Ok. Welcome to the forum henry! If you stick around this place, I am sure we will end up acquainted with one another.

Welcome! Glad to have you here

theaetetus, yogi dmt: thanks for the welcome!


a little bit about me...

i'm old and bitter and mean-spirited

i have a fondness for a particular strain of existentialism (my own)

i have minor fixation on (fictional) 'free will' and (real) 'agency' (which is synonymous with the agent)

i think philosophizing is one of the great things about living

i think 'philosophers' are -- generally -- full of crap

i advocate for a 'free market' (nothing more or less than the unrestrained interactions of and between individuals)

i have little patience for clap-trap in any form (capitalist/socialist, anarchist/marxist, atheist/religionist, etc.: unmitigated bullshit)

i spent a fair amount of free time futzing around in the now-defunct mad philosophers forum

i'm hoping this place might serve as a decent replacement: lord knows, the net is full to overflowing with useless sites, each full to overflowing with useless folks

anything else of interest about me will, i'm sure, bubble up through conversation and debate

again: thanks for the welcome! --henry

We actually have a bunch of old, bitter, and mean-spirited members so you should fit in well here!

This forum is far from useless, and it is filled with mostly useful folks. The community is very good at policing itself, and most of the time the conversations carry on in very respectful manners.

"We actually have a bunch of old, bitter, and mean-spirited members so you should fit in well here!"

HA!


"...most of the time the conversations carry on in very respectful manners."

this is good...however: i hope civility -- as fine as it is -- doesn't blunt the fire of debate...a decent tussle is good for the soul...

Civility definitely does not blunt the fire of debate. It just allows conversations to grow and continue, rather than devolve into insults and all of that other stuff that plagues most Internet forums.

"It (civility) just allows conversations to grow and continue, rather than devolve into insults and all of that other stuff that plagues most Internet forums."

there was a fellow in mad philosophers by the name of xanthos (a rather strident communitarian) who took exception to my 'idiosyncrasy' (my quirkian existentialism)...we went to war often, with mixed results

certainly: i never convinced him of a thing...'course: my point in our conversations/debates/battles was never to 'convince' but merely to assert my 'self' as autonomous and individual

it got ugly from time to time

i admit: i'm fully capable of playing grendel and raging through the mead hall, but -- with advancing age -- i'd prefer not to

so: a nice balance will be a welcome change for me...

I was wondering when the beast would rear it's head again...

Good to have you here henry. He'll bring some balance to well, imbalance.

"I was wondering when the beast would rear it's head again..."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!


"Good to have you here henry."

liar...


"He'll bring some balance to well, imbalance."

well: all i really bring to the table is 'me'

that should be enough

come monday: i intend to dive in to the first 'free will' thread i can find

for now: we can all bask in peace and quiet...

Well, I look forward to your contributions Henry. Considering free will is one of those topics that I tend to stay away from, I will probably see you in other things that may pique your interest.

"Considering free will is one of those topics that I tend to stay away from"

i don't blame you one bit

'free will' is an abused and tired topic and one i wish could be put to bed

i think: when most talk about 'free will' they really mean 'agency'

i'll say no more here and fully lay out my case in the appropriate thread tomorrow

i'd do so today, but, i'm busy and distracted...tomorrow ought to be better for a little philosophizing


"I will probably see you in other things that may pique your interest."

yeah: the debate over 'free will/agency/determinism/ self-determinism' is just the tip of my interest...i expect to touch on many, inter-related, threads...

so, how do you like my contributions so far?

i thought about easing in with my perspective, but then, thought better

in for a penny, in for a pound, i suppose

being here -- and anticipating what's to come -- reminds me of that on-going battle i fought with the cog/communitarian...it was a heady war...he, the advocate for a kind of social democracy; i, simply asserting 'i will not submit'

finally, in my last exchange to him, i sent this:


...given half a chance i'd take every damn thing you have as my own: then shoot you in the head and dump your corpse in a ditch!

the only difference between you and me is i admit what i'm capable of...i don't dress my capacity for violence or acquisition in a pretty communitarian dress and call it 'ethical' or 'moral'

i claim no philosophical foundation...i only assert myself

you, however: hide behind a rousseau-ian notion wherein the individual is under implicit contract to submit his or her own will to the 'the will of the people'

in the exercise of this 'popular will': you, and those like you, would take every damn thing of mine, shoot me in the head, and dump my corpse in the nearest ditch!

i applaud your capacity for this: now, if you could just be honest about it...


*shrug*

anyway: the prognosis for me, in this place, looks 'good'...