I'd refine that point a bit. Kindness from a position of weakness is just a survival strategy *if* you wouldn't be kind when in a position of strength. Arguably, some weak people are kind because they're nice people.

5/5

If you want an introduction to Advaita Vedānta and other classical Asian philosophy, it's in my textbook. You can download a free sample here: josephdowd.com

#philosophy

4/5

Arthur C. Clark said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. In Sagan's writings, scientific cosmology sometimes becomes hard to distinguish from mystical rapture.

#science #technology #mysticism

3/5

Here, Sagan's philosophy somewhat resembles the ancient South Asian Advaita Vedānta philosophical school, which says that there is only one conscious being, namely Reality as a whole, which sees through all eyes, hears through all ears, and thinks through all minds.

#Vedanta #philosophy

2/5

This argument is probably meant metaphorically, not literally, but that doesn't make it any less of an argument. The passage gets its emotional power from the conclusion that we are the organ of the universe's self-awareness.

3/5

Here, Sagan's philosophy somewhat resembles the ancient South Asian Advaita Vedānta philosophical school, which says that there is only one conscious being, namely Reality as a whole, which sees through all eyes, hears through all ears, and thinks through all minds.

2/5

This argument is probably meant metaphorically, not literally, but that doesn't make it any less of an argument. The passage gets its emotional power from the conclusion that we are the organ of the universe's self-awareness.

For the sake of me and most other philosophers, I hope this is true.

Student: I just arrived. Please teach me.

Master: Did you eat lunch?

Student: Yes.

Master: Then go wash your bowl.

—Zen koan

4/4

To learn more about classic South and East Asian philosophy, check out the free book sample downloadable here: josephdowd.com

3/4

Postulation: This is the best explanation of the facts, so it's true.

Nonapprehension: My senses don't detect x, so x doesn't exist.

Which do you think are reliable, and when?

2/4

The potential pramāṇas:

Experience: My senses detect x, so x exists.

Inference: Because that is true, this logically must be true.

Testimony: A reliable person says this, so it's true.

Comparison: x and y are alike in that way, so they must be alike in this way too.

4/4

For a fuller exploration of this theme, see the discussion of the Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna's philosophy in the free download available here: josephdowd.com

3/4

The point isn't that all of reality is one thing.

As Watts stresses (again, correctly), the no-thing is nondual, but nondualism isn't the same as monism. Oneness is just as much as mental construct as manyness.

2/4

In at least one major strand of Mahāyāna philosophy (Madhyamaka), śūnyatā means that things are conventional constructs.

Land doesn't come to us already divided into territories.
Likewise, reality doesn't come to us already divided into things. Our minds divide it.

4/4

Finally, the #Nirvana Sutra, an influential Mahayana text, says that the Buddha's essence is the eternal Self of all beings.

3/4

Mainstream #Mahayana Buddhism complicates the picture. Now reincarnation isn't immediate, and the stream of mental events persists apart from the body between incarnations as a disembodied soul, though the stream is just a series of momentary events, not a persisting Self.

2/4

Early Buddhist texts generally reject the idea of a Self. In #Hinduism, consciousness is an observing Self that persists over time. In early Buddhism, consciousness is a momentary mental event that arises in response to a stimulus.