#Deep-Thinkers

Philosophy done here

+Watch

Home

Group Info Group Founded 3 Years ago

Statistics 509 Members
7,921 Pageviews452 Watchers

Join our Group Send a Note

READ ME!

Joining

Free for all to join!

Press the join button on top.

Ettiquette

Respect all members and their beliefs and ideologies.

Respect copyright laws.

Ad hominem arguments strictly prohibited.

Non-English submissions will be declined.

Folders
Subjected to change if necessary.

The Featured folder is closed.

The Thoughtful Poetry folder is strictly for poems, songs and lyrics of thoughtful and philosophical nature.

The Day to Day Thoughts folder is for spontaneous thoughts, questions without answers, thoughts about relatively normal and usual occurrence.

The Quotations folder is for anything that is not your own words, and is quoted from somewhere else. Text and image files accepted.

The In Depth Thoughts folder is for thoughts that go beyond your daily blurb, thoughts that are insightful and relatively philosophical, but are less formal that the academically intensive.

The Academic Philosophy folder is strictly for well constructed, argumentative philosophy in regards to any topics under analytic and continental philosophy as well as formal logic. Your work does not have to be an essay but it must be evidently academic.

The Philosophical Visual Art folder is for any thought provoking visuals. Text art accepted (e.g. typography), but it must be in an image file format (.jpg, .png, etc).

Nota Bene

Opinions of individual submissions does not represent the opinions of the admins, nor the opinions of all members. Individual submissions reflect only the thoughts of the author. The group is cannot be held responsible for the beliefs of any individual author.

Gallery Folders

Featured

The Bits of Self-DestructionI tear myself to parts
I scratch the meat until it falls
Poisons hidden deep
Infect beings of the mind

I spread my chest wide open
To let fresh air leak through
In a web of twisted feelings
I seek sufficient truth

Injected with emotions
Confusion is sharply clear
Viruses probe relentlessly
The last remains of sanity

The override of brain
Heat emanates from its skin
Failing system cycles through
The bits of self-destructionThe Bits of Self-Destruction by ~Elendurwen

Childhood DepartsHis Little Princess had now departed
She was lay face down in a tranquil pond
The dead water of which was her worries
That he tried so hard to rescue her from

The lead weight of life and her memories
Had dragged her down to new depths and held sway
Bringing her to that body of water
In which her callow body was now lay

His Little Princess had now departed
Her vapid throne vacant for evermore
Father passed her the key of his wisdom
Too afraid was she to open the door

Had she hung on a little while longer
She would have seen there was a better place
That her childhood was just a stepping stone
Towards a life that is far less debased

His LitChildhood Departs by *Rifle1980

Then they pull a chandelier from a walnut... by ~bionomi

If I Die Young by ~DemonicBlackCat

Featured

Thoughtful Poetry

A Dark Artist's HeartNow take me down to my dark and sombre place
So I can write woeful words such as this
But don’t leave me there to give life to my thoughts
As I’m cursed with such soft and slender wrists

And hands that are capable of mastering
The medicine bottles infant safe lock
No more than three a day the prescription says
I peel off the label and down the lot

Now take me down to my dark and sombre place
Where skies are as black as a raven’s wing
And with no potential to spread them out wide
With my meek, melancholic offerings

Just a pin prick of light in the sable sky
Like the raven’s eye within its feathers
And as it blinks moA Dark Artist's Heart by *Rifle1980

Belief.Belief.

I’d rather believe in something,

Rather than to believe in nothing.

Because to believe in nothing implies there is no purpose.
It implies that there is nothing below or above the earth’s surface.
It suggests that there is no advanced assistance and that our existence
Can be revoked in an instant, despite our apparent spiritual commitments.
It would mean that mankind will not be punished for all their wrong doings.
And that living a good honest life will not grant you a shoe in
To something that is not indefinitely there
And that it was us who made this world unfair.

