Combining Philosophers

All the ideas for Proclus, Naguib Mahfouz and Oscar Wilde

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6 ideas

1. Philosophy / A. Wisdom / 2. Wise People

15833	Tell cleverness from answers, but wisdom from questions [Mahfouz]
	Full Idea: You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.
	From: Naguib Mahfouz (works [1998])
	A reaction: [Popped up on Twitter. I am adjusting to the 21st century] The observation is simplistic, of course, but very nice indeed.

14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / g. Causal explanations

13165	Geometrical proofs do not show causes, as when we prove a triangle contains two right angles [Proclus]
	Full Idea: Geometry does not ask 'why?' ..When from the exterior angle equalling two opposite interior angles it is shown that the interior angles make two right angles, this is not a causal demonstration. With no exterior angle they still equal two right angles.
	From: Proclus (Commentary on Euclid's 'Elements' [c.452], p.161-2), quoted by Paolo Mancosu - Explanation in Mathematics §5
	A reaction: A very nice example. It is hard to imagine how one might demonstrate the cause of the angles making two right angles. If you walk, turn left x°, then turn left y°, then turn left z°, and x+y+z=180°, you end up going in the original direction.

18. Thought / E. Abstraction / 1. Abstract Thought

9569	The origin of geometry started in sensation, then moved to calculation, and then to reason [Proclus]
	Full Idea: It is unsurprising that geometry was discovered in the necessity of Nile land measurement, since everything in the world of generation goes from imperfection to perfection. They would naturally pass from sense-perception to calculation, and so to reason.
	From: Proclus (Commentary on Euclid's 'Elements' [c.452]), quoted by Charles Chihara - A Structural Account of Mathematics 9.12 n55
	A reaction: The last sentence is the core of my view on abstraction, that it proceeds by moving through levels of abstraction, approaching more and more general truths.

21. Aesthetics / C. Artistic Issues / 6. Value of Art

7276	All art is quite useless [Wilde]
	Full Idea: All art is quite useless.
	From: Oscar Wilde (Preface to 'Dorian Gray' [1891])
	A reaction: Echoes Kant's thought that art is 'purposive without purpose'. Although I find Wilde's claims that morality has nothing to do with art to be naïve, I find this remark sympathetic. Art may play with moral feelings, but is unlikely to affect actions.

21. Aesthetics / C. Artistic Issues / 7. Art and Morality

7274	Books are only well or badly written, not moral or immoral [Wilde]
	Full Idea: There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.
	From: Oscar Wilde (Preface to 'Dorian Gray' [1891])
	A reaction: This is simply false. Novels that are viciously (or subtly) racist, sexist, homophobic, or egotistical can obviously be immoral. I could write a nasty story about Oscar Wilde. It might, though, be very well written. If life is moral, so are novels.

7275	Having ethical sympathies is a bad mannerism of style in an artist [Wilde]
	Full Idea: No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style.
	From: Oscar Wilde (Preface to 'Dorian Gray' [1891])
	A reaction: This has a Nietzschean suggestion that the artist is 'beyond good and evil', and operates on some higher level of values, which in Wilde's case seem to be purely aesthetic. You can't justify a callous murder by executing it beautifully.