Combining Philosophers

All the ideas for Nicolas Malebranche, Benedetto Croce and Peter E. Pormann

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6 ideas

8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 8. Properties as Modes
Everything that exists is either a being, or some mode of a being [Malebranche]
     Full Idea: It is absolutely necessary that everything in the world be either a being or a mode [manière] of a being.
     From: Nicolas Malebranche (The Search After Truth [1675], III.2.8.ii), quoted by Robert Pasnau - Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671 13.4
21. Aesthetics / B. Nature of Art / 4. Art as Expression
The experience of expression and communication are intermingled in art [Croce]
     Full Idea: It is very difficult to perceive the frontier between expression and communication in actual fact, for the two processes usually alternate rapidly and are almost intermingled.
     From: Benedetto Croce (The Essence of Aesthetic [1912]), quoted by Gary Kemp - Croce and Collingwood
     A reaction: [text unsure] I think he is getting at seeing the painting (or whatever) as a physical object, and seeing it as the experience which results from the object. The alternation of the objective and subjective views. Reminds me of Thomas Nagel.
21. Aesthetics / C. Artistic Issues / 1. Artistic Intentions
Historical interpretation aims to recapture the author's view of the work [Croce]
     Full Idea: Historical interpretation enables us to see a work of art as its author saw it in the moment of production.
     From: Benedetto Croce (Aesthetic as Science of Expression [1902], §II), quoted by W Wimsatt/W Beardsley - The Intentional Fallacy §II
     A reaction: Wimsatt and Beardsley quote this as the romantic antithesis of their own view, but there is a blurring between understanding a work and judging. Personally I consider intentions essential for understanding, and valuable for judgement.
22. Metaethics / B. Value / 2. Values / d. Health
The Greeks had a single word meaning both 'beautiful' and 'good' [Pormann]
     Full Idea: The later Greeks coined the term 'kalokagathia' for the fact of being both beautiful [kalos] and good [agathos], thus linking moral and physical health.
     From: Peter E. Pormann (Medical Conceptions of Health pre-Renaissance [2019], p.44)
     A reaction: In their literature good people are often handsome, and bad people ugly. Socrates was famous for being an exception.
26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 9. General Causation / d. Causal necessity
A true cause must involve a necessary connection between cause and effect [Malebranche]
     Full Idea: A true cause as I understand it is one such that the mind perceives a necessary connection between it and its effects.
     From: Nicolas Malebranche (The Union of Body and Soul [1675], p.116)
In a true cause we see a necessary connection [Malebranche]
     Full Idea: A true cause is one in which the mind perceives a necessary connection between the cause and its effect.
     From: Nicolas Malebranche (The Search After Truth [1675], 1.649 (450)), quoted by Daniel Garber - Leibniz:Body,Substance,Monad 5
     A reaction: Presumably Hume was ignorant of 'true' causes, since he says he never saw this connection. But then is the perception done by the mind, or by the senses?