DEFINITIONS
No meaningful philosophical discussion can commence
until there has been mutual agreement on a precise
set of definitions for terminology.
This is also the point at which most philosophical
discussions become hopelessly muddled in an
interminable game of tail-chasing that precludes
the meaningful discussion from ever beginning.
Let us begin:
FREE WILL: n. the inability to comprehend neural mechanisms
EXISTENTIALISM: n. the mood and worldview that takes root
when the funniness stops but the absurdity continues
CHILDREN : n. the embodiments of a parent's longings
for vicarious immortality; more concrete and yet
equally as illusory as the religious concept of
"human immortal souls"
DEMOCRACY: n. a political system which attempts to
replace dictatorial tyranny with an egalitarian tyranny
of the majority; the substitution of a single, powerful
dictator with a multitude of smaller, powerless dictators;
a term to describe a system of government in which the
national populace is beguiled and seduced with the
illusion that it has freely elected its dictators.
TERRORISM: n. a style of warfare as practiced by a
smaller, weaker, more desperate army that lacks
a good public relations department or any effective
means to disseminate its propaganda, as much as
it lacks men and munitions.
TORTURE: n. any of a variety of inflicted unpleasantries
that have the unintended effect of confirming
existentialism and revealing the meaningless
heartlessness that is the basic core of the fabric of
beingness, that will eventually consume the torturer
as surely as the tortured.
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