Just as a joking thread, what's the remission rate around here if we are to believe philosophy as therapy? — Posty McPostface

Would philosophy not be the disorder and this forum the therapist's office?

I just had a week off. Does that count?

Would philosophy not be the disorder and this forum the therapist's office? — Sir2u

I'm acutely aware of this fact and feel compelled to express my satisfaction with self-absorbed topics of my interest. Others would agree.

I just had a week off. Does that count? — Banno

Kudos to you Banno. Your our forum therapist right next to @unenlightened.

I just had a week off. Does that count? — Banno

I had 5 days of holidays, and it rained on every single one of them. Murphie's Law rules the universe.

I'm acutely aware of this fact and feel compelled to express my satisfaction with self-absorbed topics of my interest. — Posty McPostface

And just which topics might those be?

Others would agree. — Posty McPostface

I guess that there is a possibility that it is so, but what do you base this pronouncement on?

And just which topics might those be? — Sir2u

Every topic on this forum, I suppose.

I guess that there is a possibility that it is so, but what do you base this pronouncement on? — Sir2u

Excessive self-reflection and the issue that philosophy must deal with being philosophical pessimism. How to deal with philosophical pessimism could be a great topic to start. It's an issue because it is a dysphoria of the art of philosophy.

Excessive self-reflection and the issue that philosophy must deal with being philosophical pessimism. — Posty McPostface

I guess that that is as good a reason as anything.

Maybe if you stop staring at your bellybutton you will lean more towards philosophy optimism.

philosophy optimism — Sir2u

What's that?

philosophical pessimism — Posty McPostface

Oh, no; that won't work out well.

Oh, no; that won't work out well. — Bitter Crank

Why not? Maybe some people enjoy wallowing in a self-absorbed manner? The temptation to wallow is uninhibited so, there's really no deterrent to the art of philosophical pessimism, and that makes it all the more dangerous or detrimental to positive philosophy?

What's that? — Posty McPostface

Everything that is not covered by philosophical pessimism. I would have thought that it was obvious. :wink:

I would have thought that it was obvious. — Sir2u

Not quite there yet. Give me some time and I might catch the ball.

So, thinking allowed a bit more about this. I find that there needs to be some narrative to philosophy. If that narrative is dictated by negativeistic pessimism, then philosophy has failed as a form of therapy. The individual concerned with forming an identity through philosophy is misguided by pessimism.

Therefore, how do you create a narrative in philosophy that encompasses all the thoughts of different philosophers? Can that be done in any shape, manner, or form?

Therefore, how do you create a narrative in philosophy that encompasses all the thoughts of different philosophers? Can that be done in any shape, manner, or form? — Posty McPostface

Faery tales.

Indeed. It seems to me that all this is leading to some form of nihilism.

@unenlightened makes far more sense than I do.

...remission rate... — Posty McPostface

Best look to the experts to clarify our thinking:

We're often asked about the meaning of certain terms that are used in talking about philosophy. Because philosophising is so varied and its treatment so complex, the list of philosophy-related terms is enormous. For that reason, the National Philosophy Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), maintains a thorough dictionary of philosophical terms, and each of the HealthTalk Philosophy networks also contains a glossary, such as this breast philosophy glossary.

One area of particular interest is the question of the difference between philosophy cure and philosophy remission. Analysts almost never use the term cure; rather, they usually talk about remission.

Complete remission means that there are no symptoms and no signs that can be identified to indicate the presence of philosophising. However, even when a person is in remission, there may be microscopic collections of philosophical questions that cannot be dissipated by current techniques. This means that even if a person is in remission, they may, at some future time, experience a recurrence of philosophising.

Partial remission means that a large percentage of the signs and symptoms of philosophising are gone, but some still remain. Complete remission would therefore be better than partial remission because with partial remission the chances of recurrence are higher.

Analysts will sometimes refer to 5-year cure rate or a 10- or more year cure rate. What they really mean by this is a 5- or more year remission rate. The longer the remission time lasts, the greater the possibility that the philosophising actually has been cured, but there are cases of philosophy recurrence many, many years after remission begins. So if the Analyst says there is a 95 percent 5-year cure/remission rate for a particular philosophy, it means that after five years, 95 percent of people with that philosophy will still be in remission (meaning that you have an extremely high likelihood of not having a recurrence for at least five years). With people living longer and longer, Analysts can now often give remission rates for 10, 15 or even 20 years. In many ways, the approach to most philosophical treatment is to make it a chronic disease that lasts for many years.

Note that last sentence; there is no cure.

Note that last sentence; there is no cure. — Banno

Therefore what? Nihilism rules then or solipsistic relativism?

And can you provide a link or PDF to that excerpt?

Nihilism rules then or solipsistic relativism? — Posty McPostface

Why would you think that? What rules is what you do instead of philosophising.

Here's the link... I may not have quoted it verbatim.

What rules is what you do instead of philosophising. — Banno

Can you expand on that? I feel that a reference to Wittgenstein is necessary here.

Here's the link... I may not have quoted it verbatim. — Banno

Yeah, so philosophical pessimism is the cancer of philosophy?

Can you expand on that? — Posty McPostface

Wittgenstein would tell his philosophy students to go do something useful.

philosophical pessimism — Posty McPostface

What's that? This...

Stan: Alright, that's it! No more briefing! From now on, we take action!
Judith: (breaking into the room) Brian's been caught! They're going to nail him up!
Stan: Right! This calls for immediate discussion!

??

Wittgenstein would tell his philosophy students to go do something useful. — Banno

True that, yet he never abandoned philosophy in his entire life. At one point he thought he solved all the problems of philosophy with the Tractatus Logico Philosophicus (TLP). But, his mind was convinced it was incomplete and wrote the Philosophical Investigations (PI) as an addon to the TLP. What went wrong with the TLP was that it assumed facts as mind-dependent, in my view.

What's that? — Banno

It's an attitude. How do you confront a self-serving and uninhibited attitude towards the world? Or you can treat it as a deep mood. What good has come out of it?

he never abandoned philosophy in his entire life. — Posty McPostface

Well, that's not quite right. Once, to become a school teacher, but that remission was broken after a few years; and again during the second great war, when he went off cleaning hospitals. Remission, not cure.

It's an attitude. How do you confront a self-serving and uninhibited attitude towards the world? Or you can treat it as a deep mood. What good has come out of it? — Posty McPostface

You lost me.

Well, that's not quite right. Once, to become a school teacher, but that remission was broken after a few years; and again during the second great war, when he went off cleaning hospitals. Remission, not cure. — Banno

But, do you really believe that philosophy is the result of an overly obsessive or compulsive mind? I mean, does philosophy seem to you as futile in living life? Many of the questions of philosophy are systematically inchoate. Take the problem of the criterion, it's insolvable in my mind. So, we frantically search for answers to ill-formed questions, per Wittgenstein.

Is quietism the only solution or ultimate attitude that one must profess after dealing with philosophy?

You lost me. — Banno

I'm talking about attitudes formed through philosophy. Much of it seems like rationalizations of some Humean sort, where the passions dictate reason, and reason is only instrumental in realizing wants and needs.

What more would you expect, than that folk want their wants, need their needs?

What more would you expect, than that folk want their wants, need their needs? — Banno

That's just a tautology. You've said nothing of import.

So, quietism it is then.

You've said nothing of import. — Posty McPostface

That's right. And in parallel, you asked nothing when you asked

How do you confront a self-serving and uninhibited attitude towards the world? — Posty McPostface