THE OTCA Philosophy & Ethics Thread.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Turns out as well as having an abundance of teachers we also have one or two philosophy types here, so if Griff is okay with having it here I figured why not start a philosophy & ethics thread? We've been delving a bit into the nature/nurture debate a bit with some of the recent Autobot/Decepticon origin stories here, so clearly there is a place for philosophy in Transformers.

I'm no expert (just a BA) but am happy to share what I do know, as I'm sure are many others.

Any comments/questions/topics welcome.

EDIT - it's probably a good idea to lay some guidelines here. So far I've got one or two. Please feel free to suggest more or any amendments as you see fit.

1: Play nice please. Be polite, respect other peoples' opinions, no ad hominem attacks etc.
2: It's not a competition, people. The point of the thread is to discuss issues and hopefully gain new perspectives, rather than push our own views on others. Devil's advocate is fine IMO so long as it's considered and respectful. If you can't respectfully agree to disagree then don't play.
2 1/2: remember there's (generally) a big difference between facts and opinions.
3: Consider your posts and their impact/how they could be viewed before posting. The preview post button is your friend. And try not to post drunk or in a bad mood.
4: We're all friends or at least friendly acquaintances here, and here is a site devoted to collecting, discussing, and trading children's (and occasionally adult's) toys. Don't take it too seriously.

[roller]

theres alot of otuhcy efeyl threads poping up these days

[Golden Phoenix]

I always like Philosophy in school. Did it yr 11 and 12. Real hard subject. Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Kant and Nietzsche always interested me.

Especially Plato though. His theory about the forms did my head in....

I would have loved to have studied it at Uni, but I ended up at tafe in a very set course that had nothing to do with philosophy.

And you can't really do much with a degree in Philosophy either...cept teach, and that ain't my game

[griffin]

This will be a touchy topic, as it could delve into the realm of unresolvable issues (which we don't permit). See how it goes I guess, but I will shut it down if people start ranting or agressively argueing.

[Golden Phoenix]

This will be a touchy topic, as it could delve into the realm of unresolvable issues (which we don't permit). See how it goes I guess, but I will shut it down if people start ranting or agressively argueing.

Well, there goes most of Nietzsche's topics....

[jaydisc]

This will be a touchy topic, as it could delve into the realm of unresolvable issues (which we don't permit). See how it goes I guess, but I will shut it down if people start ranting or agressively argueing.

So we can't talk about Sky Daddies?

[Paulbot]

So is the point of this thread to discuss general philisophy and ethics and/or not TF specific? Because I have views on Transformer ethics and philisophy. Eg. From the Transformers point of view spoilers for ROTF: I don't think Megatron killing Sam to help save their race is such a bad thing, but destroying the sun and therefore Sam's whole race is but I think this may be an unresolvable issue.

[Eruntalon]

Especially Plato though. His theory about the forms did my head in....

Timaeaus and Critias? I loved reading Plato. I wrote an essay on those forms, as well as the orbits of the spheres (I'm having difficulty remembering a lot of the top of my head).

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

This will be a touchy topic, as it could delve into the realm of unresolvable issues (which we don't permit). See how it goes I guess, but I will shut it down if people start ranting or agressively argueing.

Cheers chief, we probably will get a lot of unresolvable stuff but as long as people play nice it could be workable.

Well, there goes most of Nietzsche's topics....

I'm a Nietzsche fan myself - I'll be good.

So we can't talk about Sky Daddies?

Better not to, but it's bound to come up sooner or later. Tread softly, and if possible talk about Primus or the Quintessons instead.

So is the point of this thread to discuss general philisophy and ethics and/or not TF specific? Because I have views on Transformer ethics and philisophy. Eg. From the Transformers point of view spoilers for ROTF: I don't think Megatron killing Sam to help save their race is such a bad thing, but destroying the sun and therefore Sam's whole race is but I think this may be an unresolvable issue.

TF specific was pretty much my intention, we do have these issues/questions arise from time to time so now we have a place to discuss them without derailing other areas.
By the same token we also have non-TF issues come up and while I'm OK with non-TF specific topics as well, they do have a lot more potential to go off the rails - again, use your better judgement. "I like Plato" is probably all good, but "is abortion wrong" could get real thorny real quick. It's Griff's board so let's leave non-TF topics out of it for now until/unless he gives the all clear.

[Golden Phoenix]

Timaeaus and Critias? I loved reading Plato. I wrote an essay on those forms, as well as the orbits of the spheres (I'm having difficulty remembering a lot of the top of my head).

Read a bit of the republic, and something else. It was a few years ago so memory is a bit shady, and even then, it was only extracts of it