[Edmaster]

Can you explain why and quote some extracts of your favorite philosopher book ?

I love the philosophical point of view in "Beyond good and evil" from Nietzsche :

"Madness is the exception in individuals but the rule in groups".

“One loves ultimately one's desires, not the thing desired.”

[RatInTheWoods]

Its got to be Nietzsche because he is a hardass and tough loves you into not being a pussy.

“Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'.”

[Jones]

Nietzsche for sure. The man questioned everything there is to know, and all those that came before him, and sought out the truth behind everything we can possibly know. From tearing down a broken religious system, his own homeland's national identity, and also by tearing down the morality of his time. Above all, he writes of the most powerful source of energy on earth that has to the power to create and destroy: our will.

There are too many quotes so I'll just throw out a random one from one of my favourite's, his Genealogy of Morals, with it being Sunday and all, it will deal with Christianity.

“Dante, as it seems to me, committed a crude blunder when, with a terror-inspiring ingenuity, he placed above the gateway of his hell the inscription, 'Me too made eternal love'--at any rate, there would be more justification for placing above the gateway to the Christian Paradise and its "'eternal blessedness - 'Me too made eternal hate' - granted of course that a truth may rightly stand over the gate to a lie!"

Camus is another:
“There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide” – Albert Camus. From The Myth of Sisyphus.

Heidegger:
"If I take death into my life, acknowledge it, and face it squarely, I will free myself from the anxiety of death and the pettiness of life - and only then will I be free to become myself."

see also:
When in a lecture, in 1961, Heidegger was asked how we might recover authenticity, he replied tersely that we should simply aim to spend more time ‘in graveyards’.

Hobbes I find interesting if you enjoy politics/sociology with your philosophy:
“The life of man (in a state of nature) is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short” - From Leviathan

A couple more random quotes:
“No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience” - John Locke ; very similar to what Nietzsche would perhaps believe.

“The unexamined life is not worth living” - Socrates. A necessary quote for us here on the forum. Question everything you are told.

[ponzi_scheme]

Mike Tyson

[ponzi_scheme]

(10-30-2016 05:45 PM)Jones Wrote:  

Nietzsche for sure. The man questioned everything there is to know, and all those that came before him, and sought out the truth behind everything we can possibly know. From tearing down a broken religious system, his own homeland's national identity, and also by tearing down the morality of his time. Above all, he writes of the most powerful source of energy on earth that has to the power to create and destroy: our will.

There are too many quotes so I'll just throw out a random one from one of my favourite's, his Genealogy of Morals, with it being Sunday and all, it will deal with Christianity.

“Dante, as it seems to me, committed a crude blunder when, with a terror-inspiring ingenuity, he placed above the gateway of his hell the inscription, 'Me too made eternal love'--at any rate, there would be more justification for placing above the gateway to the Christian Paradise and its "'eternal blessedness - 'Me too made eternal hate' - granted of course that a truth may rightly stand over the gate to a lie!"

Camus is another:
“There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide” – Albert Camus. From The Myth of Sisyphus.

Heidegger:
"If I take death into my life, acknowledge it, and face it squarely, I will free myself from the anxiety of death and the pettiness of life - and only then will I be free to become myself."

see also:
When in a lecture, in 1961, Heidegger was asked how we might recover authenticity, he replied tersely that we should simply aim to spend more time ‘in graveyards’.

Hobbes I find interesting if you enjoy politics/sociology with your philosophy:
“The life of man (in a state of nature) is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short” - From Leviathan

A couple more random quotes:
“No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience” - John Locke ; very similar to what Nietzsche would perhaps believe.

“The unexamined life is not worth living” - Socrates. A necessary quote for us here on the forum. Question everything you are told.

You got some beautifull reference right there bro congratulation for your post

[John_Galt]

I like Socrates. His epiphany that he was the wisest man due to the fact that he realized how little he knew. Great stuff.

I'm also a fan of Schopenhauer, for this gem:

http://www.theabsolute.net/misogyny/onwomen.html

Quote:

Women are directly adapted to act as the nurses and educators of our early childhood, for the simple reason that they themselves are childish, foolish, and short-sighted—in a word, are big children all their lives, something intermediate between the child and the man, who is a man in the strict sense of the word. Consider how a young girl will toy day after day with a child, dance with it and sing to it; and then consider what a man, with the very best intentions in the world, could do in her place.

