Sublime Philosophical Crap Test

[dauer]

Salt,

I think he means, not so much about the answers as the way we come to those answers e.g. not about what is ethical so much as about how we come to our conclusions about right and wrong, if there is a universal right and wrong, etc.

--dauer

[Saltmeister]

Beliefs about how to approach beliefs?
Beliefs/Disbelief in absolutes and ultimate truth?

Is there a word for that . . . if there isn't I thought I might make one up . . . how about "meta-beliefs?"

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by Saltmeister

The rules but not the game itself? I'm not sure what you mean, Snoop. Examples?

Well salty, you may gather from this reply where my interest lies (based on a limited understanding of Eastern philosophy and an even more limited understanding of Western philosophy!)


Western philosophy seems to me to be not so much concerned with the nature of reality itself, but rather with the validity of speaking about reality. It asks not “what is true?” but “what does it mean to say that something is true?” – rather like dauer intimated I think. Western philosophers stand back and comment from the sidelines, rather than being in the middle of the game, where the experience and action is. It does ask fundamental questions, but focuses on teasing out clarity of meaning and expression. Its role seems to be limited to the application of rational thought to other topic areas, such as political philosophy, or the philosophy of religion, or art, or science...(lacking as it does its own subject area).


By contrast, Eastern philosophy has not become hived off from other areas of life, including as it does religion, sociology and psychology as an integral part of its subject matter. Eastern philosophies give expression to fundamental views about the nature of reality, hence it can retain real importance in people’s lives (whereas Western philosophy seems almost to be an academic pursuit). In terms of approach, it includes the analysis that one finds in Western philosophy, but also includes those of an experiential and intuitive nature, as one might expect with something grounded in “life as it is lived.”



s.