Down by the river yadda, yadda, yadda.

It's NOT a RAPE-VAN!

/it's a rape-van, dude

The meaning of life?

M-hmm. Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.

There, I hope that will save someone a few quid.

Devito?

Maybe with a little DeNiro thrown in.

The days in Europe are 24 hours long? I figured they would be on the metric system over there.

The love child of Danny DeVito & James Gandolfini maybe.

Obligatory

/RIP

42

To be is to do - Socrates.
To do is to be - Jean-Paul Sartre.
Do be do be do - Frank Sinatra

© did you bullshiat today? did you try to bullshiat today?

shpritz: Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.

It may not be special, but lots of people seem to have real trouble with these simple things.

/ not giving up fat.
// the rest of it? THIS!

Go download me a hoagie!

/Misses Chris Farley

FTFA: "It sounds like the perfect antidote to credit-crunch gloom..."

Seriously, is every freaken article from now on going to include something about the "credit crunch"?

I thought about going back to school for my mid-life crisis and thought about taking philosophy as a major. What do philosophers actually do; I mean, for money? I know there's a lot of ethics and logic involved that would probably be pretty handy in business today, but do they get hired? I think, even though their skills should be in great demand, they would be homeless without a girlfriend.

You can't call yourself a philosopher. That's like calling yourself the world's greatest chef. And if the world's greatest chef is a philosopher, then so are I.

Came here for Chris Farley-larity. Not disappointed.

I thought it was legit. But then again, I'm gullible.

/Philosophy major, not really getting a kick

He looks more like Tony Soprano mixed with a less-sunburned Tuco.

Ficoce: Many (most?) of the philosophers in academia (at least in the US) are hacks. Have you ever noticed that the only American school of philosophy is Pragmatism? This is not to say that there aren't good philosophers in the USA ... but a lot are what most philosophers originally were, i.e. amateurs (that is, they don't get paid for it). Here's my recommendation: if you're interested in philosophy, find a big fat one-volume history of philosophy. Read the whole thing. Then, if you're still interested, start reading some actual philosophers.

dionysusaur: shpritz: Well, it's nothing very special. Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.

It may not be special, but lots of people seem to have real trouble with these simple things.

/ not giving up fat.
// the rest of it? THIS!

Hehe, thanks. For you I can add one more piece of advice though: watch more Monty Python :)

Being a philosopher myself, I'm getting a kick....

Reading philosophy is like renting smartness. Eventually, though, you'll remember that you're an idiot. Visit Fark instead.

Alpine_Dino: 42

thanks, came here for that.

Well I was voted "Most Flawless Logic" in High School.

Which is a joke, because if something is Most FLawless, it shouldn't be any more flawless than "regularly flawless". Because Flawless is flawless.

Flawless.

Flawless? You sound like a stroke victim taking your queues from a dick in a neckerchief.

Fapinator: This is not to say that there aren't good philosophers in the USA ... but a lot are what most philosophers originally were, i.e. amateurs (that is, they don't get paid for it).

Originally were? You mean, scientists?
"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio..."

Hey, we're here to pick up the van, man.

This Sophie chick must be a real slag.

Fapinator: Ficoce: Many (most?) of the philosophers in academia (at least in the US) are hacks. Have you ever noticed that the only American school of philosophy is Pragmatism? This is not to say that there aren't good philosophers in the USA ... but a lot are what most philosophers originally were, i.e. amateurs (that is, they don't get paid for it). Here's my recommendation: if you're interested in philosophy, find a big fat one-volume history of philosophy. Read the whole thing. Then, if you're still interested, start reading some actual philosophers.

This.

Most academics are more interested in recitation of others' works than in creating new and insightful lines of thought. I studied under some outstanding professors who did a great job of telling what other thinkers thought, but when pressed to convey their own opinions on a topic, they had nothing. Maybe fear of being subjected to the same criticism they were doling out...?
Philosophy is, currently, little more than a study in semantics and rarely gets past the "defining the terms of the discussion" stage. Truth is, that once we've correctly defined our terms, we've pretty much solved the problem at hand.

19th century continental philosophy is where it's at ...
/professional bias showing through

Hey, he does look like Danny Devito!

flippity_01: Philosophy is, currently, little more than a study in semantics and rarely gets past the "defining the terms of the discussion" stage. Truth is, that once we've correctly defined our terms, we've pretty much solved the problem at hand.

