Philosophorum

"I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." (Voltaire)
New to the forum? Start here. You'll find a nice introduction thread and a Help guide.

"Reality and I have a vague acquaintance with one another." (someone whose name escapes me)
Trying to make up for the lack of a proper shoutbox.

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" (John Lennon)
A motley collection of "nice to know" links.

"Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer" (James)
If there's a philosophical or spiritual question you've always wanted to know, we'll do our best to try and answer it!

"It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it." (Joseph Joubert)
Pragma-dialectic is a procedure developed to resolve differences in opinion, with a few rules designed to make sure an argument stays focused, and comes closer to a resolution.
This board is moderated so that debates only happen between two people at any one time.

Moderator: MC

Know of a thread that was dropped prematurely? Give it another lease of life here!

"The unexamined life is not worth living." (Socrates)
General chat about philosophy that doesn't fit anywhere better

"This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes." (Morpheus from `The Matrix`)
What is, what exists? If we exist, do our bodies also exist?

"I cannot help it that my pictures do not sell." (Vincent van Gogh)
What makes people like certain things they see, what inspires emotion about art and 'the arts'?

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? [Who will guard the guardians ?] (Iuvenalis)
Philosophy of politics, discussing different types of government and the philosophical backing for each

"Summum ius summa iniuria. [More law, less justice]" (Cicero)
Discuss the philosophical implications of recent laws.

"Those who promise us paradise on earth never produced anything but a hell." (Karl Popper)
If you could create an ideal state, how would it be run?

"We can understand almost anything, but we can't understand how we understand." (Albert Einstein)
Epistemology is the theory of knowledge, including what counts as knowledge and how we can justify our knowledge

"Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right." (Isaac Asimov, "The Foundation Trilogy")
What acts are moral or immoral and how do we tell them apart? What are the philosophical reasons behind them?

"Comedy is the last refuge of the nonconformist mind" (Gilbert Seldes)
Behind every laugh and joke lies a serious philosophical message. Come and explain what they are for you and why.

"The real purpose of the scientific method is to make sure nature hasn't misled you into thinking you know something you actually don't know." (Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance)
What is the scientific method, and why should it matter ? These things and more get discussed in here.

"All of physics is either impossible or trivial. It is impossible until you understand it, and then it becomes trivial." (Ernest Rutherford)
Discuss the latest findings in physics here.

"What people say, what people do, and what they say they do are entirely different things." (Margaret Mead)
The studies of society as a whole and their collective behaviour

Moderator: Gamling

"Philosophical problems arise when language goes on holiday" (Ludwig Wittgenstein)
The philosophy of language and how we word and structure things.

"A bad earthquake at once destroys the oldest associations: the world, the very emblem of all that is solid, has moved beneath our feet like a crust over a fluid; one second of time has conveyed to the mind a strange idea of insecurity, which hours of reflection would never have created." (Charles Darwin)
For people who love to be between a rock and a hard place.

"You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." (Clive Staples Lewis)
Talk about anything spirituality related that doesn't fit in our other boards.

"Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of 10 things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these 10 things he has a special place full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry for ever and ever until the end of time... but he loves you." (George Carlin)
Are you religious? Are you non-religious? Have a friendly discussion here.

"He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it." (Douglas Adams)
Links between lucid dreaming and spirituality are well known and spirituality-inspired dreams are rather common. Talk about them here.

"If I ever had an out-of-body experience -- I'd try to come back to a different one." (Tom Wilson)
This includes things like Astral Projection and Near-death experiences.

"I don't suffer from insanity - I enjoy every minute of it." (Anon)
For anything related to the mind and the way humans think.

"When in doubt, go to the pub." (marnix)
A "none-of-the-above" section for topics that don't fit elsewhere.