Bertrand Russell’s book the conquest of happiness, far from being generic self-help, has a lot of meaningful things to say about the causes of unhappiness and happiness. From family to public opinion, Russell reflects on how many things in life either cause unhappiness or happiness. Here is my book review of conquest of happiness.
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In Power: a new social analysis, Bertrand Russell tries to establish a new fundamental concept for the social sciences. I have summarized the foundations of the book, and offer my insight as to whether someone should read this book or not. Here’s what I think.
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Bertrand Russell believed power would become the new fundamental concept of the social sciences in precisely the same way that energy is the fundamental concept for physics. However, Russell’s arguments fall tremendously short of being persuasive; they are inconsistent, impractical, and absurd. Here’s why.
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We often think of values like freedom, loyalty, and generosity as inherently good and preferable. However, when we take a closer look at these values, we can immediately recognize instances of freedom, loyalty, and generosity which are dysfunctional, unhealthy, and overall pathological. In other words, seemingly benign values can also be incredibly harmful. That is the point of this essay.
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Hunger can train our ability to focus; only because focus and hunger are both states to which we must willfully enter. We are instinctive eaters and easily distracted, so we infrequently endure hunger or focus. By learning how to withstand hunger, we can learn how to focus.
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What is a developed self? and how does one acquire a developed self? And what is the difference between self-development and regular development?
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People have reasons other than the ones which they assert for believing one thing rather than another. And those reasons can at times come from rational or irrational fears. In the case of nature and change, there are specific fears which can make us opt for one over the other. Lets explore those.
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Disagreement is like a two-sided coin. It is either a virtue or a vice, depending on whether we are the one’s disagreeing or someone is disagreeing with us. For all the acts we commit, disagreement is one which, in regards to whether it is a virtue or vice, we flip-flop around rather frequently. Disagreement, in other words, can reveal our vices.
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There are a lot of different opinions about what skepticism entails, and I believe a majority of them are misguided. Here is what skepticism should mean to you.
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One common response I see towards skeptics is dismissal. People often avoid skepticism and the conclusions it brings. There are a few reasons as to why that it is, and they range from psychological and personal to immature and unnecessary.
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Skepticism is both a philosophy and a way of life. But there isn’t one type of skepticism out there, and so there isn’t one type of skeptical life; a point all too often forgotten. Lets discuss that point.
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Science and meaning are nor compatible. Modern science takes a heavily empirical approach to knowledge, and as a result suffers in being compatible with non-empirical things, like meaning. Lets explain.
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Why is skepticism important for science? Because science without skepticism would have too many problems. Lack of innovation, bad dogma, and poor methods are just a few of the reasons why skepticism is important for science.
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I know nothing. And that is ok. Why? Because there is not really a good reason why we should know anything to begin with!
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What is ethical skepticism? How is moral skepticism similar to epistemic skepticism? And what are the differences between justified moral action and justified moral knowledge? Let’s discuss.
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What is skepticism? In general, skepticism is the attitude of doubt. However, skepticism is far more than just doubt. Depending on where it is being applied, and how it is being used, there are different varieties of skepticism. Let’s discuss
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Beauty can be many different things. But two specific things beauty can be are either ordinary or odd. Lets discuss each.
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There are two prominent schools of thought when it comes to categories. The first is prototype theory, the second is classical theory. They seem similar on the surface level, but are greatly different from one another. Let’s discuss how each answer the question of what a category is.
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Theories are intended to explain the reality before us. However, we often times have disagreements about which explanation is correct. I herein provide a solution to such disagreements by appealing to a generalist account of human cognition.
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Creativity is weird thing. It is whimsical, fickle and borderline ineffable. Creativity has a mind of its own.
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Nihilism gets a bad reputation in public life. There is a ugly stereotype of nihilism that just isn’t true. Nihilism is ok, and here is why.
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Ethics is a confusing topic, but it is made even more confusing when people who do ethics misunderstand their own positions on epistemology and truth.
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Dissatisfaction with one’s circumstances, that is what discontent is. But what should we think of that? Is discontent good or bad?
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Atlas is the physical embodiment of perfection. He encompasses the ideal traits of humanity and reveals to us their appearance in ordinary form. We have much to learn from Atlas
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Altruists are liars and unaware. Altruists are dishonest, deceitful, and manipulative. And egoists are honest, upfront, and self-aware. Despite the common narrative saying otherwise, we are all selfish, and that is ok.
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Solipsism is justifiable, but why? Are there any good reasons to deny solipsism? I think solipsism is ok, here is why.
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Why is philosophy so hard? The three primary reasons, I believe, are intangibility, universal scope, and universal application.
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Philosophy is important for many reasons, but here are 4 reasons why philosophy is important.
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Among the many challenges of philosophy, there are two of utmost importance: what is a rational life, and why should you live a rational life?
