3 ideas
| 3061 | Anaxarchus said that he was not even sure that he knew nothing [Anaxarchus, by Diog. Laertius] |
| Full Idea: Anaxarchus said that he was not even sure that he knew nothing. | |
| From: report of Anaxarchus (fragments/reports [c.340 BCE]) by Diogenes Laertius - Lives of Eminent Philosophers 09.10.1 |
| 15194 | Time, as it appears in standard modern science, is bad verificationist metaphysics [Smith,Q, by Le Poidevin] |
| Full Idea: Smith argues that the theories of time which appear in the Special and General Theories of Relativity and in orthodox quantum mechanics are false metaphysical theories, based on verificationist assumptions. | |
| From: report of Quentin Smith (Absolute Simultaneity and Infinity of Time [1998]) by Robin Le Poidevin - Intro to 'Questions of Time and Tense' 4 | |
| A reaction: I wouldn't have to confidence to stand up to the panoply of modern scientists, but I am glad Quentin Smith is having a go. I love Shoemaker's three worlds example, which defies all physics. |
| 5994 | Is the cosmos open or closed, mechanical or teleological, alive or inanimate, and created or eternal? [Robinson,TM, by PG] |
| Full Idea: The four major disputes in classical cosmology were whether the cosmos is 'open' or 'closed', whether it is explained mechanistically or teleologically, whether it is alive or mere matter, and whether or not it has a beginning. | |
| From: report of T.M. Robinson (Classical Cosmology (frags) [1997]) by PG - Db (ideas) | |
| A reaction: A nice summary. The standard modern view is closed, mechanistic, inanimate and non-eternal. But philosophers can ask deeper questions than physicists, and I say we are entitled to speculate when the evidence runs out. |