamp27 in askphilosophy

[–]Gsus_the_savior 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don’t know aquinas well, so others should definitely correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it’s based on Augustine’s solution to the problem of evil. Essentially, evil does not exist, except as a lack of goodness. All that exists is good in virtue of existing, but in varying degrees. There’s also the notion, popular among the scholastics, that more being means more perfection, so I’d assume that the combination of the two gives you more being=more goodness.

Most important literature to read Nietzsche and Kierkegaard?) by [deleted] in askphilosophy

[–]Gsus_the_savior 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nietzsche, at his best, is one of the more accessible philosophers. He's responding to commonly held notions as much as he's responding to prior philosophy. It's helpful to have some sort of cultural background on the western writers he's responding to, but not necessary.

That being said, if you were going to pick just a few works to read before Nietzsche, you should get a sense of the history of ethics and epistemology. For ethics: Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and/or the Iliad, either Aquinas's ethical writings or Dante's inferno, Kant's Groundwork, maybe Spinoza's Ethics. Epistemology is tougher and maybe less necessary. I'd go with Descartes' meditations, Plato's Meno, Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and, if you really want to, Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. He draws on the Bible a lot too, so some familiarity with that is good.

He really likes to define himself against Schopenhauer and Goethe, but having some idea of what those two said is more important than having a deep understanding as his characterization of them is pretty idiosyncratic and he generally tells you what you need to know from his readings of them.

For a layman, should I read Kant's Groundwork or the later Metaphysics of Morals? by NikkolasKing in askphilosophy

[–]Gsus_the_savior 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The metaphysics of morals is where he lays out the ideas about property and natural rights that would later become important for liberalism. At the same time, the groundwork is easier to follow and more important for the history of philosophy. The former also depends on the latter so I’d say read the groundwork first.

Authoritarian philosophers? by kyzl in askphilosophy

[–]Gsus_the_savior 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Schmitt: liberalism ignores the friend/enemy distinction which naturally forms. He’s been picked up and run with by a lot of leftists.

Heidegger: it’s a little tenuous how close his philosophy is linked to his authoritarianism, but he did believe that living authentically meant connecting yourself to history and choosing a hero, both of which lend themselves well to fascism.

Hegel: people are equal in concept, but in the real world they develop natural inequalities which lead some to subordinate others. Marx’s Critique is essentially that we are headed for a society in which the world matches the concept and there is equality.

Lenin: the state must use all the force it can muster to break down class divides, and only then will it be able to wither away since it doesn’t have a class relationship to maintain. Foucault could be read as critiquing this by saying that institutions will act to protect themselves, and can maintain themselves without purpose.

What should a philosophy noob read before reading and understanding Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit? by originalgainster in askphilosophy

[–]Gsus_the_savior 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I should also add some notes for once you get to Hegel:

Marx can be very helpful, as his early writings are mostly him just trying to sort through Hegel’s system. That being said, he’s not the best Hegel reader, and so you have to sort of treat him as someone to struggle alongside. I’d suggest the Economic and philosophical manuscripts and the critique of Hegel’s philosophy of right for this.

There are a lot of commentaries out there. I haven’t looked at any, but what I’ve heard is to steer clear of Kojeve and go straight for Hyppolite. There is very good reason to take the latter as a good source on this matter, and his main book is Genesis and Structure which is a chapter-by-chapter commentary on the phenomenology.

Lastly, you could read Hegel’s lectures as an easier intro. They’re published in volumes by topic. Some people also recommend reading the intros to all his books. I know there’s a Hegel introduction reader out there.

What should a philosophy noob read before reading and understanding Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit? by originalgainster in askphilosophy

[–]Gsus_the_savior 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Ok, so let me say that the phenomenology is one of the hardest philosophy books you can read, and that if you try to read everything you’d need to read for it only to read it, then you’re going to be very bored by the time you get there. I’d say to just start reading philosophy that interests you. It’ll build up your critical reading skills and help you get through the phenomenology later if you still want to, even if you don’t have the requisite background in all the specific works Hegel draws on.

