/lit/ - Literature

>>15289968
How many times to you fucking idiots have to be told that neither Hobbes nor Rousseau were making anthropological claims in their writings. No state of nature argument is a speculation on the origins of human society. did you miss this part in leviathan where Hobbes says:
>It may peradventure be thought, there was never such a time, nor condition of warre such as this; and i believe it was never generally so, over all the world. [...] But though there had never been any time, wherein particular men were in a condition of warre one against another; yet in all times, Kings, and persons of Soveraigne authority, because of their Independency, are in continuall jealousies, and in the state and posture of Gladiators; having their weapons pointing, and their eyes fixed on one another; that is, their Forts, Garrisons, and Guns upon the Frontiers of their Kingdomes; and continuall Spyes upon their neighbours; which is a posture of War. But because they uphold thereby, the Industry of their Subjects; there does not follow from it, that misery, which accompanies the Liberty of particular men.
Any moron can gather that Hobbes' state of nature occurs in the midst of society, because it is presume they have property to defend. Whether a result of natural impulse of society his argument still stands. There are plenty of problems in Hobbes' argument, but trying to pull an anthropological refutation is literally the stupidest avenue and demonstrates a distinct misunderstanding of the text. Stick to your lane.

>>15208675
you're the same cunt who asked whether philosophy was an incel pursuit yesterday. stop using it as an identity and fuck off back to >>>/r9k/

>>14346633
it seems you cant swallow the final blackpill; that you're to blame for your circumstances, and that it is in your power to reverse it. it is difficult to swallow your pride, to face the shame of having sunk as low as you have, to realise you have wasted so much of your life. but instead of clinging to your life raft and rotting in the delusion that it was destined to be, throw yourself into the uncertain waters of life and use those terrible emotions as fuel to claw your way out.

shut up you faggot. start stacking little things in your favour and compound-interest your way to success. grab life by the balls and make it beg for mercy.

>>12570427
There are enduring truths which stretch beyond time and space. Some of the specifics of society change, but, if we're to consider society as something worth studying, we ought to admit that there are relevant facts and observations that will hold as long as there are still humans living in groups. It is astounding the arrogance of people who would discount some of the greatest minds in history simply because they were writing centuries ago; the kinds of geniuses that an entire discipline was built around. If you think what Weber or Durkheim wrote holds no relevance today, then you are sorely ignorant. I understand that you need sources for a class or something and that you didn't set the parameters, but I have little tolerance for those who hold such attitudes. It is an insult to the humanities to see such a parochial opinion taken.

I really hate this trend of "effortless" mastery or "miracle diet" or change one habit to change your world". Sorry to use your thread as my soap box, but, as Hume said: "Reason is a the slave of the passions" and i'm quite impassioned at the moment. It isn't rare to see a thread pop up on this board saying something along the lines of "what's one book that can change my life?" or "what one book should i read to understand x?", basically they are all variations on the theme of "how can i solve my problems/become good at something without any serious input on my end?" It is an attitude which is pervasive among the perennial underachievers, and more and more among the broader cultural weltanschauung. You can see it in the modern archetypal genius: The pseudo-savant mastermind who instantly understands everything and has an effortless intuitive ability to solve all problems. It is even seen in the modern superhero trend: a mistake or experiment turns an ordinary human into a person with extraordinary abilities, who then uses these powers to save the world. Both of them underline the infantile assumption that the road to improvement or mastery is something which comes in an instant, or require a turn of luck or circumstance. This is the exact WRONG attitude towards achievement and success. Surely there is an impact of of luck through genetics and social circumstance, however, even if we consider an IQ as high as 150 to be "genius" level, which occurs in a 1 in 1,125 people, in the US population alone this should result in ~291,409 people. Yet, very few of these will be Mozart's or Newton's or Aristotle's—genetics isn't destiny in this respect. It's notable that almost every major thinker or writer wrote their magnum opus well into their career and after many, many years of work. This is because, and its something so obvious that it shouldn't have to be mentioned: the only road to real improvement is through consistent, challenging work; to borrow a term from Weber, it's a "strong and slow drilling of hard boards." If you want to become a genius, if you want to understand something you will have to work, work long and hard, through episodes of intense boredom and manic excitement, consistently and concertedly, for likely decades on end, to achieve a true understanding of any given field or activity. And what that requires is developing a discipline and humility towards any given subject, and an understanding of sacrifice necessary to achieve your goals. That isn't something you are going to get from reading a book—though you may find some inspiration from certain texts or thinkers—it's something you will have to develop within yourself; it's a fundamental change in one's personal ethics and outlook on life. Anything that requires no effort to achieve isn't something worth achieving. To say "i need a book to change my ways" is already an externalization of a problem you yourself can and have to change.

Get ready for NO STICKY! FUCK YOU MODS, I HAVEN"T FORGOTTEN!