If there is life after death, then we must be dead before we’re alive, in which case everyone who is alive has been reincarnated.

I’ve been reading “The Philosophy Gym” by Stephen Law. I recommend you do the same, if you want a nice gently intro to some common philosophical arguments. Here’s an email I just to the author.
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I got visited yesterday morning by two Jehovas Witnesses (JW). Admittedly it WAS a Saturday morning I DID have a hangover and it was pretty much the ONLY day of the week that I am allowed to sleep in, so this post might be a little biased. However, I try to afford everyone the maximum respect that is due to anyone, regardless of what they are trying to say or the actions they have taken.

I knew they were JW as soon as I opened the door and admittedly a slight sinking feeling settled in as I really wasn’t in the mood. But I have an open mind about this sort of stuff, so I let them talk to me. Had Si (my housemate) opened the door, then I’m fairly certain a couple of expletives would have been uttered whilst the door slammed rapidly back.

On the face of it, the guys were very pleasant. The main man doing the talking (John) was a very gentle, well spoken man, who outwardly did not immediately put me off. Probably a good thing.

He started by asking me a question, which sadly, given my hungoveredness, I didn’t actually catch. However, the gist, I think, was “Do you think fair and moral politicians exist?”. He was referring specifically to recent events overseas (Afghanistan War, Iraqi War etc) and was trying to question whether or not these actions were justified.

He spoke for about 15 minutes before he told me he was a JW (not that he had to do that). He quoted a few sections from the bible, which to me seemed like the most obscure and out of context passages possible, I forget where from, but nevertheless. He spoke of how the Bible said man should never use our tools as weapons against others.

Had I been a bit more compus mentus I might have asked him what he thought about those who used their weapons against us. But I didn’t, in fact, I really just let him talk. Which is probably a good thing seeing as I hold quite a sceptical perception of this sort of thing. And the fact that I have been reading a lot of Philosophy recently (in particular, “Does God Exist?”) [see previous blogs] so I probably could have had quite a decent argument with him about it.

I wasn’t in the mood though, but after they had left, I did get to thinking.
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I’ve been reading quite a lot of philosophy recently. No major reason, just an interest of mine. I’ve been reading on many interesting topics, discussions such as time travel, relativism, why we’re here, how was the universe created etc etc.

It seems there actually are no answers. To anything. Ever. The reason is this.
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Who is the “bigger” person?

a) Someone who has a go, gives it their best shot and admits defeat
b) Someone who doesn’t bother because they know they’re going to fail?
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Heh! What about that for a question! I don’t even intend to try and begin to answer it, it’s just not worth it. But you often have to beg the question, don’t you? What on earth (no pun intended) is the reason for us being here, being alive, getting on with our daily lives, so that in however many years time we can just not wake up one day and realise there was no point whatsoever. You may have sensed that no I do not believe in an afterlife (I mean this life is rubbish enough without having to endure more of the same for all eternity). For people of the same opinion as me, it surely must really bend your mind?

WHY are we here?

More importantly, does anyone care? What difference would it make if we knew why we were here? Would we do anything differently? Fatalists would say no, cynics would say yes, I’d probably say “ach, whatever”.

So.

Ach, whatever.

What is it with life being up and down and up and down (vaguely reminiscent of The Streets, but not quite…). One minute you’re invincible, the next you’re so depressed the blog takes a hammering. The next minute you’re on an even keel; you could flip either way, then you’re down and all of a sudden you couldn’t be more above.
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How do you write philosophically? Or scratch that, how is it possible to keep your mind sufficiently exercised that you are able to continue to think critically and rationally about new and/or old subjects?

I am sure this is a problem that vexes everyone, not least bloggers.

Most of the time I feel like my mind is on overdrive as new, bigger, better questions spring into my mind which permanently gives me something to ponder, heck, maybe even blog.

It’s the silence that is worrying. A philosophist who is silent? Satisfied? Content.

I don’t think so.

Is there *any* point whatsoever in not being truthful? Or at the very least, being economical with the truth?

For example, you ask a simple question; you expect a simple answer. Look at it from a relationship perspective, if someone asks you if “you like them” i.e. are you interested in furthering things and you have absolutely no interest, what is the point in skirting around the issue in an attempt to give a non-descript, slightly wayward non-committal answer?
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You decide. Which argument makes sense:

A form is submitted to one part of a company, whose responsibility is to check it, then before a certain deadline, submit it to another department in the same company for processing.

In this instance, the form was submitted on time to the first department was then tardy, meaning department no.2 could not process it in time, meaning end result of submitting the form was delayed.

Argument no.1:

I don’t care which department screwed up, the company itself is at fault and I will therefore shout at department no.2 since they are customer relations point. The justification that they had not received the form is meaningless since I don’t care about their internal procedures; I just want my form processed in a timely manner. Instead of justification they should apologise profusely and explain how they will rectify the situation.

Argument no.2:

Department no.2 was not at fault since they did not receive the form on time. Therefore I will speak politely to the department 2, explain my grief and attempt to get hold of department no.1 who will not speak to the outside world and in which case, my frustration at the companys screwup will likely go unnoticed.

Which is the right argument?
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