Browsed by
Tag: intrinsic value

Is it true that nothing really matters because one day I or the universe will cease to be?

Is it true that nothing really matters because one day I or the universe will cease to be?

Comments 1 comment

There are a number of things that might concern one about death and the meaning of one’s life. Two related concerns are that in a million years nothing we do now will matter and, assuming there is no soul-like immortality, because life on earth is finite, nothing has any meaning. Something like these two ideas seems to be running through the following quote from Hans Küng regarding Simone de Beauvoir: Simone de Beauvoir, the companion of Jean Paul Sartre, growing…

Read More Read More

Nietzschean Buddhism: An Experiment

Nietzschean Buddhism: An Experiment

Comments 1 comment

I have long been drawn to Buddhism and to Nietzsche’s ideas. After much thought, I propose a reconciliation; I propose the creation of a Nietzschean Buddhism. How could this be a possibility? After all, the third noble truth of Buddhism is that there is a way out of suffering, and the fourth noble truth gives us the way out. Suffering is optional, as is staying in samsara, the eternal recurrence of rebirth and a life of suffering. How is that…

Read More Read More

The Value of Suffering and the Importance of Suffering Thresholds

The Value of Suffering and the Importance of Suffering Thresholds

Comments 1 comment

In an earlier essay I raised some questions about the value of suffering, especially the default assumption that suffering is to be avoided and brought to a quick end when it does occur. In Nietzsche’s writing we find claims that suffering has instrumental value and intrinsic value, or at least it will to the higher types of human beings who have the appropriate will. Here I want to consider the claim that suffering has instrumental value and what that means…

Read More Read More

Why Not Suffering? Buddhism, Nietzsche, and the Value of Suffering

Why Not Suffering? Buddhism, Nietzsche, and the Value of Suffering

Comments 7 comments

The cessation of suffering is Buddhism’s end goal. The Buddha has discovered how to do it, according to Buddhism and Buddhists who have achieved the goal. A supposedly central requirement for achieving the goal is to realize the truth of no-self: there is no substantial self that endures over time. Leaving aside what exactly this means, an important question regards why one should accept the doctrine of no-self. The Buddha gave arguments for the view and later Buddhists gave still…

Read More Read More

Understanding Desire

Understanding Desire

Comments 0 Comment

When doing philosophy, when trying to understand something better, one should optimally do a combination of the following: think about the topic, research what others have said, and talk to friends and colleagues about the topic. Here I’m writing the results of the first and hoping to engage in the third. I’m feeling a bit lazy about doing the second, at this point. Thinking about desire, I am fairly perplexed. One way to begin thinking about desire is to say…

Read More Read More

Possible Reasons for Endorsing Some Kind of Theism

Possible Reasons for Endorsing Some Kind of Theism

Comments 5 comments

What follows is that outline considering possible reasons for endorsing some kind of theism. Importantly, it is just an outline; so its details need to be filled in. Were that filling in to occur, I’m sure that certain points might get modified, added, or rejected. Further, a lot of it is based on things I have written about more extensively in my notebooks and as such a number of things will be presented that might not make sense or for…

Read More Read More