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Realism is spoken of at length in philosophy, but realism goes well beyond philosophy. Realism can be found in just about every branch of knowledge, and here’s why.
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Are all observations influenced by theory? Can beliefs be formed without bias? Is perception laden with theory? These are the questions which relate to the problem of theory-ladenness. And I believe we cannot answer any of them with epistemic certainty.
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We have a choice to be either internally or externally focused in our personhood. And although it is true that many choose to be externally focused, because we reward social conformity, there many reasons to be internally focused, nonetheless; we just have to be willing to tolerate the unease.
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What is a lie? Do all lies require an intentional element? How do we distinguish deception and omission from a lie? these questions, as simple as they are, don’t have simple answers. So, lets see what philosophers have to say about lies.
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Moral people have less friends, for a few reasons, of which are mentioned in this essay.
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A lot of people have flawed methods to derive their self-esteem. As such, I herein propose a better method to derive one’s esteem.
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3 reasons why self-awareness is important.
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People who argue that philosophy and science are different simply don’t understand science. There are two good arguments for why philosophy and science are the same. One comes from cognition and the other from method; I discuss them herein.
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How should we live life? For asceticism, the answer is simple. But to see how, we have to discuss: what asceticism is and the reasons to be ascetic, as well as the confusions about hedonism and asceticism. All that and more is discussed herein.
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Why take life seriously? Despite common beliefs, the answer is not obvious. Do we really have a good reason to take life seriously? And if so, are there any good reasons to not take life seriously? Lets think this through
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Beauty, the a marvel to ponder and a sight to see; beauty can be found in nearly everything. From mathematical formalisms to poetry of all sorts, beauty resides in multiple forms. But of the vastness of it all, beauty can be boiled down into two broad categories, of which I shall expound upon.
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Anxiety can be understood from numerous perspectives, but some of such perspectives fail to adequately characterize the experience of anxiousness its self. As such, I herein offer a literary analysis of anxiety, so that some may more thoroughly understand its nature.
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To be alive is to not only want fulfillment but is likewise to want pain. We lovers of life are lovers of pain as much as we are lovers of joy; we have a sickness. We willingly subject ourselves to periods of anxiety and pain, those dreadful low points of our lives, all so that we may experience the euphoric high of happiness. We are drug addicts.
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You don’t understand facts. In the west, we seem to think facts and values are distinct, but that is simply wrong. Here’s why.
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We all want love in life; to be yearned after, to feel welcomed, to be the opposite of rejected. But few of us know what love even looks like, yet alone what kind of love we so yearn for. So what be love?
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Life can be many things. But the thing which it be depends on the approach we take towards it. A confident person will take more risks and be more domineering over life, whereas the passive person will be more tranquil and consuming of life. There are also various combinations found in between. But what of a life wherein which we adopt a mature attitude towards being, what would that look like?
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A short essay on the necessity of making one’s self vulnerable in order to have a healthy, rich, and lasting relationship.
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The future of human social life is going to have more and more social media based interactions. Therefore, we need to develop a philosophy of social media. I attempt to develop such a framework here.
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Normative Philosophy: is it acceptable? Some think not; however, I argue otherwise in this post.
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We often conflate, in an ever so solipsistic fashion, our own view of the world for the world its self. There are reasons for such.
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At present moment, the world is on fire. Our innocence, industry, and future are being consumed by roaring flames.
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Life can be harsh on the human constitution; it can bring us to our lowest and likewise to our highest. But in doing so, we must ask, is life fair?
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What is creativity? Such is hard to say, but we can start with the drunken man who walks the streets at night.
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How do we know what science is? In general, every science follows a few essential principles; of which are observation, explanation, prediction, and falsifiability. These are the four principles that contribute to creating a science.
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Moral Philosophy has died in the west, and intellectuals killed it.
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There are two types of readers in the world; there are applied and pure readers. Each has their own purpose for reading, and each has their own pros and cons.
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Our society will face this problem soon, and so it is important to discuss now: should humans marry machines?
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There is a traditional view of love that perhaps nearly everyone is familiar with: namely, the love of a particular. Lets see why this view is wrong.
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The future is cannot bring us happiness, only the present can.
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Happiness in the future is a delusion, it only comes from present.
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University punishes critical thought and free intellectual thought, especially if its creative.
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Philosophy, when taken too literally, can create useless problems of metaphysics. Read how philosophy creates useless problems.
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Society is nothing but numbers to the eyes of higher ups
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the phenomenology of meditation, and what it teaches us about philosophy
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Humans, among many, are exemplary models of herd animals; we live in various social groups, assign one another social roles, and often follow a variety social mores and norms.
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Despite what one might typically think, not only are all human relationships chemically reinforced, but they are an act of self love. This is because our brains construct reality….read more.
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A short essay about the similarities found between a mind and a book.
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A short essay about edgar allen poe and the nature of existence.
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