I am a working woman and I am very confused on my personal perspective on "love". What is love exactly? I love my parents and I also love my boyfriend. But whom so ever I choose, the other one will be hurt. (Because of our separate religious backgrounds, and in the culture which I belong to it has high implications). Till what extent should I let the culture influence my decisions, especially regarding whom should I love?

Hi A common response to the question of life after death is that it can't exist because of an identity problem- i.e. if I was reincarnated I would no longer have my memories and therefore not be me...However isn't this more a problem of perception rather than identity. When I go to sleep at night I am still 'me', even if I have bizzare new memories and have taken on some odd new shape and form. Similarly, if I forget a large part of my dreams, is this some form of mini death?

I recently watched a documentary about a family torn apart by horrific acts of pedophilia. Moreover, a father and a son plead guilty to multiple counts of rape and sodomy. Yet, the rest of the family who had no part in the sexual abuse whatsoever, and had no idea that it was even happening, still supported their convicted family members. Yet, I have a friend who's father disowned her for simply marrying a man of a different race. She was Caucasian and he was African American. I guess my question is in regards to the morality of disowning family members. Is it ever okay to discontinue a relationship with a loved one and if so, under what circumstances?

It is said that even a broken clock is right twice a day. But can we actually say that a broken clock correctly tells the time twice a day? Wouldn't that require the clock, in some way, accomplishing some process that attempts to tell the time, and being successful twice? It seems to me that a broken clock can't be said to be correct at all, since it isn't even trying. For sake of analogy, if I ask someone a trivia yes-no question, and they decide their answer by flipping a coin, are they correct if the coin happens to give them the right answer?

A philosopher pointed out the the big questions of philosophy are also the ones asked by all children. I'm thinking Quine, or Bertrand Russell But I can't remember. Anyone know?

is there really such a thing as unconditional love? you love a person simply because of who he/she is, not because of what he/she can do or give to you. a love without expectations from the others person. ?

Suppose someone brings John a glass of tap water, which John watcher being poured from an entirely normal tap. Yet suppose that the water from that particularly tap was somehow laced with poison. When asked what the glass contains, John, not knowing of the poison, says "That's water." Let's put aside the issue of whether witnessing tap water being poured is sufficient grounds for knowledge that the substance is in fact tap water, and assume that, were the water not poisoned, John would have a justified true belief about the contents of the glass. Presented with the poisoned water, does John have knowledge about the contents of the glass? I ask because, normally, our tap water contains a great deal of things besides water, yet we would not intuitively say that calling the stuff that comes from taps "water" is incorrect. But if some of the stuff was poison, it suddenly seems that John's belief that the glass contains water is incorrect (despite, in a sense, being obviously true), because if he were to...

It is said that doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is stupid and or insane - but is it? My teenage son occasionally truants from school and when does he is punished by suspension - which suits him as he does not like school. However, missing school sets him further back with his studies, which makes him like school less, so he truants more frequently, then he is given more suspension and the cycle continues. When I discuss the matter with the school Principal and Vice Principal their attitude is that these are the rules and cannot be changed to suit a particular student as, among other things, that would be unfair to the other students. I said that treating all the students the same is not necessarily fair; that students should be treated according to their needs. I asked the school to use a different form of punishment (detention, extra homework, not allowed on school trips, etc. for a while - but to no avail (there is no point getting on to the School Board as both...

The phrase "inner beauty" is often used in popular writing. Is there a philosophical line of thought about what inner beauty is. In other words, do some philosophers maintain that there is a sort of beauty inside a thing that is distinct from whatever beauty that might exist in the exterior structure and symmetry and proportions of the thing?

Why do grandparent's love their grandchildren so much, when they can usually take or leave other people's children? Is it natures way of making sure that should something happen to the natural parents, the offspring will be raised by someone who cares?