102 ideas
16000 | Fixed ideas should be tackled aggressively [Kierkegaard] |
7578 | I conceived it my task to create difficulties everywhere [Kierkegaard] |
22087 | Philosophy fails to articulate the continual becoming of existence [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle] |
22047 | Wherever there is painless contradiction there is also comedy [Kierkegaard] |
13734 | Modern Quinean metaphysics is about what exists, but Aristotelian metaphysics asks about grounding [Schaffer,J] |
13751 | If you tore the metaphysics out of philosophy, the whole enterprise would collapse [Schaffer,J] |
14600 | Analysis aims at secure necessary and sufficient conditions [Schaffer,J] |
16012 | Philosophy can't be unbiased if it ignores language, as that is no more independent than individuals are [Kierkegaard] |
13743 | We should not multiply basic entities, but we can have as many derivative entities as we like [Schaffer,J] |
14603 | 'Reification' occurs if we mistake a concept for a thing [Schaffer,J] |
22092 | Kierkegaard's truth draws on authenticity, fidelity and honesty [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle] |
15999 | Pure truth is for infinite beings only; I prefer endless striving for truth [Kierkegaard] |
22094 | Subjective truth can only be sustained by repetition [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle] |
16005 | I recognise knowledge, but it is the truth by which I can live and die that really matters [Kierkegaard] |
5651 | Traditional views of truth are tautologies, and truth is empty without a subject [Kierkegaard, by Scruton] |
20313 | The highest truth we can get is uncertainty held fast by an inward passion [Kierkegaard] |
14607 | T adds □p→p for reflexivity, and is ideal for modeling lawhood [Schaffer,J] |
10373 | Logical form can't dictate metaphysics, as it may propose an undesirable property [Schaffer,J] |
13741 | If 'there are red roses' implies 'there are roses', then 'there are prime numbers' implies 'there are numbers' [Schaffer,J] |
14604 | If a notion is ontologically basic, it should be needed in our best attempt at science [Schaffer,J] |
16007 | I assume existence, rather than reasoning towards it [Kierkegaard] |
13748 | Grounding is unanalysable and primitive, and is the basic structuring concept in metaphysics [Schaffer,J] |
17304 | As causation links across time, grounding links the world across levels [Schaffer,J] |
17306 | If ground is transitive and irreflexive, it has a strict partial ordering, giving structure [Schaffer,J] |
14599 | Three types of reduction: Theoretical (of terms), Definitional (of concepts), Ontological (of reality) [Schaffer,J] |
13747 | Supervenience is just modal correlation [Schaffer,J] |
13744 | The cosmos is the only fundamental entity, from which all else exists by abstraction [Schaffer,J] |
10367 | There is only one fact - the True [Schaffer,J] |
13739 | Maybe categories are just the different ways that things depend on basic substances [Schaffer,J] |
14605 | Tropes are the same as events [Schaffer,J] |
14601 | Individuation aims to count entities, by saying when there is one [Schaffer,J] |
14082 | No sortal could ever exactly pin down which set of particles count as this 'cup' [Schaffer,J] |
13742 | There exist heaps with no integral unity, so we should accept arbitrary composites in the same way [Schaffer,J] |
13752 | The notion of 'grounding' can explain integrated wholes in a way that mere aggregates can't [Schaffer,J] |
14081 | Identities can be true despite indeterminate reference, if true under all interpretations [Schaffer,J] |
16013 | Nothing necessary can come into existence, since it already 'is' [Kierkegaard] |
14606 | Only ideal conceivability could indicate what is possible [Schaffer,J] |
13749 | Belief in impossible worlds may require dialetheism [Schaffer,J] |
13740 | 'Moorean certainties' are more credible than any sceptical argument [Schaffer,J] |
17308 | Explaining 'Adam ate the apple' depends on emphasis, and thus implies a contrast [Schaffer,J] |
20742 | The real subject is ethical, not cognitive [Kierkegaard] |
16002 | The self is a combination of pairs of attributes: freedom/necessity, infinite/finite, temporal/eternal [Kierkegaard] |
22098 | Socrates neglects the gap between knowing what is good and doing good [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle] |
22086 | The most important aspect of a human being is not reason, but passion [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle] |
15998 | Perfect love is not in spite of imperfections; the imperfections must be loved as well [Kierkegaard] |
16003 | If people marry just because they are lonely, that is self-love, not love [Kierkegaard] |
7579 | While big metaphysics is complete without ethics, personal philosophy emphasises ethics [Kierkegaard] |
7581 | Speculative philosophy loses the individual in a vast vision of humanity [Kierkegaard] |
22090 | For me time stands still, and I with it [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle] |
22096 | Anxiety is not a passing mood, but a response to human freedom [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle] |
22097 | The ultimate in life is learning to be anxious in the right way [Kierkegaard] |