There's a lot more. Definitely worth a read.

[nomadbrah]

I really haven't read all the great philosophers. I like Nietzche, Schoppenhauer, Stoicism.

[Onto]

Mark Dillof. A modern day philosopher who draws on the old philosopher's, psychologists, and writers to explain much of what we encounter today in a very accessible way.

Dillof's Books on Amazon

[fokker]

I find David Myatt (http://en.kingswiki.com/wiki/David_Myatt / http://davidmyatt.ws) interesting, mainly due to his life story, where he started out as a National Socialist, converted to radical Islam in 1998, then left Islam and extremism all together to start his own philosophy.

His book "Myngath" will tell you all you need to know about him. http://en.kingswiki.com/wiki/Myngath

[TooFineAPoint]

“Marry, and you will regret it. Do not marry, and you will also regret it. Marry or do not marry, you will regret it either way. Whether you marry or you do not marry, you will regret it either way. Laugh at the stupidities of the world, and you will regret it; weep over them, and you will also regret it. Laugh at the stupidities of the world or weep over them, you will regret it either way. Whether you laugh at the stupidities of the world or you weep over them, you will regret it either way. Trust a girl, and you will regret it. Do not trust her, and you will also regret it. Trust a girl or do not trust her, you will regret it either way. Whether you trust a girl or do not trust her, you will regret it either way. Hang yourself, and you will regret it. Do not hang yourself, and you will also regret it. Hang yourself or do not hang yourself, you will regret it either way. Whether you hang yourself or do not hang yourself, you will regret it either way. This, gentlemen, is the quintessence of all the wisdom of life”

Kierkegaard (from Either/Or)

[Orion]

There are many but i would agree with Jones that Nietzsche stands out for many of reasons. His unapologetic posture, his prophetic powers that surely stemmed from his deep understanding of transcendent and motivating forces, his unconstrained classicist and staunchly high European spirit. One man alone almost completely rehabilitated Europe from it's chains and disease. Only if dramatic events didn't prevent his thought from spreading all around continent.

He attracted more critics and haters than anyone, but i have never seen so many intellectuals, preachers and speculators lacking any substantial, comprehensive points of criticism as they do with Nietzsche. All they can do is point out how he got insane later in life, or how humanity simply "doesn't work that way". But irony is, that's exactly what Nietzsche taught. But he pointed within a realm of possibilities, and possibilities, realizations - that's what fascinates the higher human type.

[ScrapperTL]

[Thomas the Rhymer]

Nassim Taleb. He manages to be both profound and useful.

Random quotes from Antifragile:

“If there is something in nature you don't understand, odds are it makes sense in a deeper way that is beyond your understanding. So there is a logic to natural things that is much superior to our own. Just as there is a dichotomy in law: 'innocent until proven guilty' as opposed to 'guilty until proven innocent', let me express my rule as follows: what Mother Nature does is rigorous until proven otherwise; what humans and science do is flawed until proven otherwise.”

“Further, my characterization of a loser is someone who, after making a mistake, doesn’t introspect, doesn’t exploit it, feels embarrassed and defensive rather than enriched with a new piece of information, and tries to explain why he made the mistake rather than moving on. These types often consider themselves the “victims” of some large plot, a bad boss, or bad weather. Finally, a thought. He who has never sinned is less reliable than he who has only sinned once. And someone who has made plenty of errors—though never the same error more than once—is more reliable than someone who has never made any.”

“Never ask anyone for their opinion, forecast, or recommendation. Just ask them what they have—or don’t have—in their portfolio.”

[oilbreh]

Thales. He was the OG and was someone who lived a great life. His philosophy might not have stood the test of time, but he was the first to question things in a philosophical way. Guy had money, bitches and a thirst for the true nature of things.

[Jones]

(10-31-2016 08:51 AM)Orion Wrote:  

There are many but i would agree with Jones that Nietzsche stands out for many of reasons. His unapologetic posture, his prophetic powers that surely stemmed from his deep understanding of transcendent and motivating forces, his unconstrained classicist and staunchly high European spirit. One man alone almost completely rehabilitated Europe from it's chains and disease. Only if dramatic events didn't prevent his thought from spreading all around continent.

