Great British Religion.

[A Lost Iguana]

whapcapn

Reading the bible is not a waste of time. If I didn't read the bible, I'd have no argumentative ammo to throw at the thiests.

A good biblical theist would use the "Satan can quote scripture" line (Matthew 4:6) from the Bible back at you. They have that caveat in reserve; quite devious, if I may say so. You see, if you can find contradictions in the Bible, or use scripture as not intended, then they can just assert that the Devil is working through you, thus, neutering your argument (in their eyes).  

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Invictus_88

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Existentialist? Are you sure you don't mean Solopsist?

If you're existentialist you must believe in radical freedom, then.

Solipsism is too extreme and too narrow. Existentialism is also a looser term and so more easily applied to my thoughts.

Not radical freedom really, great degrees of freedom though.

Well, could you clarify, please?
We've got the world expert in Existentialism in our department, and so we are a bit proud:

Solopsism = How do we know the world exists? We can't, because it relies on our sense that can be fooled.

Exestentialism = You are nothing. To say "That's the way I am" is to be acting in bad faith. You can be whoever you want to be, but also once you're that person you are acting in bad faith.

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No offence to buddhists- but I wouldnt consider that a religion, more a way of thinking and a way of life. You dont pray or worship or anything, you just try to have a completely pure life, and to acheive what buddha acheived, and reach enlightenment.

Well done, we don't worship anything, apart from ourselves (kind of)
If you don't consider it a religion, fair enough.

Thing that springs to mind right now are two things:
1) Due to be Buddhism, I believe all religions are equally valid, hence why I tend to refer to it as a religion
2) It stemmed from Hinduism, which is a religion.

I'm not trying to argue, merely express my thoughts out loud.

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You see, if you can find contradictions in the Bible, or use scripture as not intended, then they can just assert that the Devil is working through you, thus, neutering your argument (in their eyes).

and yet fundamentalists tend to ignore the possibility that they're guilty of exactly the same thing...

Sorry, I don't particularly like fundamentalists.
But, if they're tolerant, and take all of the Bible as true (rather than the parts that prove their point) then it's forgivable.  

[Invictus_88]

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Invictus_88

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Existentialist? Are you sure you don't mean Solopsist?

If you're existentialist you must believe in radical freedom, then.

Solipsism is too extreme and too narrow. Existentialism is also a looser term and so more easily applied to my thoughts.

Not radical freedom really, great degrees of freedom though.

Well, could you clarify, please?
We've got the world expert in Existentialism in our department, and so we are a bit proud:

Solopsism = How do we know the world exists? We can't, because it relies on our sense that can be fooled.

Exestentialism = You are nothing. To say "That's the way I am" is to be acting in bad faith. You can be whoever you want to be, but also once you're that person you are acting in bad faith.

Right, I'm only a prospective Philosphy undergraduate so I'll respond tentatively.. (..and who is the world-expert in Existentialism?)

Solipsism always struck me as stronger than your definition. A Solipsist would say not that we cannot know if reality exists, but that it does not. That it is just a projection of the consciousness.

I may be wrong here too, but I thought that it was only Sartre who spoke of mauvaise foi and it's place in Existentialist thought. It would be wrong to take his word as applicable to all Existentialism becuase he denied the existence of God where other perfectly valid Existentialists argued to reconcile Theism with Existential thought.

Existentialism does not deny any real existence, it says that as everything is defined by the individual statements which attempt to the objective are almost without value. What we see to be real is simply interpretation through our senses.

Existentialism maintains that it is still of some value, Solipsism states that not only is it without value but it doesn't even exist.  

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Invictus_88

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Invictus_88

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Existentialist? Are you sure you don't mean Solopsist?

If you're existentialist you must believe in radical freedom, then.

Solipsism is too extreme and too narrow. Existentialism is also a looser term and so more easily applied to my thoughts.

Not radical freedom really, great degrees of freedom though.

Well, could you clarify, please?
We've got the world expert in Existentialism in our department, and so we are a bit proud:

Solopsism = How do we know the world exists? We can't, because it relies on our sense that can be fooled.

Exestentialism = You are nothing. To say "That's the way I am" is to be acting in bad faith. You can be whoever you want to be, but also once you're that person you are acting in bad faith.

Right, I'm only a prospective Philosphy undergraduate so I'll respond tentatively.. (..and who is the world-expert in Existentialism?)

Apparently it's Proffessor Cooper. He's cool.
You can see him in his office in the afternoon, just staring out of the window, smoking a pipe.
If you ask him what he did that morning he'll respond with something like "I wrote a small thesis this morning"

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Solipsism always struck me as stronger than your definition. A Solipsist would say not that we cannot know if reality exists, but that it does not. That it is just a projection of the consciousness.

I think Solopsism is meant to be more scepticism than outright immaterialism.

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I may be wrong here too, but I thought that it was only Sartre who spoke of mauvaise foi and it's place in Existentialist thought. It would be wrong to take his word as applicable to all Existentialism becuase he denied the existence of God where other perfectly valid Existentialists argued to reconcile Theism with Existential thought.

I don't know too much about it, frankly. In fact, I think I only managed to go to the lectures about Existentialist ethics, rather than the philosophy as such.  

[mildredalien]

I'm a firm atheist - I don't believe that there is one (or a few) all powerful being(s) that created the world, rule it, and that we should follow or bow to.

Existentialism, Solipsism - are they religions? i don't know much about them but they sound interesting... I do enjoy learning about religion. Helps me confirm my own beliefs.  

[dreaming_mouse]

I was bought up a catholic but I'm an agnostic which so pisses my mum and nan off. Apparently you're a moron if you don't believe in god - I say you're a moron if you don't let people choose for themselves 3nodding  

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Well, Existentialism and Solopsism are schools of thought. I was wondering why Invi mentioned it, and as such was wanting to clarify.

Solopsism isn't really a religion, because it says absolutely nothing about religion.  

[boy_no_13]

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Well, Existentialism and Solopsism are schools of thought. I was wondering why Invi mentioned it, and as such was wanting to clarify.

Solopsism isn't really a religion, because it says absolutely nothing about religion.

Theyre philosphical theories as well, I like what I know of existentialism, but only when it is humanistic.

(Isnt it solipism, from the Greek sola ipse- I alone)  

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I don't know why Solopsism is called that, but:
1) The Matrix is heavilly dependent on it
2) I had been getting it mixed up with Existentialism for years (I thought: Existentialism = about existence of reality, and as such mistook it)  

[Shadow of an Illusion]

Ive always thought of religion as a set of beliefs followed by a couple of people. So in my definition solophism could be a religion since you beive that nothing may be as it seems and may live parts of your life differently because you think that.

On a side note I like confusing my friends with it. Adding a random "but how do you know we exist" always confuses things. But I try not to think about because I have been known to be unable to stop thinking about it. Which isnt good if you are trying to get something done.  

[wodewose]

Druid  

[Gaulia]

[ Message temporarily off-line ]  

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Just want to say: According to the census, we're getting more diverse, not more secular.  

[Gaulia]

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Just want to say: According to the census, we're getting more diverse, not more secular.

The census is carried out regularily, I'm talking about over a larger period of time.
Ultimately, we are growing increasingly secular. Sure, this can't be the case always, there's going to be the occasional times when the numbers go up.
Think about what it was like in Britain even a hundred years ago in terms of religion, then think about today. The further you go back, the more religious it tends to become.  

[Nebelstern]

Ah the census. I had to trawl through entire rolls of census-film at the Essex Records Office in January for work experience. My THAT was fun. neutral