Combining Philosophers

Ideas for H.Putnam/P.Oppenheim, Keith DeRose and Stoic school

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3 ideas

1. Philosophy / A. Wisdom / 2. Wise People
Wise men participate in politics, especially if it shows moral progress [Stoic school, by Stobaeus]
     Full Idea: The wise man participates in political life, especially in the sort of governments which show some moral progress.
     From: report of Stoic school (fragments/reports [c.200 BCE]) by John Stobaeus - Anthology 2.11b
     A reaction: Nowadays this would probably involve belonging to a political party which offered moral progress.
Wise men are never astonished at things which other people take to be wonders [Stoic school, by Diog. Laertius]
     Full Idea: The wise man is astonished at none of the things which appear to be wonders, such as the caves of Charon or tidal ebbs or hot springs or fiery exhalations from the earth.
     From: report of Stoic school (fragments/reports [c.200 BCE]) by Diogenes Laertius - Lives of Eminent Philosophers 07.123
     A reaction: This seems to me to be correct. Wise people will have thought more extensively about what is possible, and when something they had never imagined occurs, they have the humility to recognise their own limitations.
1. Philosophy / A. Wisdom / 3. Wisdom Deflated
No wise man has yet been discovered [Stoic school, by Cicero]
     Full Idea: According to the Stoics the wise man is hitherto undiscovered.
     From: report of Stoic school (fragments/reports [c.200 BCE]) by M. Tullius Cicero - On the Nature of the Gods ('De natura deorum') 2.133
     A reaction: This could plausibly be axiomatic for the whole of philosophy, since the subject is the 'love of wisdom', and not its acquisition. The subject is the pursuit of wisdom, which would be pointless if we already had it.