(July 2, 2015 at 8:44 pm)bennyboy Wrote: I think the word "self" is interesting because we feel we know for sure it exists-- and yet don't really know what it is. As soon as you try to say "The self is X," you open a can of worms: people will disagree with the definition, or prove it's too simple or abstract, or whatever, or dig up special cases that contradict whatever you've said about it. In the end, the semantic storm leaves you wondering if there really is anything at the center of that storm or not.
It's kind of like "beauty" or "right" and "wrong." Those are all very real parts of our lives, and the words are definitely used meaningfully, and yet. . . hmmm?
Yes, even words with specific definitions can have subjective meanings that differ from person to person. After trying to think about what a self was for a few minutes, I came up with something like this, but I may edit this idea in the future while reading other’s ideas: I’d say that the self is an organism, that is conscious, and aware that he/she/it has control of one’s own ‘body’, and is aware that the he/she/it can affect the environment around their ‘body’, and be affected by it.
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' -Isaac Asimov-
