I'm a bit out of place here ... I use Filterstorm and/or Photogene on my iPad for post.
I tried Lightroom but it ran like treacle laced with tar on my 2008 iMac, and didn't give me results any better than I got on the iPad - possibly not even as good.
The biggest thing for me is that I don't want to be hiding away in my computer room; I like being able to sit out with the rest of the family (and I don't have a laptop). The other big thing is how much easier I find it using masking tools by touching the screen than by fiddling with a mouse.
So, the tools. Now the philosophy? ... I used to feel that SOOC was an ideal to aim for, and if my images didn't come out of the camera spot on then it was a failing. But I've changed my mind - because of arguments the same as have been raised in this thread.
For basic post it's just as said or at least implied by others in this thread: bringing the image closer to the way my eye represented the scene to me. That can require a range of tools, most of which have been mentioned.
Then there's B&W, which is its own different animal. It's obviously not representing the scene as the eye did, but it somehow doesn't seem to me like major image manipulation. There's a hell of a lot more to a good B&W than just desaturating though, so those PP tools are necessary again.
Then there's the image manipulation, which for me means firing up a filter-based app (mostly Aviary, since Camerabag2 mostly stopped working with iOS7). That's when I just want to conjure up some sort of feel or look that is perhaps implied by the photograph, but is more based in some other cultural/artistic/temporal reference than it is in reality.