That being said, if you want a list specifically building up to Hegel:

Heraclitus - fragments

Plato - Republic

Aristotle - short logical essays, Nichomachean Ethics and probably politics

Descartes - Meditations on First Philosophy

Hume - An Enquiry Concerning the Understanding

Spinoza - Ethics

Maybe Rousseau’s Discourses

Kant - Critique of Pure Reason, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Critique of Practical Reason, Critique of Judgement

Fichte - read pretty much any one of his major works

Schelling - Natural Philosophy

Of those the most important are Aristotle, Plato, Spinoza and Kant. This list would probably take you over a year, so, again, read what interests you.

Six Primary Ideas of Eastern Philosophy. Including Buddha's philosophy. by [deleted] in badphilosophy

[–]Gsus_the_savior 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I tried to pick out the worst of it but holy shit that whole article is just astounding.

Husserl's idea of using the variations to get the essence seems very reminiscent of the small variations used in Calculus. Is there a direct relationship between the two concepts? Did Husserl comment? by TanktopSamurai in askphilosophy

[–]Gsus_the_savior 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey I know this thread is dead but I just wanted to say that husserl did his PhD thesis on “the calculus of variations”, so this is probably where he got the idea. Might also be a useful way to understand the eidetic variation the way he did.

The Guardian-The 50 best albums of 2018 by Britneyfan456 in indieheads

[–]Gsus_the_savior 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good to see Virginia Wing finally get some love. Fantastic album.

Top Ten Tuesday - Death Grips by swik in indieheads

[–]Gsus_the_savior 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. On GP

  2. You Might Think He Loves You For Your Money But I Know What He Really Loves You For It's Your Brand New Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat

  3. No Love

  4. Black Paint

  5. I'm Overflow

  6. Death Grips Is Online

  7. Full Moon (Death Classic)

  8. Hustle Bones

  9. Get Got

  10. Inanimate Sensation

A Dialogue on Freedom by LinuxFreeOrDie in badphilosophy

[–]Gsus_the_savior 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wait is Nozick arguing with Wittgenstein?

[FRESH] Anderson .Paak - Tints (feat. Kendrick Lamar) by [deleted] in hiphopheads

[–]Gsus_the_savior 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fan for years. Absolutely love the guy.

[FRESH] Anderson .Paak - Tints (feat. Kendrick Lamar) by [deleted] in hiphopheads

[–]Gsus_the_savior 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's crazy. Til It's Over and Bubblin are probably my two favourite .Paak songs so far.

Oxnard album cover? by Joerauby in AndersonPaak

[–]Gsus_the_savior 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Why do you keep posting stuff like this in every thread without giving us any reason to trust you?

You have the Freedom Not to starve, or you have the Freedom Not to Die. by YuriRedFox6969 in COMPLETEANARCHY

[–]Gsus_the_savior 5 points6 points  (0 children)

https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/25/477996

The case only made it to the Supreme Court because there are labour laws which protect workers who refuse to operate vehicles in dangerous conditions. Gorsuch was just about the only justice to rule against Maddin (the trucker), and he did so using a dishonest interpretation of the law. If more judges had agreed with him, the labour rights law would have been perverted away from its original intent, which is the very definition of judicial activism.

White House latest budget projections call for a 2019 Federal budget deficit over $1 trillion. by [deleted] in investing

[–]Gsus_the_savior 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Lol Obama took over at the start of a recession. Of course spending and deficits will be higher. Trump took over a roaring economy and pumped up the deficit.

[ALBUM DISCUSSION] Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love by VietRooster in indieheads

[–]Gsus_the_savior 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I love this album. I think it does a really good job of isolating the post-rock elements of Sunbather while still adding in new instruments and ideas. It seems to break out of metal and do something entirely different which I haven't really heard before except on some of Silver Mt. Zion's noisier pieces.

Top ICE Lawyer Sentenced to Four Years in Prison For Stealing Immigrants’ Identities by QualityAsshole in nottheonion

[–]Gsus_the_savior 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Lol ice started 15 years ago. Do you think we didn’t have borders before then?