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Qrazy
12-14-2007, 08:15 AM
I got into an argument with my roommate the other day, it's not that important why or what about. And I told him that the position he was arguing was problematic because it was rooted in an unfalsifiable belief. And his response was... well then why are you arguing, how can I be wrong? ...

Attempts to explain what an unfalsifiable belief actually was, were followed by repetitions of the previous statement.

Melville
12-14-2007, 10:32 PM
I think you should ditch that roommate. Or at least tell him that he should whip out some Nietzsche quotes to stave off embarrassment next time. I'd recommend "The irrationality of a thing is no argument against its existence, rather a condition of it." Even if you retorted that non-falsifiability does not imply irrationality, he could respond with "It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them!" Check and mate.

Qrazy
12-14-2007, 10:50 PM
I think you should ditch that roommate. Or at least tell him that he should whip out some Nietzsche quotes to stave off embarrassment next time. I'd recommend "The irrationality of a thing is no argument against its existence, rather a condition of it." Even if you retorted that non-falsifiability does not imply irrationality, he could respond with "It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them!" Check and mate.

See, now that kind of retort I could get on board with.

Wryan
12-20-2007, 03:03 PM
The only time I've had a roommate that wasn't my choice to have, the only thing he did was watch Golden Girls. So he was ok by me.

Raiders
12-20-2007, 03:09 PM
I hope you were arguing over a book.

Qrazy
12-21-2007, 04:19 AM
I hope you were arguing over a book.

He was arguing that it was ok for him to cheat on his girlfriend because he claimed that guilt and shame were purely socially conditioned and arbitrary.

MadMan
12-21-2007, 06:11 AM
He was arguing that it was ok for him to cheat on his girlfriend because he claimed that guilt and shame were purely socially conditioned and arbitrary.So when she smashes his car in after discovering his infidelity she can claim that she shouldn't be found guility of committing a crime because laws are also socially conditioned and arbitrary? You should try that on him for size. See what he says then....

Qrazy
12-21-2007, 08:59 AM
So when she smashes his car in after discovering his infidelity she can claim that she shouldn't be found guility of committing a crime because laws are also socially conditioned and arbitrary? You should try that on him for size. See what he says then....

Haha well it was more about whether or not there's anything wrong with it if she doesn't find out. He argued there wasn't for the reasons above, while I argued that there was, that a relationship is only as meaningful as the degree of trust there is between the two people... so that even if she never found out and even if he could squash all feelings of guilt, etc... the trust has still been broken. She doesn't need to know the trust has been broken for the trust to be broken and that, that act of dishonesty was where the moral issue lay... and why it was still wrong to commit such an action.

Benny Profane
12-21-2007, 12:10 PM
He was arguing that it was ok for him to cheat on his girlfriend because he claimed that guilt and shame were purely socially conditioned and arbitrary.


Is he going to write a book about it?

Qrazy
12-21-2007, 12:31 PM
Is he going to write a book about it?

Let's hope not. A J Ayer and others have already covered the same ground with much more depth and wisdom and even their theories are shot full of holes and lacking any even remotely adequate notion of the human psyche.

Benny Profane
12-21-2007, 12:45 PM
Let's hope not. A J Ayer and others have already covered the same ground with much more depth and wisdom and even their theories are shot full of holes and lacking any even remotely adequate notion of the human psyche.

I guess I should take the elephant out of the room and discuss it. Why is this in the literature forum?

Qrazy
12-21-2007, 03:21 PM
I guess I should take the elephant out of the room and discuss it. Why is this in the literature forum?

I needed a place to put my elephant.

Acapelli
12-23-2007, 04:27 AM
I needed a place to put my elephant.
Was it too big for the kitchen sink?

*rimshot*