Combining Philosophers

Ideas for Diogenes Laertius, George Santayana and Bas C. van Fraassen

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4 ideas

1. Philosophy / C. History of Philosophy / 1. History of Philosophy
8000 He who is ignorant of the history of philosophy is doomed to repeat it [Santayana, by MacIntyre]
     Full Idea: Santayana remarked that he who is ignorant of the history of philosophy is doomed to repeat it.
     From: report of George Santayana (The Life of Reason [1906]) by Alasdair MacIntyre - A Short History of Ethics Ch.1
     A reaction: Santayana's remark seems to have been about history in general, so this is a Macintyre thought. It obviously has a lot of truth, and most great philosophers seem hugely knowledgeable. However, ignorance brings a kind of freedom.
1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 7. Despair over Philosophy
12772 Philosophy is a value- and attitude-driven enterprise [Fraassen]
     Full Idea: Philosophy is a value- and attitude-driven enterprise; philosophy is in false consciousness when it sees itself otherwise.
     From: Bas C. van Fraassen (The Empirical Stance [2002], 1.5)
     A reaction: It is one thing to be permeated with values, and another to be value-driven. Truth, reason and logic are (I take it) granted a high value in philosophy, just as the offside rule is in football. I am trying to place reality in charge, not humanity.
1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 2. Possibility of Metaphysics
12771 Is it likely that a successful, coherent, explanatory ontological hypothesis is true? [Fraassen]
     Full Idea: How likely is it that a truly successful, coherent, explanatory ontological hypothesis is true?
     From: Bas C. van Fraassen (The Empirical Stance [2002], 1.5)
     A reaction: Van Fraassen announces "I reject metaphysic" (p.3), so we know where he stands. Anything becomes less certain as it moves to a higher level of generality. Should we abandon generalisation? There is much illumination in metaphysics.
1. Philosophy / F. Analytic Philosophy / 1. Nature of Analysis
12773 Analytic philosophy has an exceptional arsenal of critical tools [Fraassen]
     Full Idea: Analytical philosophy can rightly pride itself on having produced the greatest critical arsenal the world has ever known.
     From: Bas C. van Fraassen (The Empirical Stance [2002], 1.6)
     A reaction: This is, of course, in the context of a scathing attack on the desire to use analytical methods to do speculative metaphysics. I say that if these are the best tools, then we should push forward with them to see how far we can get.