Post hoc, ergo propter hoc
I wish I learned this one back in PHIL202. After, therefore because of. Tangent: I can't stand misuse of therefore. People do it all the time here. Anyways, post hoc, ergo propter hoc is a logical fallacy. It makes me think of psychological egoism. Just because I feel good after I help someone doesn't mean I helped them to produce that good feeling. Same would go for ethical egoism. Ayn Rand is a real biatch. She's a good novelist, sure. Her writing was definitely empowering. At the same time, the level of indifference her heroes display for society (read people) goes beyond contemptuous. Disdain is more fitting. She even goes to length to describe how indifference is even crueler than disdain. She takes individualism to a sinful level, which brings me to...
Vox populi, vox dei
The voice of god is the voice of the people. Some of you may know I go to church about once a week... maybe three times every four weeks. I grew up a staunch atheist, started slipping into a more agnostic but still highly skeptical position around the age of 18, and became very entrenched in that position by the time I graduated college. So how can I go to church and stomach all the god and Jesus talk? I substitute dei for populi. The messages all come out quite empowering, actually. I think there's something to this. I'll definitely be writing more about it later.
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