98 ideas
6601 | Science rules the globe because of colonising power, not inherent rationality [Feyerabend] |
20910 | Everything happens necessarily, and for a reason [Democritus] |
5728 | The concept of truth was originated by the senses [Lucretius] |
16146 | Two can't be a self-contained unit, because it would need to be one to do that [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
20901 | True Being only occurs when it is completely full, with atoms and no void [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
20902 | Being does not exist more than non-being [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
20904 | The non-existent exists as much as the existent, because it has causal powers [Democritus] |
20903 | The only distinctions are Configuration (shape), Disposition (order) and Turning (position) [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
20893 | Nothing comes from non-existence, or passes into it [Democritus, by Diog. Laertius] |
20896 | It is not possible to know what sort each thing is [Democritus] |
3357 | Democritus denies reality to large objects, because atomic entities can't combine to produce new ones [Benardete,JA on Democritus] |
598 | Democritus said that substances could never be mixed, so atoms are the substances [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
1532 | Sensible qualities can't be real if they appear different to different creatures [Democritus, by Theophrastus] |
20894 | Man is separated from reality [Democritus] |
517 | All evidence comes from senses, so they are indispensable to the mind [Democritus] |
20897 | Obscure knowledge belongs to the five senses, and genuine knowledge is the other type [Democritus] |
5729 | If the senses are deceptive, reason, which rests on them, is even worse [Lucretius] |
5702 | The senses are much the best way to distinguish true from false [Lucretius] |
5697 | The only possible standard for settling doubts is the foundation of the senses [Lucretius] |
577 | Democritus says there is either no truth, or it is concealed from us [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
20895 | We actually know nothing, and opinions are mere flux [Democritus] |
1528 | We in fact know nothing, but we each restructure our reality with beliefs [Democritus] |
492 | It is obviously impossible to understand the reality of each thing [Democritus] |
515 | We know nothing in reality; for truth lies in an abyss [Democritus] |
5727 | Most supposed delusions of the senses are really misinterpretations by the mind [Lucretius] |
2561 | For Feyerabend the meaning of a term depends on a whole theory [Feyerabend, by Rorty] |
5714 | Even simple facts are hard to believe at first hearing [Lucretius] |
20892 | Democritus was devoted to discovering causal explanations [Democritus, by Eusebius] |
5718 | The mind is in the middle of the breast, because there we experience fear and joy [Lucretius] |
5717 | The mind is a part of a man, just like a hand or an eye [Lucretius] |
5882 | Democritus says soul consists of smooth round bodies brought together in accidental collision [Democritus, by Cicero] |
6034 | Atomists say soul has a rational part in the chest, and a diffused non-rational part [Democritus, by Aetius] |
20912 | The soul is the same as the mind [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
21387 | The separate elements and capacities of a mind cannot be distinguished [Lucretius] |
20916 | Animals have a share of reason [Democritus, by Porphyry] |
20914 | The directive centre is located in the whole head [Democritus, by Ps-Plutarch] |
5709 | The actions of the mind are not determinate and passive, because atoms can swerve [Lucretius] |
6033 | Democritus said everything happens of necessity, by natural motion of atoms [Democritus, by Cicero] |
5088 | Some say there is a determinate cause for every apparently spontaneous event [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
21670 | Democritus said atoms only move by their natural motions, which are therefore necessary [Democritus, by Cicero] |
5695 | Only bodies can touch one another [Lucretius] |
5711 | The earth is and always has been an insentient being [Lucretius] |
5712 | Particles may have sensation, but eggs turning into chicks suggests otherwise [Lucretius] |
20913 | Democritus says the soul is the body, and thinking is thus the mixture of the body [Democritus, by Theophrastus] |
5719 | The mind moves limbs, wakes the body up, changes facial expressions, which involve touch [Lucretius] |
5724 | Lions, foxes and deer have distinct characters because their minds share in their bodies [Lucretius] |
24041 | Democritus says spherical atoms are fire, and constitute the soul [psuche] [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