He attracted more critics and haters than anyone, but i have never seen so many intellectuals, preachers and speculators lacking any substantial, comprehensive points of criticism as they do with Nietzsche. All they can do is point out how he got insane later in life, or how humanity simply "doesn't work that way". But irony is, that's exactly what Nietzsche taught. But he pointed within a realm of possibilities, and possibilities, realizations - that's what fascinates the higher human type.

Like Heidegger, he gets a bad rap because people like to associate his philosophy with inspiring Nazism, but it was actually Wagner that influenced Hitler more so. The main thing Nazi's and Nietzsche have in common is an appreciation of Wagner's work, but Hitler did cherry pick out some concepts found in Nietzsche and twist them to his own image - the übermensch (super-man, Hitler's "Aryan race") for example.

Nietzsche influenced what many people believe are "good" and "bad" men alike; such as Mussolini and Theodore Roosevelt. Richard Nixon was also interested in his work.

One can read into Nietzsche want one wants to read, find certain aspects about his philosophy that appeal to the reader's perspective, as no doubt many great men have already.

I think Nietzsche's appeal partially lies in being more practical for day-to-day life than say Husserl or Derrida's work on writing and language, or the mathematical genius Leibniz. To question society's morals, carve your own path, ultimately to seek power and control over one's own life, one's destiny. One can read into Nietzsche want one wants to

For criticisms on Nietzsche: A professor: "Nietzschean students always felt like the poseurs he so often critiqued. These were the herd people he would have destroyed first," also saying Nietzsche is all about mastery and domination.

Actual philosopher's may love frolicking in fields while discussing and dismantling the cosmic and physical philosophy of Lee Smolin or a linguistic and logical mind of Wittgenstein, but there is psychological and sociological application to the writing of Nietzsche.

In addition: University philosophy is in censorship shambles; Freedom of thought through philosophical writing has been shut down. A piece, heavily founded in the philosophy of Julius Evola (masculine, traditionalist, reactionary), was rejected for grading by the Philosophy Department at a local university.

[Meister Eckhart]

Aristotle. Sure, everybody loves Plato nowadays and pay attention to him mostly, but Aristotle is the bedrock on everything we've built over the centuries rests upon.

[Orion]

(11-02-2016 09:15 AM)Jones Wrote:  

Like Heidegger, he gets a bad rap because people like to associate his philosophy with inspiring Nazism, but it was actually Wagner that influenced Hitler more so. The main thing Nazi's and Nietzsche have in common is an appreciation of Wagner's work, but Hitler did cherry pick out some concepts found in Nietzsche and twist them to his own image - the übermensch (super-man, Hitler's "Aryan race") for example.

This kind of criticism of Nietzsche comes exactly from the kind of reasoning he condemned. Nietzsche certainly influenced Nazis, and Nazis didn't get Nietzsche wrong at all. There was nothing in Nietzsche's thought that in any way prevented it from being exploited by Nazis or any other power. Gun can be used by both kind and destructive people, and so can Nietzsche's philosophy.

The fact that Nazism is being connected to Nietzsche can be used by two kinds of people: Those who merely state the obvious, and from those who use Hitler as universal measure of evil, or in other words, morality. The latter are partisans.

If some people feel threatened by the way Nietzsche's philosophy can influence for example, modern nationalists, that's because they are in a way right. It can, because it works. It can because nothing is so specifically European as Nietzsche is.

BTW, Nietzsche turned highly critical of Wagner in the end, and condemned Romanticism altogether, a sentiment later resonated by Julius Evola, another philosopher i very much appreciate. Evola considered Romanticism as a natural continuation of bourgeoisie taste and worldview, and thought that Wagner has debased Nordic and Germanic lore and myths by clothing them in bourgeoisie world of sentiments, such as love for example.

