The Buddha described the indulgence of sensory pleasures as licking honey from the edge of a razor

Overview Debates Related claims Topics

Toby Ord published an essay arguing that artificial intelligence systems automate mathematical proofs without demonstrating the ability to pose powerful questions or create new fields of mathematical inquiry

Philosopher Nick Bostrom proposed the paperclip maximizer thought experiment to illustrate existential risk from unconstrained artificial intelligence goals

Inner peace involves recognizing that reality is governed by impermanence rather than seeking constant bliss

Monk Bhikkhu Nyanamoli authored the biography The Life of the Buddha, drawing directly from ancient Buddhist scriptures

In Buddhist scripture, the Buddha told his attendant Ananda that spiritual friendship constitutes the entirety of the spiritual path

In Buddhist scriptures, the Buddha maintained personal boundaries by periodically withdrawing into solitary forest retreats away from his monastic community

Ananda was the Buddha's cousin and attendant who orally memorized the Buddha's discourses

Blaise Pascal's wager is a decision theory argument advocating for belief in God as a pragmatic bet-hedging strategy

Aristotle defended political participation on intrinsic grounds, defining democratic citizenship as ruling and being ruled in turn

Democratic political equality requires threshold process rights among citizens, including voting rights and freedom of speech

Complex regulatory regimes lacking popular political consent face stability risks when distributing economic burdens and gains

Democracy is defined by Jedediah Purdy as a decision process of majority rule among political equals

Technocratic governance removes distributive decisions and core value judgments from deliberate collective popular choice

Shunting value-laden political decisions to expert institutions subjects those bodies to intense partisan pressure and conflict

Political questions are collective decisions that establish the fundamental legal terms of shared societal life

Roman philosopher Seneca wrote that individuals who suffer before it is necessary suffer more than is necessary

In 'Meditations,' Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote that the best revenge is to not resemble those who commit wrongs

Ancient Greek and Roman Stoic philosophers actively participated in public governance and politics

At Hilaree Nelson's memorial service, climber Timmy O'Neill stated that people die once when their soul leaves the body, and a second time when stories about them cease to be told

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's mill thought experiment asserts that mechanical interactions of physical parts cannot explain perception