Clarification/Follow-up by Oldstillwild on 11/30/05 2:37 pm:
Hi Tonyrey!
Id say,
Lets hear,
what you mean,
by (your) profound explanation.

Then we can talk about
(your)obscurity
and (your)unintelligibility
in all integrity
in (your)goodness.
(for a start)

Clarification/Follow-up by Choux on 11/30/05 7:18 pm:
Olds...tony never says anything, he offers criticism of others thoughts! I really wish he would say something.

Clarification/Follow-up by Dark_Crow on 12/01/05 5:28 pm:
Since it is difficult to make sure whether a particular habit is inherited or is due to infantile training and tradition, I shall employ the word "cosmic intuition" to cover both cases. Intuition, in fact— is a disposition, that is, as some general principle working in a man’s’ nature which determines how he will act, in the proper sense of the word, an inherited disposition.

Clarification/Follow-up by tonyrey on 12/01/05 6:28 pm:
I share your belief in intuition, DC, but no one seems to have explained its nature and origin. Perhaps this indicates that the mind and its existence are inexplicable...

Clarification/Follow-up by tonyrey on 12/03/05 3:49 am:
Ken, I take your point about vagueness but sometimes generality may be unavoidable. An example is existence. Do things exist in different ways or do they exist unconditionally (as opposed to not exist)? When we get to the most elemental facts it seemss hardly surprising that there is obscurity!

Clarification/Follow-up by Jon1667 on 12/03/05 9:09 am:
Generality is not, of course, the same thing as vagueness, although a term or concept may be both. "Politicians are (in general) liars" is general, but in most contexts, not vague.

I would not even say that the question, "what is goodness?" is particularly vague. It is just that we can't be sure just what it is that is being asked, like, of course, "What is it to eat mashed potatoes?" The concepts are not, by themselves, particularly vague. It is just that we don't understand what the questioner has in mind by asking his question (and suspect that neither has the questioner). Another analogy that springs to mind is the sentence Bacon began his Essay on Truth with. "'What is truth' asked jesting Pilate, but would not stay for answer". Here, without the context supplied by Bacon, we would have no idea what someone who asked, "What is truth?" had in mind. What he expected as a reply. In the context, of course, Pilate was not really asking a question, but making a cynical (rhetorical) comment.

Clarification/Follow-up by Jon1667 on 12/03/05 9:22 am:
Choux:

"A picture in one's mind is still worth a thousand words. :)"

Conjuring up a picture in one's mind of an abstraction like goodness would be a neat trick, if one could do it.

Clarification/Follow-up by Choux on 12/05/05 2:23 pm:
Jon1667:: (not Jon1967 who I sometimes confuse you with)

I'm surprised by your comment. Goodness is not a passive quality, it is a human being doing something...doing good.

Therefore, one can picture a human being exhibiting goodness.

For example: A picture in my mind is an adult female reaching out and touching the face of a child while smiling. :)