Quote:

In addition: University philosophy is in censorship shambles; Freedom of thought through philosophical writing has been shut down. A piece, heavily founded in the philosophy of Julius Evola

Evola will never be studied or appreciated in Universities, since he was a staunch opponent of everything Universities represent today. Even if someone strictly limits himself to his works that deal with subject of religion, esotericism, metaphysics, etc, even they are full of his "general" philosophy, of masculine tradition, of unapologetic spiritual supremacy, of contempt for "humanity" and mediocrity.

Can anyone imagine a better compliment for a philosopher after all, but being rejected by Academia? I think Nietzsche would have desired such a post-mortem fate.

[Jones]

(11-02-2016 10:22 AM)Orion Wrote:  

BTW, Nietzsche turned highly critical of Wagner in the end, and condemned Romanticism altogether, a sentiment later resonated by Julius Evola, another philosopher i very much appreciate. Evola considered Romanticism as a natural continuation of bourgeoisie taste and worldview, and thought that Wagner has debased Nordic and Germanic lore and myths by clothing them in bourgeoisie world of sentiments, such as love for example.

Yes, he did in Nietzsche contra Wagner, in part because of Wagner's anti-Semitic views and conversion to Christianity, but also because Wagner's sickness in life choices was reflected in his music - a sign of decay and weakness. He still admired Wagner's ability to express himself, but yes you're right his opinion of Wagner became a largely negative one.

Quote:

Evola will never be studied or appreciated in Universities, since he was a staunch opponent of everything Universities represent today. Even if someone strictly limits himself to his works that deal with subject of religion, esotericism, metaphysics, etc, even they are full of his "general" philosophy, of masculine tradition, of unapologetic spiritual supremacy, of contempt for "humanity" and mediocrity.

Can anyone imagine a better compliment for a philosopher after all, but being rejected by Academia? I think Nietzsche would have desired such a post-mortem fate.

Evola certainly isn't the philosopher for the current cultural age of diversity and equality amongst all human beings.

Nietzsche probably would have desired, given he was rejected in his own time for his views, and it would also probably make him smile knowing that not much has changed in academia since his passing.

[oilbreh]

Nietzsche had his writings adjusted after his death by his sister who wanted it to be more sympathetic to Nazis.
I do agree with a poster above. Most philosophers after Socrates Plato and Aristotle have mostly just been putting their thoughts in a modern understandable form.

[Jazzman92]

Although he's not really a philosopher, I'd say Marcus Aurelius. Meditations was the book that redefined the way I viewed the purpose of my life and the way I approached difficulties and challenges.

[LeoneVolpe]

Niccolo Machiavelli. Why? He advocated seeing the world as it is, not how you wish it would be -- you can't get more red pill than that.

Quote:

Many have imagined republics and principalities which have never been seen or known to exist in reality; for how we live is so far removed from how we ought to live, that he who abandons what is done for what ought to be done, will rather bring about his own ruin than his preservation.

[Meat Head]

Schopenhauer for On Women and the guy that wrote Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

[nomadbrah]

(11-02-2016 10:22 AM)Orion Wrote:  

If some people feel threatened by the way Nietzsche's philosophy can influence for example, modern nationalists, that's because they are in a way right. It can, because it works. It can because nothing is so specifically European as Nietzsche is.

Yes, well put, Nietzsche was of course instrumental in the reawakening of the European spirit as a response to the latest evolution of semittic slave-morality i.e. Marxism. Nietzsche said as much and did indeed contribute the introduction of slave morality to Europe to the jews, which is true, they were the first Christians and they were the first Marxists.

[Enjoythedecline]

What's the best Nietsche book to start ? I bought Thus Spoke Zarathustra but I'm not quite sure I understand it.

[John_Galt]

(11-02-2016 04:17 PM)Meat Head Wrote:  

the guy that wrote Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.

That would be Solomon, King of Jerusalem, and, if the Bible is to be believed, the wisest man who ever has and ever will live.

1 Kings 3:5-15

Quote:

5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

7 “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. [/b]I will give you a wise and discerning heart,[b] so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14 And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” 15 Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream.

He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.

2nd Chronicles 2:7-13

Quote:

7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

8 Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. 9 Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

11 God said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12 therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”

13 Then Solomon went to Jerusalem from the high place at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting. And he reigned over Israel.

A very wise man, even if you don't take the words written above to be true.