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good & evil
- Thread starter Lao Tzu
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havoc
Shaolin Ninja
How could anything originate out of its opposite? for example, truth out of error? or the will to truth out of the will to deception? or selfless deeds out of selfishness? or the pure and sunlike gaze of the sage out of lust? Such origins are impossible; whoever dreams of them is a fool, indeed worse; the things of highest value must have another, peculiar origin - they cannot be derived from this transitory, seductive, deceptive, paltry world from this turmoil of delusion and lust. Rather from the lap of Being, the intransitory, the hidden god, the 'thing-in-itself' - there must be their basis, and nowhere else."
This way of judging constitutes the typical prejudgment and prejudice which give away the metaphysicians of all ages; this kind of valuation looms in the background of all their logical procedures; it is on account of this "faith" that they trouble themselves about "knowledge," about something that is finally baptized solemnly as "the truth." The fundamental faith of the metaphysicians is the faith in opposite values. It has not even occurred to the most cautious among them that one might have a doubt right here at the threshold where it was surely most necessary.
For one may doubt, first, whether there are any opposites at all, and secondly whether these popular valuations and opposite values on which the metaphysicians put their seal, are not perhaps merely foreground estimates, only provisional perspectives perhaps even from some nook, perhaps from below, frog perspective as it were, to borrow an expression painters use. For all the value that the true, the truthful, the selfless may deserve, it would still be possible that a higher and more fundamental value for life might have to be ascribed to deception, selfishness, and lust. It might even be possible that what constitutes the value of these good and revered things is precisely that they are insidiously related, tied to and involved with these wicked, seemingly opposite things - maybe even one with them in essence. Maybe!
But who has the will to concern himself with such dangerous maybes? For that, one really has to wait for the advent of a new species of philosophers such as have somehow another and converse taste and propensity from those we have known so far - philosophers of the dangerous "maybe" in every sense.
And in all seriousness: I see such new philosophers coming up.
NIETZCHE
This way of judging constitutes the typical prejudgment and prejudice which give away the metaphysicians of all ages; this kind of valuation looms in the background of all their logical procedures; it is on account of this "faith" that they trouble themselves about "knowledge," about something that is finally baptized solemnly as "the truth." The fundamental faith of the metaphysicians is the faith in opposite values. It has not even occurred to the most cautious among them that one might have a doubt right here at the threshold where it was surely most necessary.
For one may doubt, first, whether there are any opposites at all, and secondly whether these popular valuations and opposite values on which the metaphysicians put their seal, are not perhaps merely foreground estimates, only provisional perspectives perhaps even from some nook, perhaps from below, frog perspective as it were, to borrow an expression painters use. For all the value that the true, the truthful, the selfless may deserve, it would still be possible that a higher and more fundamental value for life might have to be ascribed to deception, selfishness, and lust. It might even be possible that what constitutes the value of these good and revered things is precisely that they are insidiously related, tied to and involved with these wicked, seemingly opposite things - maybe even one with them in essence. Maybe!
But who has the will to concern himself with such dangerous maybes? For that, one really has to wait for the advent of a new species of philosophers such as have somehow another and converse taste and propensity from those we have known so far - philosophers of the dangerous "maybe" in every sense.
And in all seriousness: I see such new philosophers coming up.
NIETZCHE
HumorMe
New member
aurelius said:
Hey, call me simple. That is the way I live my life. I try and keep things simple because I can. When you start to make things complex, that is when difficulties set in. That's just the way I am and probably will never change because I see no need to. I live a very basic life and I make rational decision although occassionally I make a "spur of the moment decision" but they usually will not have a drastic effect on my well-being.
I don't know who came up with good and evil but if you read the Bible, I would say God did. That's just my opinion and you can call me a sheep because I am comfortable with it. It seems the Bible is playing a lesser role in society today.
aurelius
New member
You should move to Spain. This is their national motto! "Complicado" not only means complicated, but also has a strong negative connotation attached, in Spain anyways.
Easy man. No one´s calling anybody anything. (not me anyhow) besides, you can´t be comfortable being called a sheep, with the mindless idiot connotations that word holds.
This comment seems out of place.
I´ve said this before. I look at the evidence for "god" and I look at the evidence for the existance of humans (with their almost limitless capacity of imagination) and deduce where things like good and evil come from.
HumorMe
New member
aurelius said:
Not a sheep in the form that your thinking. I simply do my own thing and I don't let outside influences take charge. You have to understand I live a very basic lifestyle that I am truly comfortable with. That lifestyle involves being involved in my church and my belief in God. There are plent of detractors on this board and in this world who will call me a sheep and that is their opinion. I am very conservative although I can enjoy the finer things in life if I choose. The problem is I look at money a little different than most people do. It don't idol it or anything but I make reasonable decisions based on how hard it was to earn that money therefore denying myself the luxury of just buying what I want, when I want. The thing is though is that I want very little. Materialism is a form of religion I do not want to slip in to. Sure, I have a nice house, in a nice neighborhood and drive nice cars(not foreign or highstyle cars) just useful cars. I never buy new cars and I rarely buy new things at all. Hell, my house is over 100 years old. An example.....I talked to friend last night about buying his lawnmower for $600. It's a John Deere but it is several years old. I just don't see paying $4000 for a lawnmower. You can get through life on the simple things, you just have to have the ability to recognize what those simply things are.
We are bombarded everyday by advertiser and brainwashed into thinking that if you don't buy their product...you are not in the "in" crowd. People believe it too! I don't buy into this kind of reasoning. I keep things simple.
