Whether or not things exist

[Anomalocaris]

[quote='Micah' pid='303019' dateline='1340684986']
. I am not certain whether or not I exist. The self may be merely chemical and electrical reactions in my brain. I do not know whether or not I can trust my perceptions. What I say is possible, no matter how unlikely you believe it to be. And for you to deny the possibility of these things is pure arrogance and ignorance.

.......
I asked for people to recommend philosophers whose works I could read that pertained to the things I listed. I did not ask for opinions. I am the one who created this thread and his response had nothing to do with my question. It was wasted space. I do believe that he intended to be rude.

How do you know those philosophers actually exist? Perhaps his opinion of you is the only thing that actually exists, while your perception that there exist philosophies to clarify whether anything exist is actually nothing more than mere perception.

[Epimethean]

It's intriguing to me that I never said what he can and cannot post. I merely said that I am the one who created the thread and therefore am justified in determining if a response is rude or not. Not once did I say he cannot post. I merely called him out for posting in a thread that asked for philosopher references without even referencing a philosopher, but instead attacking that which I was interested about. To me, that is indeed rude.

To use your term for myself (a solipsist), why would I care whether or not my own mental projection (Creed of Heresy) is rude? That would indeed be a good question.

To those who actually referenced philosophers, I have ordered both of the Russel texts that y'all recommended and I eagerly await their arrival!

In the meantime, if you want to get cracking (I used to use the e-text for students. It has some minor problems with type and editing, but ...):

http://www.ditext.com/russell/russell.html

[jackman]

i'm still figuring out who is an asshole on here and who isn't (only been here a few months). but micah, you've been here since 2010, tho you haven't posted much, so i'd think you've noticed thru the years who they are. i don't know anyone on here personally but the majority of my initial guesses of who were jerks have proven (at least imho) to be wrong. thankfully, because i love laughing at demeaning comedy yet can't stand perpetually negative people. in the case of creed, it does seem that he was just supplying another view and not necessarily knocking you post. but hey, you're obviously free to think whatever you want, i just wanted to share.

[Welsh cake]

There are days when I feel like I don't exist.

Granted there is no me. Just a biological physical arrangement. A chemical process.

[Epimethean]

There are days when I feel like I don't exist.

Granted there is no me. Just a biological physical arrangement. A chemical process.

http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/00/...borg&i.htm

[Welsh cake]

http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/00/...borg&i.htm

I don't know enough about myself to comment. That might be addressing personality disorders.

I've lost the will to finish my sentences on the quiet...

[Adjusted Sanity]

The fact that I exist is the only thing I am truly sure of. Everything else, I'm 99% sure it exists.

[Light of Truth]

Jackman, yes, I have indeed been a member since 2010. I check this forum at least once a week, but I don't really post. I usually just try to find threads that are interesting and read what people say. Over the years, I have discovered that there are some very classy people on here who represent this forum extremely well. On the other hand, I have also discovered that there are some who are the opposite of classy and merely like putting others who have different opinions down while avoiding any intelligent conversation. And there is the middle ground between these two extremes. So, this forum, I guess, is like any other - full of all kinds of people.

It would be really cool if people didn't pretend that they knew what is true. I am a soft atheist because I think that god(s) 'probably' don't exist. I cannot prove that they do not and no one else can prove that they do. It comes down to probabilities. Christianity could be true. I don't think that it is probable, though. I would never say that a Christian (I'm using Christianity as a reference because most non-atheists/agnostics here are indeed Christians) is stupid, like a lot of people on here do. To deny that Christianity is possible would be ignorant and arrogant. To do so would require omniscience, which is not possible. Even if something is highly improbable, it is still possible.

Sorry for my rambling on. Lol.