But if you believe there is something greater in pBelief. by *KelaLewis-Morin

BeautyBeauty is existence;
all creation: beauty.
Terrifying or cold
or cute, fuzzy, and warm.
Sharp, crystal-clear, discrete
or strong, yet ill-defined.

Oh, what beauty in pine -
sharp green points pierce heaven.
Yet the great oak is more:
strong, study, seasonal.
Yet a leaf, inspected:
a tree, a world, alone.

Growth? Pah! says architect.
Beauty cannot be changed;
grow, shrink, change, die with time.
A stone, carved, will endure.
Intent still for all time:
Unchanging, perfect, pure.

Fundamental beauty
lies in the building blocks
of stars, and brains, and us.
The small are eternal,
perfect, constant, lovely;
understood, beyond us.

Beauty is wBeauty by ~HighLobsterJasper

The Outlook Is BleakOh, woe is me, the outlook is bleak
As bleak as the moors in the midwinter
As bleak as the balsa wood splinter
That’s imbedded deep in to my finger

As I run my calloused hands softly
Over your recently polished casket
Bow my head beneath the church steeple
Dismiss thoughts that are iconoclastic

Oh, woe is me, the outlook is grim
My routine’s based solely on surviving
Goodness me, my ambition’s been crushed
While their great expectations are rising

Just like the high rise, brutalist flats
And the tormented tenement buildings
A concrete encapsulated fate
Scrapes the skies of the dreams of my children

Oh, woe is me, the ouThe Outlook Is Bleak by *Rifle1980

Thoughtful Poetry

Quotations

RIP Roger Ebert by ~rationalhub

Simone de Beauvoir on morality.. by ~rationalhub

Soavist Quote: HumanityYou see the troubles of life will never dissipate, no matter how hard we as humans try- it would take an eternity to quell the troubles we have in each moment of our lives, and in that entirety we will surely gain far more troubles, so my advice to whoever is reading this, is to not worry and march through- your life is but what you make of it, should people push you down, trample and stone you- you have it in you to march on through, should it be a rape of the body, mind or emotion; you still have it in you to march on through, and in regimented form too.
We as a race are strong especially when we are weak; we can overcome anything- includSoavist Quote: Humanity by ~ShadowsOfAVorlon

Rebecca West on faith.. by ~rationalhub

Quotations

Day to Day Thoughts

Philosophy Friday #10 ~ WillpowerSo once more I'm late on posting this but I was enjoying the prospect of a few weeks without needing to worry about classes.
So I finally made it. Ten philosophy posts since I started doing this. It may not seem like much but to me it is a big deal.
So I was thinking about how I'm able to commit to thinks and finish them. Some would say you simply do it. However I don't necessarily think this is the case. It is willpower that allows us to do or not do something. My bigger thought here is can we teach someone with poor willpower to make better use of it.
Take for example these philosophy posts I do. Though I've skipped weeks here and there or post late. I do work throughout the week on coming up with the topic I will do for my next one. This has no benefit to me other than being a weekly mind exercise to strengthen my thought processes. So what gets me to work on it the way I do. I won't say willpower per say but it is something of the sort.
Okay, lets go to something that might correlaPhilosophy Friday #10 ~ Willpower by *damekage

Edward Snowdenhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/jun/09/nsa-whistleblower-edward-snowden-interview-video
Watch that video.
This guy pretty much crushed the Governments plans of complete domination over your privacy.
Pardon this man!
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/pardon-edward-snowden/Dp03vGYD
Three weeks ago, Edward Snowden lived a comfortable life in Hawaii with his girlfriend making six figures as a contractor for the NSA. Now, he he's given that all up, facing exile, jail and even assassination to expose the U.S. government's spying programs and save democracy, becoming one of the biggest whistleblowers in American history.
He is 29.Edward Snowden by ~WhiteDarkDragon2

