16 ideas
12036 | Xenophanes began the concern with knowledge [Annas] |
Full Idea: Xenophanes begins a long concern with knowledge and its grounds. | |
From: Julia Annas (Ancient Philosophy: very short introduction [2000], Intro) | |
A reaction: Having that on his cv ought to make Xenophanes more famous than he is. |
12046 | Plato was the first philosopher who was concerned to systematize his ideas [Annas] |
Full Idea: In the ancient world Plato was seen as a pivotal figure, the first philosopher who was concerned to systematize his ideas. | |
From: Julia Annas (Ancient Philosophy: very short introduction [2000], Ch.6) |
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. |
3534 | To be is to have causal powers [Alexander,S] |
Full Idea: To be is to have causal powers. | |
From: Samuel Alexander (works [1927], §4), quoted by Jaegwon Kim - Nonreductivist troubles with ment.causation | |
A reaction: This is sometimes called Alexander's Principle. It is first found in Plato, and is popular with physicalists, but there are problem cases... A thing needs to exist in order to have causal powers. To exist is more than to be perceived. |
3398 | Epiphenomenalism makes the mind totally pointless [Alexander,S] |
Full Idea: Epiphenomenalism supposes something to exist in nature which has nothing to do and no purpose to serve. | |
From: Samuel Alexander (works [1927]), quoted by Jaegwon Kim - Philosophy of Mind p.129 | |
A reaction: An objection, but not, I think, a strong one. The fact, for example, that sweat is shiny is the result of good evolutionary reasons, but I cannot think of any purpose which it serves. All events which are purposeful are likely to have side-effects. |
14494 | Epiphenomenalism is like a pointless nobleman, kept for show, but soon to be abolished [Alexander,S] |
Full Idea: Epiphenomenalism supposes something to exist in nature which has nothing to do, no purpose to serve, a species of noblesse which depends on the work of its inferiors, but is kept for show and might as well, and undoubtedly would in time be abolished. | |
From: Samuel Alexander (Space, Time and Deity (2 vols) [1927], 2:8), quoted by Jaegwon Kim - Nonreductivist troubles with ment.causation IV | |
A reaction: Wonderful! Kim quotes this, and labels the implicit slogan (to be real is to have causal powers) 'Alexander's Dictum'. All the examples given of epiphenomena are only causally inert within a defined system, but they act causally outside the system. |
3546 | 'Phronesis' should translate as 'practical intelligence', not as prudence [Annas] |
Full Idea: The best translation of 'phronesis' is probably not 'prudence' (which implies a non-moral motive), or 'practical wisdom' (which makes it sound contemplative), but 'practical intelligence', or just 'intelligence'. | |
From: Julia Annas (The Morality of Happiness [1993], 2.3) |
12037 | Euripides's Medea is a key case of reason versus the passions [Annas] |
Full Idea: Euripides's Medea has remained a key case for discussion of reason and the passions. | |
From: Julia Annas (Ancient Philosophy: very short introduction [2000], Ch.1) |
3547 | Epicureans achieve pleasure through character development [Annas] |
Full Idea: Since having a virtue does not reduce to performing certain kinds of acts, the Epicurean will achieve pleasure only by aiming at being a certain kind of person. | |
From: Julia Annas (The Morality of Happiness [1993], 2.4) | |
A reaction: No Epicurean would want to merely possess virtues, without enacting them. I assume that virtues are sought as guides to finding the finest pleasures (such as friendship). |
3543 | Cyrenaics pursue pleasure, but don't equate it with happiness [Annas] |
Full Idea: Cyrenaics claimed our final good was pleasure, best achieved by seeking maximum intensity of pleasurable experiences, but they explicitly admitted that this was not happiness. | |
From: Julia Annas (The Morality of Happiness [1993], 1) |
12040 | Virtue is a kind of understanding of moral value [Annas] |
Full Idea: There is a widespread view in ancient ethics that virtue is a kind of understanding of moral value. | |
From: Julia Annas (Ancient Philosophy: very short introduction [2000], Ch.3) | |
A reaction: In Aristotle's case, this coincides with his apparent view that 'understanding' is the aim of all areas of human thought. See Idea 12038. |
3541 | Ancient ethics uses attractive notions, not imperatives [Annas] |
Full Idea: Instead of modern 'imperative' notions of ethics (involving obligation, duty and rule-following), ancient ethics uses 'attractive' notions like those of goodness and worth | |
From: Julia Annas (The Morality of Happiness [1993], Intro) |
3550 | Principles cover life as a whole, where rules just cover actions [Annas] |
Full Idea: Principles concern not just types of actions, but one's life as a whole, grasping truths about the nature of justice, and the like; they explain rules, giving the 'why' and not just the 'what'. | |
From: Julia Annas (The Morality of Happiness [1993], 2.4) |
3551 | Virtue theory tries to explain our duties in terms of our character [Annas] |
Full Idea: An ethics of virtue moves from an initial interest in what we ought to do to an interest in the kinds of people we are and hope to be, because the latter is taken to be the best way of understanding the former. | |
From: Julia Annas (The Morality of Happiness [1993], 2.5) |
3552 | If excessively good actions are admirable but not required, then duty isn't basic [Annas] |
Full Idea: Supererogatory actions are admirable and valuable, and we praise people for doing them, but they do not generate obligations to perform them, which casts doubt on obligation as the basic notion in ethics. | |
From: Julia Annas (The Morality of Happiness [1993], 2.6) |
3542 | We should do good when necessary, not maximise it [Annas] |
Full Idea: Why should I want to maximise my acting courageously? I act courageously when it is required. | |
From: Julia Annas (The Morality of Happiness [1993], 1) |