117 ideas
| 21405 | Cicero sees wisdom in terms of knowledge, but earlier Stoics saw it as moral [Cicero, by Long] |
| 20871 | Unfortunately we choose a way of life before we are old enough to think clearly [Cicero] |
| 5893 | A wise man has integrity, firmness of will, nobility, consistency, sobriety, patience [Cicero] |
| 5891 | Philosophy is the collection of rational arguments [Cicero] |
| 23657 | The existence of tensed verbs shows that not all truths are necessary truths [Reid] |
| 2661 | Dialectic is speech cast in the form of logical argument [Cicero] |
| 2653 | If the parts of the universe are subject to the law of nature, the whole universe must also be subject to it [Cicero] |
| 23655 | An ad hominem argument is good, if it is shown that the man's principles are inconsistent [Reid] |
| 2673 | There cannot be more than one truth [Cicero] |
| 21677 | How can the not-true fail to be false, or the not-false fail to be true? [Cicero] |
| 2669 | Dialectic assumes that all statements are either true or false, but self-referential paradoxes are a big problem [Cicero] |
| 23634 | Accepting the existence of anything presupposes the notion of existence [Reid] |
| 23664 | Powers are quite distinct and simple, and so cannot be defined [Reid] |
| 23669 | Thinkers say that matter has intrinsic powers, but is also passive and acted upon [Reid] |
| 23666 | It is obvious that there could not be a power without a subject which possesses it [Reid] |
| 23651 | Universals are not objects of sense and cannot be imagined - but can be conceived [Reid] |
| 23650 | Only individuals exist [Reid] |
| 23649 | No one thinks two sheets possess a single whiteness, but all agree they are both white [Reid] |
| 23647 | Objects have an essential constitution, producing its qualities, which we are too ignorant to define [Reid] |
| 1350 | Continuity is needed for existence, otherwise we would say a thing existed after it ceased to exist [Reid] |
| 21322 | We treat slowly changing things as identical for the sake of economy in language [Reid] |
| 21320 | Identity is familiar to common sense, but very hard to define [Reid] |
| 1367 | Identity can only be affirmed of things which have a continued existence [Reid] |
| 11874 | Real identity admits of no degrees [Reid] |
| 11958 | Impossibilites are easily conceived in mathematics and geometry [Reid, by Molnar] |
| 23659 | If someone denies that he is thinking when he is conscious of it, we can only laugh [Reid] |
| 23662 | The existence of ideas is no more obvious than the existence of external objects [Reid] |
| 23661 | We are only aware of other beings through our senses; without that, we are alone in the universe [Reid] |
| 23635 | Truths are self-evident to sensible persons who understand them clearly without prejudice [Reid] |
| 2664 | If we have complete healthy senses, what more could the gods give us? [Cicero] |
| 7631 | Sensation is not committed to any external object, but perception is [Reid] |
| 23637 | Primary qualities are the object of mathematics [Reid] |
| 23638 | Secondary qualities conjure up, and are confused with, the sensations which produce them [Reid] |
| 23639 | It is unclear whether a toothache is in the mind or in the tooth, but the word has a single meaning [Reid] |
| 6492 | Reid is seen as the main direct realist of the eighteenth century [Reid, by Robinson,H] |
| 23633 | Many truths seem obvious, and point to universal agreement - which is what we find [Reid] |
| 23654 | In obscure matters the few must lead the many, but the many usually lead in common sense [Reid] |
| 23644 | Without memory we could have no concept of duration [Reid] |
| 23643 | We all trust our distinct memories (but not our distinct imaginings) [Reid] |
| 23660 | The theory of ideas, popular with philosophers, means past existence has to be proved [Reid] |
| 2665 | How can there be a memory of what is false? [Cicero] |
| 23641 | People dislike believing without evidence, and try to avoid it [Reid] |
| 23642 | If non-rational evidence reaches us, it is reason which then makes use of it [Reid] |
| 23549 | We treat testimony with a natural trade off of belief and caution [Reid, by Fricker,M] |
| 20800 | Every true presentation can have a false one of the same quality [Cicero] |
| 20653 | Six reduction levels: groups, lives, cells, molecules, atoms, particles [Putnam/Oppenheim, by Watson] |
| 5879 | The soul is the heart, or blood in the heart, or part of the brain, of something living in heart or brain, or breath [Cicero] |
| 5884 | How can one mind perceive so many dissimilar sensations? [Cicero] |
| 5887 | The soul has a single nature, so it cannot be divided, and hence it cannot perish [Cicero] |
| 1356 | A person is a unity, and doesn't come in degrees [Reid] |
| 23658 | Consciousness is an indefinable and unique operation [Reid] |
| 23665 | Consciousness is the power of mind to know itself, and minds are grounded in powers [Reid] |
| 1359 | Personal identity is the basis of all rights, obligations and responsibility [Reid] |
| 21319 | I can hardly care about rational consequence if it wasn't me conceiving the antecedent [Reid] |
| 5886 | Like the eye, the soul has no power to see itself, but sees other things [Cicero] |
| 21323 | The identity of a thief is only known by similarity, but memory gives certainty in our own case [Reid] |
| 21321 | Memory reveals my past identity - but so does testimony of other witnesses [Reid] |
| 21324 | If consciousness is transferable 20 persons can be 1; forgetting implies 1 can be 20 [Reid] |