Meet the NSA Whistleblower Edward SnowdenThe 29-year-old source behind the biggest intelligence leak in the NSA's history explains his motives, his uncertain future and why he never intended on hiding in the shadows.
The individual responsible for one of the most significant leaks in US political history is Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former technical assistant for the CIA and current employee of the defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. Snowden has been working at the National Security Agency for the last four years as an employee of various outside contractors, including Booz Allen and Dell.
The Guardian, after several days of interviews, is revealing his identity at his request. From the moment he decided to disclose numerous top-secret documents to the public, he was determined not to opt for the protection of anonymity. "I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong," he said.
Snowden will go down in history as one of America's most consequential whistleblowMeet the NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden by *KeldBach

MonsterInner beauty is delusional.
Humans are all filthy on the inside.
They sugar-coat the reality to cover up their heinous true selves.
Even though we label things like frankenstein, vampires, werewolfs, etc. as monsters; in reality, the only real monster is outselves.
We always gloss over words, because we feel that it'll lighten our guilt.
But even though, it's still there.
The things we did could never be erased even if you're the only one to know of it.Monster by ~Kuesuke

Day to Day Thoughts

In Depth Thoughts

Pray the gay-hate away(Ron walks in the park, when he comes across someone carrying a ‘’god hates fags’’ sign)

Ron: What’s that about?

James: I’m here to protest the horrible sin that is homosexuality!

Ron: But there’s nothing wrong with being gay.

James: Of course there is, the Bible says that being gay is an abomination (Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13).

Ron: It also says that people shouldn’t work on the Sabbath, shouldn’t cut the hair on the sides on their head (Leviticus 19:27), shouldn’t wear clothing of different fibers (Deuteronomy 22:11) and so on, but we never see Christians protest those things.Pray the gay-hate away by ~ResponsibleAtheist

What is grace?What is grace?
Too many of us think that God's grace is a shield that indemnifies us against the consequences of our sins.
God's ability to forgive is infinite, however grace is not a shield.
Grace is a bone saw.
"If your eye causes you to sin it is better to pluck it out than to continue sinning."
Grace is a spiritual amputation of a piece of your soul infected by the gangrene of iniquity.
God's ability to forgive is infinite, however is the individual's ability to receive grace likewise infinite? How many graces can a person receive before the soul-body ceases to function?

I will show how this is the truth in Chapter 5B of "Worth 1000 WordWhat is grace? by *BlessedHeretic

Philosophy Friday #8 ~ PeaceOnce more I missed the post on Friday. Sigh, this time it was because I was playing a boat load of League of Legends yesterday and didn't do much else.
Okay, at the risk of sounding like a tree hugging hippie I'm openly saying that actual peace should be a world goal. I'm not talking about some nuclear stand off causing peace; but true, honest peace.
Why is this? Some might ask. To them I have to say it is because as I have studied history for high school and then college; I have come to a realization about the major things that cause dislike and strife amongst people.
Some of the largest ones are religion and culture. To many this may no seem like a big deal but it is. Most of our current world conflicts basically come down to these two things.
I believe in God a higher power that created and loves us. Now don't let that confuse you. I'm not an overly religious person; more because of the fact I think religion as an institute is broken.
That is a personal matter however. I had to takePhilosophy Friday #8 ~ Peace by *damekage

Philosophy Friday #1 ~ Defining OurselvesSo the other day I was listening to a podcast that talks about a variety of subjects mostly pertaining to scientific or philosophical subjects. In this podcast they were talking about some different questions that have basically taken over peoples lives; they felt dedicated to find the answers to what kind of history these partial stories they had could reveal to us.
One of these was talking about an ancient trash heap in which a variety of documents were found. One of these documents mentions the Trojan war; but not the story we so commonly know it was from the viewpoint in which the Trojans won the war and the Greeks fled. This document basically states that at times a true hero can be defined by his choice to run away from a hopeless battle. The people discussing this in the podcast mention that seeing even back then that the way heroes where defined was inspiring even hopeful.
This train of thought led me to think about the way we define ourselves within society.
The anti social shPhilosophy Friday #1 ~ Defining Ourselves by *damekage

