Combining Philosophers

All the ideas for Theodosius, Critias and Gregory Vlastos

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4 ideas

15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 4. Other Minds / b. Scepticism of other minds
If we can't know minds, we can't know if Pyrrho was a sceptic [Theodosius, by Diog. Laertius]
     Full Idea: We can't say the school of Pyrrho is sceptical, because the motion of the mind in each individual is incomprehensible to others, so we don't know Pyrrho's disposition.
     From: report of Theodosius (Chapters on Scepticism [c.100 BCE]) by Diogenes Laertius - Lives of Eminent Philosophers 09.Py.8
23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 2. Elements of Virtue Theory / e. Character
Virtue comes more from habit than character [Critias]
     Full Idea: More men are good through habit than through character.
     From: Critias (fragments/reports [c.440 BCE], B09), quoted by John Stobaeus - Anthology 3.29.41
25. Social Practice / D. Justice / 3. Punishment / b. Retribution for crime
In early Greece the word for punishment was also the word for vengeance [Vlastos]
     Full Idea: Down to the last third of the fifth century, 'timoria', whose original and always primary sense is "vengeance", is THE word for "punishment".
     From: Gregory Vlastos (Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher [1991], p.186)
28. God / C. Attitudes to God / 5. Atheism
Fear of the gods was invented to discourage secret sin [Critias]
     Full Idea: When the laws forbade men to commit open crimes of violence, and they began to do them in secret, a wise and clever man invented fear of the gods for mortals, to frighten the wicked, even if they sin in secret.
     From: Critias (fragments/reports [c.440 BCE], B25), quoted by Sextus Empiricus - Against the Professors (six books) 9.54