Happy Atheist Forum

You might have read it in a classical work of philosophy, heard someone else express it or came to it yourself quite unexpectedly or through reasoned argument - it doesn't matter.

Have you ever had an idea, "philosophical" in nature, that changed your life in a big way?

Solipsism, it basically ruined everything.

Sorry

I choose critical thinking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinking). Basic baloney defense.

Freire's concientización.

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kadinsky.com%2Fproduct_images%2F6517Hakuna%2520Matata.jpg&hash=a9c65ff532ad8af2370bb560800320fa3ffd98fd)

It's a problem free Philosophy....

But on a serious, and yet related, note, Nietzsche's idea of Nobility is one of my favorites.

http://www.literature.org/authors/descartes-rene/reason-discourse/

^ put together with my readings of various christian apologetics, set the foundation for my ability to think critically, thereby ultimately becoming an atheist.

also:

http://thoreau.eserver.org/civil.html

^ The ideas on this essay led to my early reading on anarchism, which I had to abandon due to my dwindling attention span and short-term memory deficit, but which still informs my political thinking.

Zen FTW.  

Confessions of Augustine
 http://www.stoa.org/hippo/ (http://www.stoa.org/hippo/)
This is the story of a man’s conversion based on philosophical thinking

summa theologica
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/summa.html (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/summa.html)
The ultimate philosopher

Poems of the Man God  
See review by Yale University
http://pantheon.yale.edu/~rpl24/Glossol ... Klimek.pdf (http://pantheon.yale.edu/~rpl24/Glossolalia/Home_files/The%20Gospels%20According%20to%20Christ-Klimek.pdf)

QuoteConfessions of Augustine

Ewww, Augustine.    Sorry, but he's one of my least favorite "thinkers" of all time.

Quote from: "Sophus"

QuoteConfessions of Augustine

Ewww, Augustine.    Sorry, but he's one of my least favorite "thinkers" of all time.

source: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/augustine/ (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/augustine/)

QuoteOne of the decisive developments in the western philosophical tradition was the eventually widespread merging of the Greek philosophical tradition and the Judeo-Christian religious and scriptural traditions. Augustine is one of the main figures through and by whom this merging was accomplished. He is, as well, one of the towering figures of medieval philosophy whose authority and thought came to exert a pervasive and enduring influence well into the modern period (e.g. Descartes and especially Malebranche),

Quote from: "fdesilva"

QuoteOne of the decisive developments in the western philosophical tradition was the eventually widespread merging of the Greek philosophical tradition and the Judeo-Christian religious and scriptural traditions. Augustine is one of the main figures through and by whom this merging was accomplished. He is, as well, one of the towering figures of medieval philosophy whose authority and thought came to exert a pervasive and enduring influence well into the modern period (e.g. Descartes and especially Malebranche),

Exactly.

Chaos Theory

Murphy's Law

Sartre's essay Existentialism is a Humanism.  I remember reading it at 15-16 and being blown away that someone else thought a lot of the same things I did.  I already considered myself an atheist at that point, but so much of what he said made sense and really helped me refine and define those beliefs.

Taking magic mushrooms one summers day. Suddenly realised how plastic our perception of reality was.

I plugged a molecule into my brain and changed my mind.


(that and reading Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling)

Quote from: "Sophus"

QuoteConfessions of Augustine

Ewww, Augustine.    Sorry, but he's one of my least favorite "thinkers" of all time.

Oh, what's not to like about a guy who prays "Lord, keep me from temptation -- just not yet"?

Quote from: "Tom62"Murphy's Law

aw yeah , I was gonna said that. XD
 
 
and 3 SF movie that totally blow my mind alway when I was under 20. (not exactly hilosophical,but ideas)
Contact,2001 space odyssey and the matrix.

Treat others as you would have them treat you.
I don't know when I first heard it.
I don't know who to attribute it to.
It's as simple as 1 + 1
If the world is going to work it is the bedrock.

Quote from: "The Magic Pudding"Treat others as you would have them treat you.

I prefer, Do not treat others as you would not have them treat you.

Quote from: "Ihateyoumike"

Quote from: "The Magic Pudding"Treat others as you would have them treat you.

I prefer, Do not treat others as you would not have them treat you.

Glass half full or glass half empty  

Love.

It started with my mother and it is an ongoing process.  Learning to love and be loved has been (and continues to be) the most important endeavor of my life.

Brain in a vat.

The political philosophy of Machiavelli and Talleyrand.

Plato's Idealism.  I love how it makes a mockery of a concept that is impossible to achieve.

First, it says that everything is a less perfect than the most perfect version of itself.  As such, that version exists just beyond our reach.

and, just as important,

It is pointless to try obtain that perfection

Quote from: "deekayfry"Plato's Idealism.  I love how it makes a mockery of a concept that is impossible to achieve.

First, it says that everything is a less perfect than the most perfect version of itself.  As such, that version exists just beyond our reach.

and, just as important,

It is pointless to try obtain that perfection

I've always thought this concept was only useful in Geometry. In every other aspect of philosophy "perfection" seems too abstract to start with. I see your point though. We can always dream up something better.

Two things --

First, a line from Dune, by Frank Herbert:  "Those who see only what they wish are doomed to rot in the stink of their own perceptions."

Second, Socrates's old saw about the unexamined life being unworthy of living.

And if you think about it, they're both really saying the same thing.

Quote from: "Sophus"

Quote from: "deekayfry"Plato's Idealism.  I love how it makes a mockery of a concept that is impossible to achieve.

First, it says that everything is a less perfect than the most perfect version of itself.  As such, that version exists just beyond our reach.

and, just as important,

It is pointless to try obtain that perfection

I've always thought this concept was only useful in Geometry. In every other aspect of philosophy "perfection" seems too abstract to start with. I see your point though. We can always dream up something better.

I saw it just a little bit differently

To me it seemed like Plato, or whoever came up with this thinking, was being sarcastic.  It was like, "Sure go ahead and think there is something more perfect, but if you want to try good luck getting to it!"

Having said all thought, I have not delved into this school of thought, but from my limited understanding Plato was never serious about the "perfection" part of it.