"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." - Plato 
"The state has, in order to control us, introduced division into our thinking, so that we come to distrust others and look to the state for protection! But the roots of our individualism remind us that what we are is inseparable from the source from which all others derive; that coercive practices that threaten our neighbor also threaten us".: - Butler Shaffer
"The propagandist's purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human": -Aldous Huxley
"Because we fear the responsibility for our actions, we have allowed ourselves to develop the mentality of slaves. Contrary to the stirring sentiments of the Declaration of Independence, we now pledge "our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor" not to one another for our mutual protection, but to the state, whose actions continue to exploit, despoil, and destroy us": -Butler D. Shaffer
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"He who lived well during his appointed time was to return and dwell in his native star, and there would have a blessed, congenial existence. But if he failed in attaining this, at the next birth he would pass into a woman. A woman is only a lesser man." (Plato)
Poor Plato. Ah, well, can't get 'em all right.
He also forgot his mother was a woman, and if not for her, he would not have existed, but been only a mere mess on the hand of his father.
But did Plato get anything right, or did he get his info directly to his intellect from the universal mind and get it ALL right?
Perhaps Professor Nietzsche hit the nail on the head.
"Christianity is Platonism for the masses" And this stunning gem that is the ugly but ultimate truth: "Man should be trained for war and woman for the recreation of the warrior; everthing else is folly!" (Professor Nietzsche)
Is that quote not the politically incorrect truth, but absolute truth just the same? The rights women enjoy in our society are dependent on our ability to wage war. If we are defeated and converted to Islam, well,look at the Muslim world and see the covered faces and total domination of women by men. I believe women should have equal rights, but they better have men and a war machine that are willing and able to protect those rights, indeed all of our rights!
If we aren't willing and able to defend our people, the women of our nation will be raped and subjugated like they have been in every conquest throughout history. Look and current struggles in Africa and around the world. The women of defeated people are still treated as spoils of war. It's a violent, cruel world. Because of our military strength, we are isolated and insulated from much of it, but it's still there! We think we are so civilized and beyond such atrocities, but let us be conquered and the horrible truth will be manifest. War is ugly and terrible, and we had better be able to do it better than our enemies!
And Plato did not dismiss woman's role in reproduction. How dare one be so crude as to try to diminish the superior thoughts of the creator of the philosophy that is the foundation Western civilization with talk of masturbation?
12:23 anonymous...
Whoa, there, Sparky. How can I be so crude?
Here you are talking about men savaging and ravaging women, yet you'll agree with Plato's assessment that "a woman is only a lesser man"?
In your argument, you give the actual logic of the opposite, that men are the basis of the cruelty you describe in the world. So brutism = superior existence?
Women need men and war machines to protect their rights? Only if there are men and war machines to wrongfully take those rights.
Personally, I like Plato, Aristotle and the gang. But their patriarchal leanings still reveal themselves, born of basis in physical strength only. The philosophers of the tribes led by women might have a different take.
You support a statement like training women for the recreation of the warrior, but 'tis I who am crude?
Tsk. Tsk. The world, even as expressed by philosophers, is not one absolute viewpoint.
Have an existential day.
Sweetie,
Sorry I shook you up!
How did you know my name is Sparky? Do we know each other? I don't like the fact that men are killed and women are raped in conquest, but it is an undisputed fact and is still going on all over the world. (Just check current world news). You are correct that if people weren't brutes and monsters, women, and all of us, wouldn't need our safety and rights protected. But if fat were muscle, I'd be Mr. Universe! The fact is, most of the people in the world don't afford women the same rights we have in Western civilization. And if we are conquered by the Muslim world, women would immediately lose their social equality, our men would be killed and the women raped. It's not pretty, but do some honest research and you will find out that is still the horrible truth.
That man is the stronger sex physically is the universally undisputed truth, at least by anyone who has a working brain. As you wrote, that explains why the eary philosophers were men. I agree that if women had been in control of philosophy, they would have probably written that women were superior to men. I think nature has created man and woman differently, but not one superior to the other in intellect or social rights and responsibility. In short, I believe the sexes are equal in everything but physical strength and speed; and there lies the problem. This unhappy circumstance is addressed in crude but still applicable quote from Franklin: "Force shits on reason's back." It always has and still does! That's why we will only be able use reason and apply it in our society if we have the military strength and will to keep others from forcing their religious and political philosophies on us.
"Women should be trained for the recreation of the warrior," was quoted tongue in cheek. I don't believe that but I do sometimes like to needle, joke, and dabble in satire:)
I do believe that it is the sad truth that people should be traned for war as THE top priority. As much as I hate violence and war, it is necessary. I think it was Malcolm X who correctly wrote, "power never takes a step backward....only face of more power." Our ability to successfully wage war is the ugly but most important step to the realization our more noble ideals. All government is evil, but at least so far, it has proved to be a necessary evil.
"Tsk. Tsk. The world, even as expressed by philosophers, is not one absolute viewpoint."
Look, you write like a very intelligent person. I agree that most things are subjective, but there are some transcendental ideas and ideals that would be good and true if applied to all people of any period in time, (Well, at least in our universe and dimension of space). For example, if all people would "do unto others as they would have done unto them," we wouldn't need armies and war. Unfortunately, only a relatively few, (and we do live in a relative and contingent universe), gentle souls are willing to practice this, so here we are in a world that is more dangerous and violent than ever. It's not filled with more hate; that seems to remain constant. It's more dangerous because we, in our infinite wisdom have devised ways to destroy most or all human life on Earth within minutes.
Seek universal truth and we can minimize the uncertain, existential
component of our lives. I think even Camus would concede that point.
Have a nice day of your choosing:)
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