Combining Philosophers

All the ideas for H.Putnam/P.Oppenheim, Eustachius a Sancto Paulo and Terry Pinkard

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8 ideas

1. Philosophy / C. History of Philosophy / 4. Later European Philosophy / c. Eighteenth century philosophy

22002	Wolff's version of Leibniz dominated mid-18th C German thought [Pinkard]
	Full Idea: The dominant philosophy of mid-eighteenth century Germany was Wolffianism, a codified and almost legalistically organised form of Leibnizian thought.
	From: Terry Pinkard (German Philosophy 1760-1860 [2002], Intro)
	A reaction: Kant grew up in this intellectual climate.

22021	Romantics explored beautiful subjectivity, and the re-enchantment of nature [Pinkard]
	Full Idea: Early Romanticism can be seen as the exploration of subjective interiority and as the re-enchantment of nature (as organic). Hegel said they had the idea of a 'beautiful soul', which (he said) either paralysed action, or made them smug.
	From: Terry Pinkard (German Philosophy 1760-1860 [2002], 06)
	A reaction: [compressed, inc Note 1] A major dilemma of life is the extent of our social engagement, because it makes life worthwhile, but pollutes the mind with continual conflicts.

22010	The combination of Kant and the French Revolution was an excited focus for German philosophy [Pinkard]
	Full Idea: After the French Revolution, philosophy suddenly became the key rallying point for an entire generation of German intellectuals, who had been reading Kant as the harbinger of a new order.
	From: Terry Pinkard (German Philosophy 1760-1860 [2002], Pt II Intro)
	A reaction: Kant was a harbinger because he offered an autonomous status to each individual, rather than being subservient to a social order.

1. Philosophy / C. History of Philosophy / 4. Later European Philosophy / d. Nineteenth century philosophy

22036	In Hegel's time naturalism was called 'Spinozism' [Pinkard]
	Full Idea: In Hegel's time the shorthand for the Naturalistic worldview was 'Spinozism'.
	From: Terry Pinkard (German Philosophy 1760-1860 [2002], 10)
	A reaction: Spinozism hit Germany like a bomb in 1786, when it was reported that the poet Hölderlin was a fan of Spinoza.

9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 2. Substance / c. Types of substance

16616	Substances 'substand' (beneath accidents), or 'subsist' (independently) [Eustachius]
	Full Idea: It is proper to substance both to stretch out or exist beneath accidents, which is to substand, and to exist per se and not in another, which is to subsist.
	From: Eustachius a Sancto Paulo (Summa [1609], I.1.3b.1.2), quoted by Robert Pasnau - Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671 06.2
	A reaction: This reflects Aristotle wavering between 'ousia' being the whole of a thing, or the substrate of a thing. In current discussion, 'substance' still wavers between a thing which 'is' a substance, and substance being the essence.

9. Objects / C. Structure of Objects / 2. Hylomorphism / a. Hylomorphism

16585	Prime matter is free of all forms, but has the potential for all forms [Eustachius]
	Full Idea: Everyone says that prime matter, considered in itself, is free of all forms and at the same time is open to all forms - or, that matter is in potentiality to all forms.
	From: Eustachius a Sancto Paulo (Summa [1609], III.1.1.2.3), quoted by Robert Pasnau - Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671 03.1
	A reaction: This is the notorious doctrine developed to support the hylomorphic picture derived from Aristotle. No one could quite figure out what prime matter was, so it faded away.

11. Knowledge Aims / C. Knowing Reality / 3. Idealism / a. Idealism

22048	Idealism is the link between reason and freedom [Pinkard]
	Full Idea: Idealism was conceived as a link between reason and freedom.
	From: Terry Pinkard (German Philosophy 1760-1860 [2002], 14 Conc)
	A reaction: I'm beginning to see the Romantic era as the Age of Freedom, which followed the Age of Reason. This idea fits that picture nicely. Pinkard says that paradoxes resulted from the attemptl

14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / j. Explanations by reduction

20653	Six reduction levels: groups, lives, cells, molecules, atoms, particles [Putnam/Oppenheim, by Watson]
	Full Idea: There are six 'reductive levels' in science: social groups, (multicellular) living things, cells, molecules, atoms, and elementary particles.
	From: report of H.Putnam/P.Oppenheim (Unity of Science as a Working Hypothesis [1958]) by Peter Watson - Convergence 10 'Intro'
	A reaction: I have the impression that fields are seen as more fundamental that elementary particles. What is the status of the 'laws' that are supposed to govern these things? What is the status of space and time within this picture?