on Sophism

This is not a website about chess. This is a website about thinking. Mankind has recently entered a new level of sophistication for which we aren't quite ready. There was a time when brutal honesty reigned supreme- when people could speak their minds freely under the belief that each was entitled to their own opinion. As we have become more sophisticated, however, we discovered that honesty was, in fact, not the ideal way to promote our opinions.

Since the golden era of philosophy, those with the proper level of self-importance have learned not to promote their ideas from their own point of view, but from the point of view of their opponent. What once was simply the Devil's work became sanctity of marriage, preservation of the children, defense of democracy, freedom of speech, or the preservation of life. "We're not doing this to achieve power, we're doing this for the good of the common man." Protecting doctors became protecting the patient, protecting corporations became protecting the customer, protecting the government became protecting the people. Somehow.

While justice remains nothing more than power to the stronger, the strong have learned to convince the weak that they are being protected. But if the strong are protecting the weak, who are they being protected from? The other weak. Young married couples are protected from homosexuals, children are protected from pornography and obscenity, the sick are protected from frivolous malpractice suits. The unborn are protected from pro-choicers, while women are protected from pro-lifers. Liberals are protected from the religious right, while the honest working man is protected from knee-jerk regulations. Somehow, differing opinions share the same dysphemism, while those in power are simply the innocent arbitrators.

This is not a political website. This is an attempt to look at modern philosophy, much in the way we addressed issues thousands of years ago. No man can express his opinion without being held accountable. And so, the opinion hides, for fear of crushing the man who carries it. No opinion is a philosophy; no perspective is truth. When all opinions are considered, truth can be found. When more opinions are discovered, truth can be challenged. When knowledge changes our opinions, what we once considered truth can be destroyed. This is not a website about truth. This is a website about thinking.