21909 | Ultimate knowledge is being anxious in the right way [Kierkegaard] |
20758 | Anxiety is staring into the yawning abyss of freedom [Kierkegaard] |
21910 | Our destiny is the highest pitch of world-weariness [Kierkegaard] |
9305 | The plebeians bore others; only the nobility bore themselves [Kierkegaard] |
5650 | Reason is just abstractions, so our essence needs a subjective 'leap of faith' [Kierkegaard, by Scruton] |
22095 | There are aesthetic, ethical and religious subjectivity [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle] |
20314 | People want to lose themselves in movements and history, instead of being individuals [Kierkegaard] |
7582 | Becoming what one is is a huge difficulty, because we strongly aspire to be something else [Kierkegaard] |
20747 | What matters is not right choice, but energy, earnestness and pathos in the choosing [Kierkegaard] |
16001 | Life may be understood backwards, but it has to be lived forwards [Kierkegaard] |
22093 | Life is a repetition when what has been now becomes [Kierkegaard] |
16009 | When we seek our own 'freedom' we are just trying to avoid responsibility [Kierkegaard] |
22091 | Kierkegaard prioritises the inward individual, rather than community [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle] |
17305 | I take what is fundamental to be the whole spatiotemporal manifold and its fields [Schaffer,J] |
10359 | In causation there are three problems of relata, and three metaphysical problems [Schaffer,J] |
10372 | Causation may not be transitive; the last event may follow from the first, but not be caused by it [Schaffer,J] |
10374 | There are at least ten theories about causal connections [Schaffer,J] |
17307 | Nowadays causation is usually understood in terms of equations and variable ranges [Schaffer,J] |
10366 | Causation transcends nature, because absences can cause things [Schaffer,J] |
10377 | Causation may not be a process, if a crucial part of the process is 'disconnected' [Schaffer,J] |
10378 | A causal process needs to be connected to the effect in the right way [Schaffer,J] |
10382 | Causation can't be a process, because a process needs causation as a primitive [Schaffer,J] |
10375 | At least four rivals have challenged the view that causal direction is time direction [Schaffer,J] |
10389 | Causal order must be temporal, or else causes could be blocked, and time couldn't be explained [Schaffer,J] |
10390 | Causal order is not temporal, because of time travel, and simultanous, joint or backward causes [Schaffer,J] |
10380 | Causation is primitive; it is too intractable and central to be reduced; all explanations require it [Schaffer,J] |
10385 | If causation is just observables, or part of common sense, or vacuous, it can't be primitive [Schaffer,J] |
10387 | The notion of causation allows understanding of science, without appearing in equations [Schaffer,J] |
10388 | Causation is utterly essential for numerous philosophical explanations [Schaffer,J] |
10384 | If two different causes are possible in one set of circumstances, causation is primitive [Schaffer,J] |
10386 | If causation is primitive, it can be experienced in ourselves, or inferred as best explanation [Schaffer,J] |
10361 | Events are fairly course-grained (just saying 'hello'), unlike facts (like saying 'hello' loudly) [Schaffer,J] |
10360 | Causal relata are events - or facts, features, tropes, states, situations or aspects [Schaffer,J] |
10362 | One may defend three or four causal relata, as in 'c causes e rather than e*' [Schaffer,J] |
10368 | If causal relata must be in nature and fine-grained, neither facts nor events will do [Schaffer,J] |
10383 | The relata of causation (such as events) need properties as explanation, which need causation! [Schaffer,J] |
10393 | Our selection of 'the' cause is very predictable, so must have a basis [Schaffer,J] |
10394 | Selecting 'the' cause must have a basis; there is no causation without such a selection [Schaffer,J] |
10376 | The actual cause may make an event less likely than a possible more effective cause [Schaffer,J] |
10381 | All four probability versions of causation may need causation to be primitive [Schaffer,J] |
7586 | God does not think or exist; God creates, and is eternal [Kierkegaard] |
16006 | Either Abraham rises higher than universal ethics, or he is a mere murderer [Kierkegaard] |
7577 | Abraham was willing to suspend ethics, for a higher idea [Kierkegaard] |
20312 | God cannot be demonstrated objectively, because God is a subject, only existing inwardly [Kierkegaard] |
7580 | Pantheism destroys the distinction between good and evil [Kierkegaard] |
16008 | The best way to be a Christian is without 'Christianity' [Kierkegaard] |
20735 | We need to see that Christianity cannot be understood [Kierkegaard] |
22088 | Faith is like a dancer's leap, going up to God, but also back to earth [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle] |
7583 | Faith is the highest passion in the sphere of human subjectivity [Kierkegaard] |
7584 | Without risk there is no faith [Kierkegaard] |
1513 | The Egyptians were the first to say the soul is immortal and reincarnated [Herodotus] |