From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Sun Sep 05 1999 - 00:45:30 MDT
Brian Manning Delaney wrote,
>> Logically, existence cannot have a purpose,
>> because teleology assumes an entity external to
>> the goal meta-system under consideration.
>
>Maybe, but an individual's life can't be argued on these grounds
>not to have a purpose (since there are things external to it).
I'd go further than that, and say that an individual's life can't be argued
not to have a purpose _on any grounds whatsoever_, because individuals can
decide for themselves the purpose of their own lives -- independent of any
external decrees.
But the statement about the purposelessness of existence itself nevertheless
remains valid.
>> I think Transhumanists become their own worst
>> enemies in proportion as they fail to transcend
>> philosophy to embrace science, especially the
>> science of subjectivity.
>
>Why?
>
>Seems odd, since science is a subset of philosophy.
Science a subset of philosophy?
I don't think so.
That sounds as preposterous as claiming electrical engineering as a subset
of alchemy -- or astrophysics as a subset of astrology.
Science means a system of knowledge subject to empirical verification.
Philosophy means the art of asking the wrong questions.
.--, .--,
( ( \.---./ ) )
'.__/o o\__.'
={= ^ =}=
> - <
<GRIN>"More than at any time in history mankind faces a crossroads. One path
leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let
us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly."
--Woody Allen</GRIN>
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