• MonfortS26
    256
    When we talk about concepts such as love, hate, suffering, war, as being exclusively human concepts I think it is a mistake. The way I see it, the concepts that we allude to when we use our language to describe something, are abstract entities that exist independently from the physical world as we know it. We don't create the concept of suffering, we are just intelligently evolved enough to understand it.
  • A Christian Philosophy
    1k
    Hello. I think you are correct that a lot of abstract words point to real concepts, such as love, justice, suffering etc. Maybe not all though? For example, if I call you a 'jerk', I don't think the word 'jerk' is pointing to any real attribute of yourself, and it merely gives my subjective opinion about you. Other words however, do point to real things, and the way to prove it is to find the 'form' or 'essence' of these concepts. This method goes all the way back to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
  • TimeLine
    2.7k

    Are you alluding to the theory of Forms?

    We don't create the concept of suffering, we are just intelligently evolved enough to understand it.MonfortS26
    Are you saying that there is no such thing as suffering?
  • Frederick KOH
    240


    What about "dog"? Or "lifeform"?
bold
italic
underline
strike
code
quote
ulist
image
url
mention
reveal
youtube
tweet
Add a Comment

Welcome to The Philosophy Forum!

Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.