5713 | You needn't be made of laughing particles to laugh, so why not sensation from senseless seeds? [Lucretius] |
1540 | Pleasure and pain guide our choices of good and bad [Democritus] |
6611 | One man's meat is another man's poison [Lucretius] |
5730 | Our bodies weren't created to be used; on the contrary, their creation makes a use possible [Lucretius] |
495 | Wisdom creates a healthy passion-free soul [Democritus] |
5726 | The dead are no different from those who were never born [Lucretius] |
1537 | Happiness is identifying and separating the pleasures [Democritus, by Stobaeus] |
5705 | Nature only wants two things: freedom from pain, and pleasure [Lucretius] |
20917 | Contentment comes from moderation and proportion in life [Democritus, by Stobaeus] |
13551 | Democritus says wealth is a burden to the virtuous mind [Democritus, by Seneca] |
5716 | Nature runs the universe by herself without the aid of gods [Lucretius] |
5704 | There can be no centre in infinity [Lucretius] |
5703 | The universe must be limitless, since there could be nothing outside to limit it [Lucretius] |
20899 | Atoms cling together, until a stronger necessity disperses them [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
20898 | Atoms are irregular, hooked, concave, convex, and many other shapes [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
20908 | There could be an atom the size of the world [Democritus, by Ps-Plutarch] |
1527 | There must be atoms, to avoid the absurdity of infinite division down to nothing [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
493 | Experiences are merely convention; only atoms and the void are real [Democritus] |
20909 | The basic atoms are without qualities - which only arise from encounters between atoms [Democritus, by Galen] |
1536 | If a cone is horizontally sliced the surfaces can't be equal, so it goes up in steps [Democritus] |
17542 | 'Full' and 'Void' secularised Parmenides's Being and Not-being [Democritus, by Heisenberg] |
1525 | Atomists say there are only three differences - in shape, arrangement and position [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
5947 | If only atoms are real and the rest is convention, we wouldn't bother to avoid pain [Democritus, by Diogenes of Oen.] |
13219 | When atoms touch, why don't they coalesce, like water drops? [Aristotle on Democritus] |
1533 | Because appearance is infinitely varied, atomists assume infinitely many shapes of atom [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
5693 | Everything is created and fed by nature from atoms, and they return to atoms in death [Lucretius] |
5701 | If an object is infinitely subdivisible, it will be the same as the whole universe [Lucretius] |
5708 | In downward motion, atoms occasionally swerve slightly for no reason [Lucretius] |
23314 | Greeks explained regularity by intellectual design, not by laws [Democritus, by Frede,M] |
17004 | Nothing can break the binding laws of eternity [Lucretius] |
5696 | If there were no space there could be no movement, or even creation [Lucretius] |
5706 | Atoms move themselves [Lucretius] |
5700 | It is quicker to break things up than to assemble them [Lucretius] |
24059 | Democritus is wrong: in a void we wouldn't see a distant ant in exact detail [Aristotle on Democritus] |
5101 | Movement is impossible in a void, because nothing can decide the direction of movement [Aristotle on Democritus] |
20905 | Growth and movement would not exist if there were no void to receive them [Democritus] |
5698 | We can only sense time by means of movement, or its absence [Lucretius] |
20911 | There are unlimited worlds of varying sizes, some without life or water [Democritus, by Hippolytus] |
5715 | This earth is very unlikely to be the only one created [Lucretius] |
5694 | Nothing can be created by divine power out of nothing [Lucretius] |
5699 | If matter wasn't everlasting, everything would have disappeared by now [Lucretius] |
1535 | Democritus said people imagined gods as the source of what awed or frightened them [Democritus, by Sext.Empiricus] |
5707 | The universe can't have been created by gods, because it is too imperfect [Lucretius] |
5710 | Gods are tranquil and aloof, and have no need of or interest in us [Lucretius] |
5731 | Why does Jupiter never hurl lightning from a blue sky? [Lucretius] |
20915 | The soul is destroyed with the body [Democritus, by Ps-Plutarch] |
5722 | For a separated spirit to remain sentient it would need sense organs attached to it [Lucretius] |
5725 | An immortal mind couldn't work harmoniously with a mortal body [Lucretius] |
5720 | Spirit is mortal [Lucretius] |
5721 | The mind is very small smooth particles, which evaporate at death [Lucretius] |
5723 | If spirit is immortal and enters us at birth, why don't we remember a previous existence? [Lucretius] |