Sensualism. Pro et cons. Good or bad?

[wordy]

What is common to all of us and
which would work as a faith?

That we all have sense? A feeling for what we believe in?
sense (plural senses)

1. One of the methods for a living being to gather data about the world; sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste.
2. A general conscious awareness.

a sense of security

3. Sound practical judgment, as in common sense
4. The meaning, reason, or value of something.

You don’t make any sense.

5. A natural appreciation or ability

A keen musical sense

6. (pragmatics) The way that a referent is presented.
7. (semantics) A single conventional use of a word; one of the entries for a word in a dictionary.

[edit] Related terms

* sensation
* sensible
* sensitive
* sensual
* sensuous


Would Sensism work?

Does it already exist? Neither Wiki nor Wikionary had it.

Google has 7 300 entries on it. So it would be confusing maybe to add a new def
for sensism to all the other 7 300?

One suggestion is that Sensism is same as Sensualism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensualism

Sensualism or Sensationalism is a philosophical doctrine of the theory of knowledge, according to which sensations and perception are basic and most important form of true cognition. It may oppose abstract ideas. The basic principle of sensualism is "there is not anything in mind, which hasn't been in the sensations."[1]

a variation of Empiricism?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism

In philosophy, empiricism is a theory of knowledge which asserts that knowledge arises from experience. Empiricism is one of several competing views about how we know things, part of the branch of philosophy called epistemology, or "theory of knowledge". Empiricism emphasizes the role of experience and evidence, especially sensory perception, in the formation of ideas, while discounting the notion of innate ideas.[1]

In the philosophy of science, empiricism emphasizes those aspects of scientific knowledge that are closely related to evidence, especially as discovered in experiments. It is a fundamental part of the scientific method that all hypotheses and theories must be tested against observations of the natural world, rather than resting solely on a priori reasoning, intuition, or revelation. Hence, science is considered to be methodologically empirical in nature.

Now Sensualism seems to also mean sexual pleasure which make a lot of
comments from people who love to make fun of terms and threads.

So maybe that is why the term is not used more? A lot of sex sites seems to use the word sensualism.

Here is an example that show why the word is not used among us?

http://www.sensualism.com/sex/sexual-healing.html

That site is about Hedonism of the sexual sort. So they have hijacked the
word sensualism to almost entirely be associated with sex.

To be sensual is so much more than having sex.

[aupmanyav]

Senses being so puny cannot take you to truth. What do senses know about atom or Quatum mechanics? Sex without rules, sure to destroy the society (as we know it). What you write about sensism does not enthuse me.

[pescifish]

How about some sort of "Experience-ism?"

It's a tough call, wordy, but I spent some time over the years trying to make my own sense of what might be considered "common" to the experience of life. As aupmanyav says, I think our physical senses and abilities just aren't 'common' enough or broad enough or skilled/talented enough to take us to the truth.

For example, I developed a progressive retinal disease 5 years ago that radically changed my vision. I became legally blind in one eye one afternoon and the retina in that eye and in the other continued to develop permanent scarring damage from the disease. The rods and cones and their connection to the optic nerve not only can't produce a 'proper' image, but they send bogus signals. Which results in my brain interpreting and projecting all manner of spinning patterns, flashing lights, shooting colors, etc. as if they are happening in the 'real' world.

I can't believe my eyes! Other people can't hear, taste, feel, touch... Our senses aren't really all that common!

Nor do they give us all a common 'sense' of the reality of the natural, physical world. Even before my eye disease, I wasn't comfortable basing a whole philosophy on a common human physicality, but even more so now that I know how crappy one of my major senses performs!

I do think there is some manner of 'common human experience', but I'm not sure how to characterize it. I think, in the end, I've come to accept that trying to pin down a cohesive, logical philosophy isn't quite right for me. For now, it's better to simply be: have the experiences and hope that I'm able to live them as fully as possible.

[wordy]

For now, it's better to simply be: have the experiences and hope that I'm able to live them as fully as possible.

Thanks for sharing your situation there. Tough luck as they say.
Not easy to loose sight. I guess I rather loose hearing than sight.
To be able to see the body language in faces is very important
when one try to "read" other peoples minds. Sure their voice can
tell a bit too and if one hold their hands when they speak that can
reveal if their words get betrayed by their body telling how they
really feel about things they say.

I am at that age when my eyes are beginning to shrink and and that makes
"lightnings" and "flashes" appear and great blobs going over everything one
look at.

Maybe your suggestion is a good one.

For now, it's better to simply be: have the experiences and hope that I'm able to live them as fully as possible.

A kind of "existentialism" without the French or Nietchian political overtones?
Not a Kirkegaard version either. An ordinary way to be human without ascribing
terms to it.

Seeing value in to have the experiences and hope that I'm able to live them as fully as possible.

Experiencism? or your spelling Experience-ism

I found this about a famous American

DEWEY-L ARCHIVES -- May 2001,
So, Jim, when would say, "Ultimately, I believe Dewey came to read Hegel's idealism as experiencism..." I have to agree, wincing at the word "experiencism" ...
listserv.sc.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0105b&L=dewey-l&D=1&P=184

As you know I am searching a "ritual" group gettogether experiences and
one way would be to share "experiences" with others in a group setting.
Singing together is one such way of doing it. But it is unfair to us who
fail to sing good enough to "share" cause the others don't want to hear
our voices singing so out of tune. I guess that is why so many use recitation
instead of singing of the most valued texts.

[figuer]

[quote=""aupmanyav""]What do senses know about atom or Quatum mechanics? [/quote]All information concerning these seems to derive (ultimately) from sensory experience.

[figuer]

[quote=""wordy""]
A kind of "existentialism" without the French or Nietchian political overtones?
Not a Kirkegaard version either. An ordinary way to be human without ascribing
terms to it.[/quote]
Without the French, Nietzschian or Kierkegaardian connotations, I am an existentialist... I exist, that is all the certainty I know.

[wordy]

[quote=""figuer""]

A kind of "existentialism" without the French or Nietchian political overtones?
Not a Kirkegaard version either. An ordinary way to be human without ascribing
terms to it.

Without the French, Nietzschian or Kierkegaardian connotations, I am an existentialist... I exist, that is all the certainty I know.[/QUOTE]

Yes and then what?

I mean can we agree on something after you and me agreeing on it?
I mean what conclusions can we draw if we focus on that experience?

[wordy]

pescifish suggested this:

"For now, it's better to simply be: have the experiences and hope that I'm able to live them as fully as possible."

I can agree with this. Maybe not 100% cause it depends on how one interpret it in practical situations. What is ok to do?

I loved to be drunk. But knowing what bad consequences that could happen
if one are drunk many times because of that I've decided to not do it a second time.

I did it once and it felt very good. The happiest 15 minutes in my life
but that is a very contagious feeling so that could make me totally
dependent on doing it again and again and lose control over it.

So I never did it again. I don't expect that you and pescifish agree.

What could we agree upon?

[figuer]

[quote=""wordy""]
Yes and then what?

I mean can we agree on something after you and me agreeing on it?
I mean what conclusions can we draw if we focus on that experience?[/quote]

That depends much on personal tastes, but I observe that those who share such a view generally tend towards skepticism and secularism.

[aupmanyav]

[quote=""figuer""]All information concerning these seems to derive (ultimately) from sensory experience.[/quote]Mind can go beyond senses, that is how Einstein arrived at relativity.