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Re:The Best Books on the Philosophy of Mind by foldr on Sunday March 18, 2018 @04:41PM (#16614197)
It's how you see things on the basis of never having read any philosophy. It's difficult to see the value in a subject that you know nothing about.
Re:The Best Books on the Philosophy of Mind by RivieraKid on Sunday March 18, 2018 @05:17PM (#16614392)
Whenever I looked into what most philosophers publish, I just saw vagueness, poor thinking and little value.

What's a philosophical problem or question (understandable by someone who hasn't studied philosophy) I would need a philosophy book to answer?

Re:The Best Books on the Philosophy of Mind by vanderZwan on Sunday March 18, 2018 @05:44PM (#16614581)
> Whenever I looked into what most philosophers publish

Oh, most philosophers even? So you have taken a good look at the field and have a grasp of the philosophical community and their methods of inquiry and communication?

> vagueness

If there is one thing I have learned because I switched from studying physics to studying contemporary art, is that when I consider something "vague", it often boils down to my own assumptions and premises. By the standard of what is considered the right way to acquire knowledge in physics, most art is "vague". But the problem is me insisting on judging it by those terms.

> poor thinking

To elaborate on my previous point: you cannot apply the lines of thinking of one field to the other and judge it by that without also putting in the effort of understanding the lines of thinking of that other field. I have my doubts as to whether you are not mistaken an unfamiliar way of thinking for poor thinking.

> little value

Well given the two before it, there is indeed little value for you. Then again, I don't read or speak Chinese, so even the most beautiful poetry bundle written in simplified Chinese would hold little value for me too.

Re:The Best Books on the Philosophy of Mind by leephillips on Sunday March 18, 2018 @08:36PM (#16615386)
Would it be wrong for someone to catch stray puppies and slowly torture them to death in his basement? Why or why not? Can you not only convince yourself with your answer, but others? And yes, ethics is a part of philosophy.
Re:The Best Books on the Philosophy of Mind by RivieraKid on Monday March 19, 2018 @05:24AM (#16617088)
Depends on how you define "wrong" exactly. It feels wrong to most people.
Re:The Best Books on the Philosophy of Mind by leephillips on Monday March 19, 2018 @08:12AM (#16617773)
Exactly. Good philosophers are careful with definitions. Do you think there's enough space on your one page to define your terms and reach a conclusion that would satisfy most reasonable people?
Re:The Best Books on the Philosophy of Mind by RivieraKid on Monday March 19, 2018 @10:50AM (#16618745)
Well, I wouldn't include ethics at all, I think it falls under biology, psychology, sociology.

The core of philosophy is basically understanding consciousnes, not too much else to it. But I guess one page was an exaggeration, let's say five.

Re:The Best Books on the Philosophy of Mind by leephillips on Monday March 19, 2018 @11:27AM (#16619098)
Those sciences don't touch upon what ethics is about, which is what is good and bad, right and wrong.

There is no "core of philosophy", and it's certainly not confined to "understanding consciousness". I'd have to agree with others here who have tried to admonish you that you're arguing from ignorance and being unserious, even if a great deal of what passes for philosophy is a waste of time. What about logic, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of language, ...?

Re:The Best Books on the Philosophy of Mind by RivieraKid on Monday March 19, 2018 @11:27PM (#16625817)
True, but this is where ethics logcally belongs to. It's just an aspect of human behavior and inner world.

Asking what is good or bad is like asking what is the definition of these words. Well, the definition is whatever we agree on. IMost people call "bad" the behavior, that triggers specific emotion of "wrongness".

I think that consciousness and closely related topics is the hard part, other things such as ethics or aesthetics have quite mundane explanations. Philosophy of mathematics nad language is somewhere in between.

Re:The Best Books on the Philosophy of Mind by foldr on Sunday March 18, 2018 @05:31PM (#16614495)
Did "looking into" it involve reading it or not?
Re:The Best Books on the Philosophy of Mind by RivieraKid on Sunday March 18, 2018 @05:36PM (#16614529)
It involved some reading.
Re:The Best Books on the Philosophy of Mind by marnett on Monday March 19, 2018 @01:51PM (#16620936)
What philosophers? What books?