Philosophy has now reached the stage of no longer being constructive. Now philosophy is edifying. The whole purpose, according to Rorty, is to simply have a stimulating conversation. Philosophy teaches a student how to learn for themselves and think critically. It is a method of vieweing the world, not a search for underlying truths.

vcoalition: Well I was voted "Most Flawless Logic" in High School.

Which is a joke, because if something is Most FLawless, it shouldn't be any more flawless than "regularly flawless". Because Flawless is flawless.

Flawless.

Maybe it should have been "Least Flawful?"

Immanuel Kant was a real pissant who was very rarely stable.

Dole Office Clerk: Occupation?
Comicus: Stand-up philosopher.
Dole Office Clerk: What?
Comicus: Stand-up philosopher. I coalesce the vapors of human existence into a viable and meaningful comprehension.
Dole Office Clerk: Oh, a *bullshiat* artist!
Comicus: Hmmmmmm...
Dole Office Clerk: Did you bullshiat last week?
Comicus: No.
Dole Office Clerk: Did you try to bullshiat last week?
Comicus: Yes!


/ Mel Brooks for teh win

Second thread I get to post this song!

Goin' down now

The mountain screamed three times today
I guess it thought i like to play
How much does one have to pay
To fry a peak and melt away
Launching titan's breath on mine
The sweating measure lands on time

And the old man, down by the river
Well he walks up and he walks on down
To the spaceship that's parked at your doorstep
And it's waiting to take you away now

Goin' down now

Looking for the rat that crowed
He's hooked up down to Mexico
Slap my nerve now, give me more
It's my disaster friend, not yours

And the old man, down by the river
Well he gets up and he walks on down
To the spaceship that's parked at your doorstep
And it's waiting to take you away now

It's down by the river, it's always this way now
It's down by the river, it's always this way now
Goin' down now, goin' down now

This dude adds to epistemology more than to ontology.

/$5 please

wattssw: flippity_01:
Philosophy has now reached the stage of no longer being constructive. Now philosophy is edifying. The whole purpose, according to Rorty, is to simply have a stimulating conversation. Philosophy teaches a student how to learn for themselves and think critically. It is a method of vieweing the world, not a search for underlying truths.

Rorty = flatus vocis. Although I do feel the hermeneutic circle closing in on me here, I hate general statements that begin "philosophy has reached the stage of ..." To me, that means "philosophy is nothing more than ...," which is incredibly reductive, and not true to the practice of reflective mindfulness.

flippity_01: Most academics are more interested in recitation of others' works than in creating new and insightful lines of thought. I studied under some outstanding professors who did a great job of telling what other thinkers thought, but when pressed to convey their own opinions on a topic, they had nothing. Maybe fear of being subjected to the same criticism they were doling out...?
Philosophy is, currently, little more than a study in semantics and rarely gets past the "defining the terms of the discussion" stage. Truth is, that once we've correctly defined our terms, we've pretty much solved the problem at hand.

double THISNESS.

/came here for 42 and python
//leaving more satisfied now that we have conversations that start with "P"
///de link, dee es haut:

I heart Huckabees, anyone?

Ficoce: I thought about going back to school for my mid-life crisis and thought about taking philosophy as a major. What do philosophers actually do; I mean, for money? I know there's a lot of ethics and logic involved that would probably be pretty handy in business today, but do they get hired? I think, even though their skills should be in great demand, they would be homeless without a girlfriend.



/philosophy major

42

shpritz:

Not sure that's even possible. Have memorized the entire opus up to (but not including) _Meaning of Life_. Watched that once, probably not going back for a long time.

/ On the plus side, the stepson is almost old enough to start watching - he loved _Life of Brian_.

Not a philosopher. No "s" in his name.

I wonder if he's working at McDonalds like most current philosophy majors. Hah :-P

inelegy: Not a philosopher. No "s" in his name.

Big whoop. Willard Van Orman Quine didn't have one either.

Ya know, figured I would go back to school for philosophy instead of fire science this time, but then I realized I should have a concrete way to rake in the money if I did. Had an idea along these lines but not one that involved driving in a van/living in it down by the river, more of a global intellectual property thingamabob. Maybe the time will soon be ripe...