Vik Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 Are there any philosophical differences that are simply a consequence of acquiring more experience and living life? What philosophical ideas are a mark of emotional maturity, if any? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eiuol Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Can you be more specific on what you mean by philosophical differences? It sounds to me like you are wondering about what sort of philosophical conclusions require experience. Philosophy in general doesn't require any particular kind of observation or experience, because any conclusion or induction flows from the law of identity. Now, when it comes to the purpose of art, that requires a lot of thinking and would require experience in looking at art. I need more specifics in order to discuss further. Philosophical ideas that are a mark of emotional maturity? Being able to think in terms of long-term. Being able to think selfishly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prometheus98876 Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Eiuol : Well I dont know , many kids I have known are better at thinking selfishly than many adults I have known. In that they think primarily of their own interests, however they are not always able to know what exactly is in their own self interest or how to pursue said interests properly. This sort of stuff is difficult for kids though, partially because they are unable/much less able to plan long-term I suppose one could argue that they do not learn to act selfishly in explict terms until later on it life though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2046 Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Some passages in Branden cover this sort of thing. If we think of the goal of maturation or mental adulthood as the development from a completely dependent child to an independent and self-supporting (not just financially, but meaning psychologically here), then there are certain kinds of beliefs that encourage, support, and lead to emotional maturity, and certain kinds that tend to thwart it. I don't know if that means there are beliefs that lead to maturity or are a consequence of already having it, but I would venture to guess it's probably a reciprocal kind of thing. Branden gives a list of these sorts of ideas and premises, and needless to say, it's pretty much the usual thing to be expected along Objectivist lines, such as the ability to think in principles, the ability to think long-range, the ability to defer immediate pleasure (lowered time-preference), able to deal with frustrations, emotional stability (doesn't go to pieces under pressure), unwillingness to entertain the arbitrary, self-acceptance, self-responsibility, self-assertion, etc. See The Psychology of Self-Esteem chapter 6 "Mental Health" especially section 4 "Psychological Maturity" and also The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem chapters 12 and 13. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eiuol Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 Eiuol : Well I dont know , many kids I have known are better at thinking selfishly than many adults I have known. In that case, the kids are emotionally mature and the adults are not. I was using maturity apart from a sense of age. Adult versus youth only matters insofar as kids are a lot less likely to have reached emotional maturity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prometheus98876 Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 Oh right, yeah I see what you were going for there, though it somehow seems to have eluded me at first. But anyway, I am far from an expert in this subject, however I cannot think of that many "philosophical ideas" which tend to seperate emontional maturity. Sure, I suppose that there are probably some "philosophical ideas" which might require more emontional maturity to grasp, but not many come to mind. Perhaps it would be better to say that emontional maturity may be required to grasp some of them properly/explicitly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LovesLife Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 Are there any philosophical differences that are simply a consequence of acquiring more experience and living life? Wouldn't it depend a lot on what your path through life is? I don't think getting older by itself causes any philosophical changes. What philosophical ideas are a mark of emotional maturity, if any? A proper set of morals (values and virtues) seems like a big one to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prometheus98876 Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 Granted that adults are probably more likely to have a "proper" set of values, but some younger people do just great in respect to some/many of them. Are there any in particular you think that adults might do better with though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LovesLife Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 Granted that adults are probably more likely to have a "proper" set of values, but some younger people do just great in respect to some/many of them. Are there any in particular you think that adults might do better with though? Most kids don't have to support themselves, so Productiveness and Independence are virtues that are likely to be more highly developed in adults than kids. Also, I'm not saying that all kids don't have proper morals. Rather, people learn by experience. Everyone has some type of moral code, whether they know it or not. Experience helps us learn what works and what doesn't. A kid might think there's no cost to dishonesty, for example. After they suffer the consequences of lying, they might recognize their error and adjust their moral code accordingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RationalBiker Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 Most kids don't have to support themselves, so Productiveness and Independence are virtues that are likely to be more highly developed in adults than kids. More highly developed perhaps, or perhaps just applicable to a different set of values. Productiveness is achieving those goals that further your life. For a kid, that may mean playing or engaging in activities that entertain and/or educate. Independence would be learning to do that without parents help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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