Combining Philosophers

Ideas for H.Putnam/P.Oppenheim, Francis Bacon and Ruth Barcan Marcus

unexpand these ideas     |    start again     |     choose another area for these philosophers

display all the ideas for this combination of philosophers

---

1 idea

15. Nature of Minds / C. Capacities of Minds / 5. Generalisation by mind

12126	People love (unfortunately) extreme generality, rather than particular knowledge [Bacon]
	Full Idea: It is the nature of the mind of man (to the extreme prejudice of knowledge) to delight in the spacious liberty of generalities, as in a champaign region, and not in the inclosures of particularity.
	From: Francis Bacon (The Advancement of Learning [1605], II.VIII.1)
	A reaction: I have to plead guilty to this myself. He may have pinpointed the key motivation behind philosophy. We all want to know things, as Aristotle said, but some of us want the broad brush, and others want the fine detail.