I suppose an example would include anything that appeals to you . . .
I like the word “feeble”. I suspect I like the sound of it. I also think it is very accurate in describing a particular kind of weakness. Some words are more exacting than others. I’m sucker for precision with a good sound.
If you think something is really beautiful, something that fits your personal ideal of beauty, can you reverse your admiration for it, convincingly, so much so, you now find it ugly? That is, you would have no understanding of your former attraction. Are there proper steps to shucking the very things that speak to you and your devoted attention?
I bring this up because I notice myself drawn to philosphers whose terms are catchy even before I fully contemplate the concepts they have been ascribed to. I’m ready to believe in those concepts, just based on the initial feeling I get.
I imagine you might love a song, but it will wear out its affect on you. But I’m asking about the long lasting things that draw you in every time.
You could ask, why would one want to do this, but I would rather address that once I know it’s possible from your perspective. I prefer it that way.
I think this process does happen. The concept of ‘sinful’ can be one form of making something one would naturally react to positively seem repugnant: the human body.
But I think this is hard to set out to do, if one is taking on judgments experimentally and not because one is propagandized or convinced that a certain authority is correct.
Yes, I’m talking about the “setting out to do it” part. Because somethings just appeal to us without anyone elses encouragement. It seems natural to us that we like such and such a thing, without knowing every single way it captures us. I suppose I want to be able to examine how we are enticed by any certain thing, and I’m looking for a proper way to measure likes vs dislikes. “I just like it” is not enough sometimes.
I think that the problem you describe is that some philosophical statements exploit subconscious assumptions to explain and promote themselves. This may seem hard to control, and only by asking the question “How could the opposite be true as well?” or “Why would someone claim the opposite?” can you find these subconscious assumptions.
Try to understand the reasoning that goes against a philosophical statement if you want to understand the whole picture. Understanding why something is true is almost the same as understanding why it is not false, the only difference that you take an opposite approach.
It appeals to something they identify with subconsciously and gives the pleasure as a result. If you believe there is only one Good then it comes from that. If you dont then you basically believe it is ultimately a product of physical desires.