In Depth Thoughts

Academic Philosophy

The Study of Fetal Psychology and BehaviorA woman’s womb is a private and mysterious cocoon, a place shared from a mother to her offspring. To some men and women it may seem like an automatic process, a way of producing a new life. To some others it’s something short of mere inconvenience and nowhere close to a “miracle”. Regardless of the modern science and technology we have today to help us understand what goes on inside this strange part of humanity’s life point, people still believe that a baby is only active once it is out into the world. In reality there is so much happening we just can’t see with our eyes alone. In only a brief span of yeaThe Study of Fetal Psychology and Behavior by =Dia-Linn

The failure of the Cosmological argumentI haven´t written anything in a while, so I decided to write this both as a mental exercise and because my watchers are probably wondering if I´m still alive :). But it’s also something important I want to give my thoughts on.

We’ve all heard of the cosmological argument, one of, if not the, most common arguments for the existence of a god. For those who don’t know, this is how the argument goes:

1. Every finite and contingent being has a cause.
2. A causal loop cannot exist.
3. A causal chain cannot be of infinite length.
4. Therefore, a First Cause (or something that is not an effect) must exist.

The first problem lies The failure of the Cosmological argument by ~ResponsibleAtheist

The Ontological ArgumentToday I would like to talk about the Ontological argument for God's existence. There are many versions of this argument, so I'll only talk about the version proposed by Alvin Plantinga. His argument goes like this:

1. A being has maximal excellence in a given possible world W if and only if it is omnipotent, omniscient and wholly good in W; and
2. A being has maximal greatness if it has maximal excellence in every possible world.
3. It is possible that there is a being that has maximal greatness. (Premise)
4. Therefore, possibly, it is necessarily true that an omniscient, omnipotent, and perfectly good being exists.
5. Therefore, (by axiThe Ontological Argument by ~ResponsibleAtheist

Zeno of Elea: His Worth in the ClassroomMany important philosophers and people are frequently spoken of in various textbooks that are used throughout the world. Regardless of how much some of these people have influenced history, many of them are not taught in the schools of the world. One of these unknown people was a philosopher, the best of the Eleatic school in ancient Greece, named Zeno. His life influenced thinkers after him that have affected how the human race views the world.

At the start of and before Zeno's life, Greece was in a time of war against the Persian armies. King Darius I, the ruler of Persia at the time, was wanting to punish the Greek city of Athens at the tZeno of Elea: His Worth in the Classroom by ~ron953

Academic Philosophy

Philosophical Visual Art

White Lie by ~RushAndRuleIt

.Butterflies. by ~GaiaTempe

The Window by ~DroogDan

Human!Bjorn by *MzyLeRouge

Philosophical Visual Art

Affiliates

Now accepting Affiliates!

Prompt: Punishment

by `justMANGO, Jul 16, 2012, 12:38:50 PM
Journals / Personal

I've spend a little time in a class talking about the ~~metaphysical~~ status of punishment, and here's a bunch of questions that came up. You don't have to think about all of them.

What is punishment, besides being the obvious, namely, a negative consequence of a socially/legally unaccepted act?

What is the purpose of punishment? Is it retribution? Is it to make the person receiving the punishment feel regret and resentment for his/her action(s)? Is it to defer him/her from further action? Is it to defer the rest of society from committing the same or similar acts?

Is punishment justified? Is it moral to deprive people of privileged and freedom as punishment? Is it moral to inflict harm to someone who's done ultimate evil? (Is there ultimate evil?) Are there any moral grounds for capital punishment?

13 Comments

More Journal Entries

Group Info

This is a group for all thinkers engaged in philosophical inquiry. If you've caught yourself thinking, or asking "why", then you are in the right place. This is a place to ponder, so unleash your deepest thoughts.