Combining Philosophers

All the ideas for Gorgias, Solon and G.H. von Wright

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11 ideas

7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 3. Being / d. Non-being
18933 Not-Being obviously doesn't exist, and the five modes of Being are all impossible [Gorgias, by Diog. Laertius]
     Full Idea: I. Nothing exists. a) Not-Being does not exist. b) Being does not exist as everlasting, as created, as both, as One, or as Many. II. If anything does exist, it is incomprehensible. III. If existence is comprehensible, it is incommunicable.
     From: report of Gorgias (fragments/reports [c.443 BCE], B03) by Diogenes Laertius - Lives of Eminent Philosophers 09
     A reaction: [Also Sextus Empiricus, Against Logicians I.65-] For Part I he works through all the possible modes of being he can think of, and explains why none of them are possible. It is worth remembering that Gorgias loved rhetoric, not philosophy!
10. Modality / B. Possibility / 1. Possibility
8361 What is true used to be possible, but it may no longer be so [Wright,GHv]
     Full Idea: It is not very natural to say of that which is true that it is also possible. ...What is true was possible - but whether it still is a potency of the world is not certain.
     From: G.H. von Wright (Logic and Epistemology of Causal Relations [1973], §5)
     A reaction: A simple and rather important distinction. Before encountering this, I would certainly have been happy to affirm that the actual is possible, but actually it may not be. The power to create differs from the power to sustain. Could God re-create the world?
19. Language / F. Communication / 1. Rhetoric
9866 Gorgias says rhetoric is the best of arts, because it enslaves without using force [Gorgias, by Plato]
     Full Idea: Gorgias insists that the art of persuasion is superior to all others because it enslaves all the rest, with their own consent, not by force, and is therefore by far the best of all the arts.
     From: report of Gorgias (fragments/reports [c.443 BCE]) by Plato - Philebus 58a
     A reaction: A nice point, and it is not unreasonable to rank the arts in order of their power. To enchant, without achieving agreement, and to speak truth without persuading, are both very fine, but there is something about success that cannot be gainsaid.
5864 Destroy seriousness with laughter, and laughter with seriousness [Gorgias]
     Full Idea: Destroy the seriousness of others with laughter, and their laughter with seriousness.
     From: Gorgias (fragments/reports [c.443 BCE]), quoted by Aristotle - The Art of Rhetoric 1419b
     A reaction: This sounds like brilliant tactical advice, which should be on the wall of every barrister's chambers. This is a case of rhetoric having something to teach us which is nothing at all to do with truth. It is more like learning karate.
25. Social Practice / D. Justice / 3. Punishment / c. Deterrence of crime
1743 The greatest deterrence for injustice is if uninjured parties feel as much indignation as those who are injured [Solon, by Diog. Laertius]
     Full Idea: Men can be most effectively deterred from committing injustice if those who are not injured feel as much indignation as those who are.
     From: report of Solon (reports [c.600 BCE]) by Diogenes Laertius - Lives of Eminent Philosophers 01.So.10
26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 5. Direction of causation
8363 p is a cause and q an effect (not vice versa) if manipulations of p change q [Wright,GHv]
     Full Idea: What makes p a cause-factor relative to the effect-factor q (rather than vice versa) is the fact that by manipulating p, producing changes in it 'at will', we could bring about changes in q.
     From: G.H. von Wright (Logic and Epistemology of Causal Relations [1973], §8)
     A reaction: As a solution to the direction-of-causation problem, I suspect that this proposal is begging the question. Will a causal explanation be offered of the action of manipulation? If he mistook his manipulation for a cause when it is actually an effect...
8364 We can imagine controlling floods by controlling rain, but not vice versa [Wright,GHv]
     Full Idea: Given our present knowledge of the laws of nature, we can imagine ways of controlling floods by controlling rainfall, but not the other way round. That is should be so, however, is contingent.
     From: G.H. von Wright (Logic and Epistemology of Causal Relations [1973], §8)
     A reaction: Despite my objections to Idea 8363, this is a good example. It won't establish the metaphysics of the direction of causation, though, because God might control rainfall by controlling floods. Maybe causation is more like a motorway pile-up than dominoes.
26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 8. Particular Causation / a. Observation of causation
8366 The very notion of a cause depends on agency and action [Wright,GHv]
     Full Idea: There is an implicit dependence of the very notion of a cause on a concept of agency and action.
     From: G.H. von Wright (Logic and Epistemology of Causal Relations [1973], §10)
     A reaction: This is because he thinks experimental intervention is the key to the concept of causation (see Ideas 8362 and 8363). Others go further, and say that the concept of causation arises from subjective experience of performing actions. I quite like that.
8362 We give regularities a causal character by subjecting them to experiment [Wright,GHv]
     Full Idea: What confers on observed regularities the character of causal or nomic connections is the possibility of subjecting cause-factors to experimental test by interfering with the 'natural' course of events.
     From: G.H. von Wright (Logic and Epistemology of Causal Relations [1973], §7)
     A reaction: This is von Wright's distinctive proposal, making causation a feature of the culture of science, rather than of ordinary life. But see Idea 2461. Causation is becoming too epistemological for my taste. Either it is a feature of reality, or forget it.
26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 8. Particular Causation / c. Conditions of causation
8360 We must further analyse conditions for causation, into quantifiers or modal concepts [Wright,GHv]
     Full Idea: We may be able to analyse causation into conditionship relations between events or states of affairs, ...but conditions cannot be regarded as logical primitives, ... and must be analysed into quantifiers, or modal concepts.
     From: G.H. von Wright (Logic and Epistemology of Causal Relations [1973], §2)
     A reaction: [very compressed] A nice illustration of the aim of analytical philosophy - to analyse the elements of reality down to logical primitives. This is the dream of Descartes and Leibniz, continued by Russell and co. Do we still have this aspiration?
26. Natural Theory / D. Laws of Nature / 2. Types of Laws
8365 Some laws are causal (Ohm's Law), but others are conceptual principles (conservation of energy) [Wright,GHv]
     Full Idea: Not all laws are causal 'experimentalist' laws, such as those for falling bodies, or the Gas Law, or Ohm's Law. Some are more like conceptual principles, giving a frame of reference, such as inertia, or conservation of energy, or the law of entropy.
     From: G.H. von Wright (Logic and Epistemology of Causal Relations [1973], §9)
     A reaction: An interesting and important distinction, whenever one is exploring the links between theories of causation and of laws of nature. If one wished to attack the whole concept of 'laws of nature', this might be a good place to start.