I have a great deal of respect for Buddhist philosophy, and none for you... Flush.
On Oct 5, 2010, at 7:40 PM, david buchanan wrote: > > Yea, Marsha, I'm sure the various Buddhist communities have got your back. > Their authority is your authority. And I'm sure you interpret their meaning > perfectly because you're always so meticulous about that sort of thing, you > philosophical wonk, you. > > Actually, the sarcastic criticism is beside the point because I've never made > any claims about relativism among Buddhists. I've only ever talked about what > the MOQ is and is not - or maybe what is and is not a philosophical good idea > in general. > > This is just another repeat of the same old pattern; insult and evade, > dismiss and evade. No substance to the insult. No real response, or even an > acknowledgement of the point. How many of your responses do nothing but tell > us why you don't have to respond. If you add those unresponsive responses to > the Youtube links and the painting reports, your post aren't much better than > spam. > > > > Yawn. > > > > > > > >> From: [email protected] >> Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 16:43:20 -0400 >> To: [email protected] >> Subject: Re: [MD] Emptiness & Quantum Mechancics >> >> dmb, >> >> I guess I need to repeat myself, so here goes: >> >> >> On Sep 28, 2010, at 10:33 PM, MarshaV wrote: >>> >>> >>> Maybe you should write to the various Buddhist communities to convince them >>> to refrain from stating that 'relative truth' is the conventional way we >>> perceive reality. Until then I'm not much interested in what you think on >>> cognitive relativism. In fact, that's why I don't want to discuss with >>> you, dmb. I think you don't really know what you're talking about. Sorry. >>> >> >> Marsha >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Oct 5, 2010, at 4:11 PM, david buchanan wrote: >> >>> >>> >>> Marsha said: >>> RELATIVITY: >>> the tallest dwarf >>> meeting the smallest giant >>> - same size >>> >>> >>> >>> dmb says: >>> >>> No, that's not what relativity means. Relativity means there is no standard >>> by which to measure things like truth and moral values. >>> >>> What you have above is merely three sets of relations. >>> >>> The dwarf is tallest in relation to other dwarves. >>> The giant is the smallest when compared to other giants. >>> In relation to each other, the dwarf and the giant are the same size. >>> >>> As a practical matter, these relations do not depend on one's perspective >>> or worldview. It just depends on whether or not you can get all the dwarfs >>> and giants to stand next to a measuring tape. That's how you know you've >>> got the tallest dwarf in the first place. That's how you know all other >>> giants are bigger. These are quantifiable facts and all three sets of >>> relations are true at the same time without contradiction. The term >>> "relative" can be used to mean "in relation to" or "by comparison with" but >>> that doesn't have anything to do with the objectionable philosophical >>> stance known as relativism. If we say the dwarf is relatively tall, we >>> don't mean his height cannot be determined or that his height depends on >>> one's understanding of the term "tall". >>> >>> >>> Words and concepts are relational in a similar way. As I like to point out, >>> the meaning of the terms "static" and "dynamic" is relational in the sense >>> that "static" means the opposite of dynamic and "Dynamic" means the >>> opposite of static. The meaning of each term is depends on not being the >>> other, the same way hot and cold or short and tall define each other by >>> opposition. Words also derive their meaning by virtue of their relation to >>> context in which the term is being used. "Tall" can mean "highly >>> exaggerated" when we're talking about tales, it can refer to the shape of a >>> cocktail glass when talking to a bartender, it can mean "difficult" when >>> we're talking about tall orders and tall obstacles. It can refer to a proud >>> posture or walking style as well as actual height. Many words are very >>> flexible and have many different meanings depending on the context but >>> again this is to say that meaning is relational, not relative to the user. >>> Words mean what they mean in relation to > o >> th >>> er words and in relation to the context in which it's being used. In other >>> words, we can't isolate the meaning of a term because it derives it's >>> meaning from the whole language system. This is the net of jewels idea >>> applied to words. Similarly, some philosophers talk about our "web" of >>> beliefs. This image get across the idea that some concepts are more central >>> than others, which is probably true. >>> >>> >>> Compared to the top of Mount Everest and the tallest short guy, the Empire >>> State Building is shorter and taller at the same time. These are not >>> relative truths or opposed claims or two different views. It's merely two >>> different comparisons, two different facts. The building is never going to >>> be taller than the mountain and it'll never be shorter than any person, not >>> even the tallest giant. I don't mean to be some kind of yard-stick >>> fundamentalist. I'm just saying that relations are just as real as anything >>> else and it's a part of what it means for something to be true and right. >>> This could be called relationalism or relationism or wholism or >>> contextualism or situationalism. But relativity or relativism is something >>> else entirely. It's the philosophical equivalent of combining halitosis >>> with leprosy. >>> >>> >>> >>> Moq_Discuss mailing list >>> Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. >>> http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org >>> Archives: >>> http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ >>> http://moq.org/md/archives.html >> >> >> >> ___ >> >> >> Moq_Discuss mailing list >> Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. >> http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org >> Archives: >> http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ >> http://moq.org/md/archives.html > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html ___ Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
