Philosophy

Satyr and Pan

"It ain't no cereal brand, lil' buddy!"

Philosophy is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those concerning existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language.

"It's a wonder I haven't 
 abandoned all my ideals, 
 they seem so absurd and impractical. 

 Yet I cling to them 
 because I still believe,  
 in spite of everything,  
 that people are truly good at heart."

- Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

Lexicon

akrasia: state of acting against one's better judgment
altruism: actions undertaken for the benefit of other people
epistemology: a theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope, and the distinction between justified belief and opinion
hedonic treadmill: the observed tendency of humans to quickly return to a relatively stable happiness level despite major positive/negative events/life changes
hermeneutics: the branch of knowledge that deals with interpretation
maxim: a concise expression of a fundamental moral rule or principle
mimesis: mimicry; the imitation/representation of aspects of the sensible world, especially human actions
Occam's razor: problem-solving principle that recommends searching for explanations constructed with the smallest possible set of elements
ontology: the topic concerning the nature of being
phenomenology: the philosophical study of objectivity and reality as subjectively lived and experienced
qualia: individual instances of subjective, conscious experience
rationality: characteristic of thinking and acting optimally
teleology: a branch of causality giving the reason or an explanation for something as a function of its end, its purpose, or its goal, as opposed to as a function of its cause
telos: an ultimate goal
ubermensch: the one who seeks out hardship and creates new values
umwelt: the metaphorical bubble in which organisms experience the universe
wabi-sabi (侘寂): a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection/acknowledgement that nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and that nothing is perfect

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The World As I See It by Albert Einstein (Archive)

"Darling, stop being philosophical.
 It doesn't suit you, 
 it makes your nose red."

- Leonora Carrington, The Hearing Trumpet

Philosophy

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