| 21325 | Boy same as young man, young man same as old man, old man not boy, if forgotten! [Reid] |
| 21327 | If a stolen horse is identified by similitude, its identity is not therefore merely similitude [Reid] |
| 1366 | If consciousness is personal identity, it is continually changing [Reid] |
| 1352 | Thoughts change continually, but the self doesn't [Reid] |
| 23681 | The first motion or effect cannot be produced necessarily, so the First Cause must be a free agent [Reid] |
| 23676 | A willed action needs reasonable understanding of what is to be done [Reid] |
| 23668 | Our own nature attributes free determinations to our own will [Reid] |
| 23680 | We are morally free, because we experience it, we are accountable, and we pursue projects [Reid] |
| 6029 | Whoever knows future causes knows everything that will be [Cicero] |
| 2628 | Why would mind mix with matter if it didn't need it? [Cicero] |
| 5885 | Souls contain no properties of elements, and elements contain no properties of souls [Cicero] |
| 23652 | We must first conceive things before we can consider them [Reid] |
| 23656 | The structure of languages reveals a uniformity in basic human opinions [Reid] |
| 23630 | Only philosophers treat ideas as objects [Reid] |
| 23648 | First we notice and name attributes ('abstracting'); then we notice that subjects share them ('generalising') [Reid] |
| 23653 | If you can't distinguish the features of a complex object, your notion of it would be a muddle [Reid] |
| 23640 | Only mature minds can distinguish the qualities of a body [Reid] |
| 23629 | The ambiguity of words impedes the advancement of knowledge [Reid] |
| 23646 | Reference is by name, or a term-plus-circumstance, or ostensively, or by description [Reid] |
| 23645 | A word's meaning is the thing conceived, as fixed by linguistic experts [Reid] |
| 21667 | Oratory and philosophy are closely allied; orators borrow from philosophy, and ornament it [Cicero] |
| 20814 | Eloquence educates, exhorts, comforts, distracts and unites us, and raises us from savagery [Cicero] |
| 20051 | Reid said that agent causation is a unique type of causation [Reid, by Stout,R] |
| 23678 | A motive is merely an idea, like advice, and not a force for action [Reid] |
| 23663 | There are axioms of taste - such as a general consensus about a beautiful face [Reid] |
| 21678 | If desire is not in our power then neither are choices, so we should not be praised or punished [Cicero] |
| 23674 | If an attempted poisoning results in benefits, we still judge the agent a poisoner [Reid] |
| 23675 | We shouldn't do to others what would be a wrong to us in similar circumstances [Reid] |
| 23672 | To be virtuous, we must care about duty [Reid] |
| 2672 | Virtues must be very detached, to avoid being motivated by pleasure [Cicero] |
| 23673 | Every worthy man has a principle of honour, and knows what is honourable [Reid] |
| 5890 | We should not share the distress of others, but simply try to relieve it [Cicero] |
| 5894 | All men except philosophers fear poverty [Cicero] |
| 6031 | The essence of propriety is consistency [Cicero] |
| 5895 | If one despises illiterate mechanics individually, they are not worth more collectively [Cicero] |
| 2640 | We have the death penalty, but still have thousands of robbers [Cicero] |
| 2652 | Some regard nature simply as an irrational force that imparts movement [Cicero] |
| 23632 | Similar effects come from similar causes, and causes are only what are sufficient for the effects [Reid] |
| 8383 | Day and night are constantly conjoined, but they don't cause one another [Reid, by Crane] |
| 23677 | We all know that mere priority or constant conjunction do not have to imply causation [Reid] |
| 23667 | Regular events don't imply a cause, without an innate conviction of universal causation [Reid] |
| 23679 | The principle of the law of nature is that matter is passive, and is acted upon [Reid] |
| 23670 | Scientists don't know the cause of magnetism, and only discover its regulations [Reid] |
| 23671 | Laws are rules for effects, but these need a cause; rules of navigation don't navigate [Reid] |
| 2645 | Why shouldn't the gods fear their own destruction? [Cicero] |
| 2627 | I wonder whether loss of reverence for the gods would mean the end of all virtue [Cicero] |
| 2651 | God doesn't obey the laws of nature; they are subject to the law of God [Cicero] |
| 2634 | It seems clear to me that we have an innate idea of the divine [Cicero] |
| 2636 | Many primitive people know nothing of the gods [Cicero] |
| 2647 | It is obvious from order that someone is in charge, as when we visit a gymnasium [Cicero] |
| 2650 | If a person cannot feel the power of God when looking at the stars, they are probably incapable of feeling [Cicero] |
| 2655 | If the barbarians of Britain saw a complex machine, they would be baffled, but would know it was designed [Cicero] |
| 2656 | Chance is no more likely to create the world than spilling lots of letters is likely to create a famous poem [Cicero] |
| 2657 | If everything with regular movement and order is divine, then recurrent illnesses must be divine [Cicero] |
| 2638 | Either the gods are identical, or one is more beautiful than another [Cicero] |
| 2635 | The gods are happy, so virtuous, so rational, so must have human shape [Cicero] |
| 2641 | Why believe in gods if you have never seen them? [Cicero] |
| 2659 | The lists of good men who have suffered and bad men who have prospered are endless [Cicero] |
| 2658 | The gods blame men for having vices, but they could have given us enough reason to avoid them [Cicero] |