Combining Philosophers

All the ideas for Archimedes, Averroes (Ibn Rushd) and Adam Dance

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3 ideas

6. Mathematics / B. Foundations for Mathematics / 3. Axioms for Geometry

13007	Archimedes defined a straight line as the shortest distance between two points [Archimedes, by Leibniz]
	Full Idea: Archimedes gave a sort of definition of 'straight line' when he said it is the shortest line between two points.
	From: report of Archimedes (fragments/reports [c.240 BCE]) by Gottfried Leibniz - New Essays on Human Understanding 4.13
	A reaction: Commentators observe that this reduces the purity of the original Euclidean axioms, because it involves distance and measurement, which are absent from the purest geometry.

7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 3. Being / e. Being and nothing

16587	Prime matter is halfway between non-existence and existence [Averroes]
	Full Idea: Prime matter falls halfway, as it were, between complete non-existence and actual existence.
	From: Averroes (Ibn Rushd) (Commentary on 'Physics' [1190], I.70), quoted by Robert Pasnau - Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671 03.1

17. Mind and Body / E. Mind as Physical / 7. Anti-Physicalism / a. Physicalism critique

3448	Do new ideas increase the weight of the brain? [Dance]
	Full Idea: If someone gives you a piece of information, does your brain suddenly become heavier?
	From: Adam Dance (works [2001]), quoted by PG - Db (ideas)
	A reaction: A beautifully simple question, which is a reductio of the idea that information is simply a physical object. The question points to a functionalist account of brain activity.