Is Thailand The Most Philosophical Country In The World?

[wooloomooloo]

Haven't you got a dinner party to attend tonight, theblether.

[Thaddeus]

Thailand's religion is Buddhism

In word but not in deed, indeed.

[theblether]

Haven't you got a dinner party to attend tonight, theblether.

Not tonight, I've had enough of dinner parties this week, I'm supposed to be on a diet.

[wooloomooloo]

Shame, mate, and note that your dinner party invites with notable Thais and generous benefactors are on the wane for the past week. Get out there and make some new friends. Jeez.

[bigbamboo]

Shame, mate, and note that your dinner party invites with notable Thais and generous benefactors are on the wane for the past week. Get out there and make some new friends. Jeez.

Well said, Bruce.

[theblether]

Well said, Bruce.

I've been invited to a dinner dance on the 28th of June Big Bamboo, you want to come?

[wooloomooloo]

Not really, just make sure you go.

[rene123]

It's been my experience that people use philosophy and religion to further their own personal agenda, which may, or may not be of any help to others. Why people do the things they do is entirely dependent on what goes on between their ears. I've see more negative results caused by religion than any beneficial result. Philosophy is something for people who actually don't want to do anything constructive.

[MAJIC]

As far as I can see,any Philosophy in Thailand comes from Bhuddism, considering it started as a philosophical way of life and is now categorized loosely as a Religeon,

[sirineou]

Thailand's religion is Buddhism which is more a philosophy rather than a Theistic religion based on faith, and as such I would say on the whole it is more philosophical than most.The problem that most westerners have in recognizing the Thais ability for introspection I think is one of communications.

Thais desire to keep personal thought private, especially toward foreigners, and some foreigners inability to speak the language.

So the Thais belief in demons and angels, where does that come from?

My understanding of Buddhism is cursory at best. I am sure some one other than me could best answer this question,

If I was forced to guess I would say it is an aberration .I would say that the introduction of the supernatural in to Buddhism is a deviation from"Darhma" the path .I guess an other example of how "Religion poisons everything"(God Is Not Great .Christopher Hitchens)

But the question at hand is not the merits or shortfalls of Buddhism but whether as the title states

"

Is Thailand The Most Philosophical Country In The World?"

I am not sure what criteria one uses to derive that.

I would say , perhaps not the most but certainly not the least

[boosta]

It's true that many people twist philosophy and religion to rationalize their selfish actions.

However everyone has a "religion", not least skeptical atheists, it's just the philosophy or "paradigm" underlying your view of the world, your system for understanding the "big picture" even if you don't think of it consciously.

In fact if you think you don't have one, that just means you've simply adopted wholesale what you were taught by your parents and mainstream culture at the time, and are only aware of it in contrast with beliefs you don't agree with, like a fish only starts to understand "water" when it's flopping around outside of it.

For those not adhering to any religious tradition, it's likely your worldview is what I call "scientism", which among other things holds that only things that can be seen, touched, measured, and quantified by the methods of science are real, using terms like hoax, superstition and pseudoscience for any phenomena not yet within the understood boundaries of the natural sciences, resulting IMO in an overly objectivist, reductionist, mechanist worldview.

Of course most actual working scientists don't actually hold to such a extreme-skeptic world view themselves, since their profession requires remaining open-minded to new inputs, accepting nothing on faith. In the abstract, almost pure-math arena of high-end physics, particularly that of quantum mechanics and string theory, the fundamental truths about the universe have been getting further and further away from ordinary people's common-sense view of reality. Multiple universes each with a different set of fundamental "laws" contradicting those of others, time as a construct of our brain's perception rather than a "real thing", anyone trying to understand this stuff quickly realizes it seems much more far-fetched than anything religion's come up with to explain how the world works.

As with most topic domains, as one's knowledge expands the primary result is the awareness of how little we truly "know". Only people with a very small and narrow view of reality believe in certainty anymore.

Some IMO interesting articles on these topics.

http://intellihub.com/2013/04/18/ted-flirts-with-scientism/

http://edge.org/conversation/think-about-nature

http://www.aeonmagazine.com/world-views/margaret-wertheim-the-limits-of-physics/

http://www.aeonmagazine.com/world-views/massimo-pigliucci-on-consilience/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/27/physics-philosophy-quantum-relativity-einstein?INTCMP=SRCH

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/books/review/curtis-whites-science-delusion.html?pagewanted=all

[sirineou]

However everyone has a "religion", not least skeptical atheists,

"Atheism is a religion as abstinence is a sexual position"

Bill Maher

[boosta]

However everyone has a "religion", not least skeptical atheists,

"Atheism is a religion as abstinence is a sexual position"

Bill Maher

-

Hence the quotes to show a non-conventional use of a term. . .

You can see I also used "paradigm", substitute that or "fundamental world view" or "model of the universe" or "zeitgeist" or "weltanschauung" if you prefer.

Here's a decent discussion on the topic: http://www.ted.com/conversations/17417/scientism_and_atheism_are_reli.html

Edited June 16, 2013 by boosta

[theblether]

Just goes to show you can philosophical inspiration anywhere Boosta, even a cartoon strip.

[uptheos]

Thailand's religion is Buddhism which is more a philosophy rather than a Theistic religion based on faith, and as such I would say on the whole it is more philosophical than most.The problem that most westerners have in recognizing the Thais ability for introspection I think is one of communications.

Thais desire to keep personal thought private, especially toward foreigners, and some foreigners inability to speak the language.

So the Thais belief in demons and angels, where does that come from?

My understanding of Buddhism is cursory at best. I am sure some one other than me could best answer this question,

If I was forced to guess I would say it is an aberration .I would say that the introduction of the supernatural in to Buddhism is a deviation from"Darhma" the path .I guess an other example of how "Religion poisons everything"(God Is Not Great .Christopher Hitchens)

But the question at hand is not the merits or shortfalls of Buddhism but whether as the title states

"

Is Thailand The Most Philosophical Country In The World?"

I am not sure what criteria one uses to derive that.

I would say , perhaps not the most but certainly not the least

Depends whether they can sing The Philosophers Song (courtesy of Monty Python)

Immanuel Kant was a real pissant who was very rarely stable

Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar who could think you under the table

David Hume could out-consumeSchopenhauer and Hegel

And Wittgenstein was a beery swine who was just as sloshed as Schlegel

There's nothing Nietzche couldn't teach ya'Bout the raising of the wrist

Socrates, himself, was permanently pissed

John Stuart Mill, of his own free will

On half a pint of shandy was particularly ill

Plato, they say, could stick it away

Half a crate of whiskey every day

Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle

Hobbes was fond of his dram

And Rene Descartes was a drunken fart"I drink, therefore I am"

Yes, Socrates, himself, is particularly missed

A lovely little thinkerBut a bugger when he's pissed

Edited June 17, 2013 by uptheos

[canman]

It's been my experience that people use philosophy and religion to further their own personal agenda, which may, or may not be of any help to others. Why people do the things they do is entirely dependent on what goes on between their ears. I've see more negative results caused by religion than any beneficial result. Philosophy is something for people who actually don't want to do anything constructive.

Too true:

Question: What is a recent philosophy Ph.D.'s usual question in his or her first job?

Answer: "Would you like french fries with that, sir?"

[boosta]

Tried to find the old Steve Martin (Philosophy major) routine, "What are you going to do, hang out a shingle, Dad I'm going to open a Philosophy Shop!"

Best I could find was this: