1047 ideas
| 1922 | Spiritual qualities only become advantageous with the growth of wisdom [Plato] |
| 14179 | The finest branch of wisdom is justice and moderation in ordering states and families [Plato] |
| 354 | Wisdom makes virtue and true goodness possible [Plato] |
| 13786 | Wisdom is called 'beautiful', because it performs fine works [Plato] |
| 23890 | For Plato true wisdom is supernatural [Plato, by Weil] |
| 21584 | A sense of timelessness is essential to wisdom [Russell] |
| 13780 | Good people are no different from wise ones [Plato] |
| 2136 | Philosophers become as divine and orderly as possible, by studying divinity and order [Plato] |
| 291 | Don't assume that wisdom is the automatic consequence of old age [Plato] |
| 3060 | Plato never mentions Democritus, and wished to burn his books [Plato, by Diog. Laertius] |
| 11006 | Russell started a whole movement in philosophy by providing an analysis of descriptions [Read on Russell] |
| 162 | Can we understand an individual soul without knowing the soul in general? [Plato] |
| 326 | For relaxation one can consider the world of change, instead of eternal things [Plato] |
| 5361 | Philosophers must get used to absurdities [Russell] |
| 7493 | Let us reason together, saith the Lord [Isaiah] |
| 160 | The highest ability in man is the ability to discuss unity and plurality in the nature of things [Plato] |
| 1642 | We must fight fiercely for knowledge, understanding and intelligence [Plato] |
| 315 | Philosophy is the supreme gift of the gods to mortals [Plato] |
| 5368 | Philosophy verifies that our hierarchy of instinctive beliefs is harmonious and consistent [Russell] |
| 23025 | Philosophers should be more inductive, and test results by their conclusions, not their self-evidence [Russell] |
| 370 | Philosophy is a purification of the soul ready for the afterlife [Plato] |
| 23767 | The winds of the discussion should decide its destination [Plato] |
| 15447 | We shouldn't always follow where the argument leads! [Lewis on Plato] |
| 17641 | Discoveries in mathematics can challenge philosophy, and offer it a new foundation [Russell] |
| 125 | Is a gifted philosopher unmanly if he avoids the strife of the communal world? [Plato] |
| 2056 | Philosophers are always switching direction to something more interesting [Plato] |
| 21572 | Philosophical disputes are mostly hopeless, because philosophers don't understand each other [Russell] |
| 5432 | Metaphysics cannot give knowledge of the universe as a whole [Russell] |
| 21571 | Philosophical systems are interesting, but we now need a more objective scientific philosophy [Russell] |
| 21574 | Hegel's confusions over 'is' show how vast systems can be built on simple errors [Russell] |
| 21587 | Philosophers sometimes neglect truth and distort facts to attain a nice system [Russell] |
| 21582 | Physicists accept particles, points and instants, while pretending they don't do metaphysics [Russell] |
| 6095 | The business of metaphysics is to describe the world [Russell] |
| 14122 | Analysis gives us nothing but the truth - but never the whole truth [Russell] |
| 6118 | Philosophy is logical analysis, followed by synthesis [Russell] |
| 6420 | Only by analysing is progress possible in philosophy [Russell] |
| 6432 | Analysis gives new knowledge, without destroying what we already have [Russell] |
| 16123 | Whenever you perceive a community of things, you should also hunt out differences in the group [Plato] |
| 2086 | Understanding mainly involves knowing the elements, not their combinations [Plato] |
| 166 | A speaker should be able to divide a subject, right down to the limits of divisibility [Plato] |
| 2083 | Either a syllable is its letters (making parts as knowable as whole) or it isn't (meaning it has no parts) [Plato] |
| 23682 | It would be absurd to be precise about the small things, but only vague about the big things [Plato] |
| 14109 | The study of grammar is underestimated in philosophy [Russell] |
| 7529 | All philosophy should begin with an analysis of propositions [Russell] |
| 14456 | 'Socrates is human' expresses predication, and 'Socrates is a man' expresses identity [Russell] |
| 21552 | Common speech is vague; its vocabulary and syntax must be modified, for precision [Russell] |
| 21546 | We can't sharply distinguish variables, domains and values, if symbols frighten us [Russell] |
| 21573 | When problems are analysed properly, they are either logical, or not philosophical at all [Russell] |
| 6116 | A logical language would show up the fallacy of inferring reality from ordinary language [Russell] |
| 1645 | The desire to split everything into its parts is unpleasant and unphilosophical [Plato] |
| 14165 | Analysis falsifies, if when the parts are broken down they are not equivalent to their sum [Russell] |
| 5434 | Philosophy is similar to science, and has no special source of wisdom [Russell] |
| 6117 | Philosophy should be built on science, to reduce error [Russell] |
| 8378 | Philosophers usually learn science from each other, not from science [Russell] |
| 224 | When questions are doubtful we should concentrate not on objects but on ideas of the intellect [Plato] |
| 243 | It is foolish to quarrel with the mind's own reasoning processes [Plato] |
| 350 | In investigation the body leads us astray, but the soul gets a clear view of the facts [Plato] |
| 241 | We ought to follow where the argument leads us [Plato] |
| 2082 | A rational account is essentially a weaving together of things with names [Plato] |
| 17638 | If one proposition is deduced from another, they are more certain together than alone [Russell] |
| 362 | The greatest misfortune for a person is to develop a dislike for argument [Plato] |
| 21264 | Mortals are incapable of being fully rational [Plato] |
| 5405 | The law of contradiction is not a 'law of thought', but a belief about things [Russell] |
| 5396 | Three Laws of Thought: identity, contradiction, and excluded middle [Russell] |
| 306 | Nothing can come to be without a cause [Plato] |
| 17632 | Non-contradiction was learned from instances, and then found to be indubitable [Russell] |
| 192 | Only one thing can be contrary to something [Plato] |
| 232 | Opposites are as unlike as possible [Plato] |
| 6106 | Reducing entities and premisses makes error less likely [Russell] |
| 13778 | A dialectician is someone who knows how to ask and to answer questions [Plato] |
| 23891 | Two contradictories force us to find a relation which will correlate them [Plato, by Weil] |
| 2151 | Dialectic is the only method of inquiry which uproots the things which it takes for granted [Plato] |
| 2154 | The ability to take an overview is the distinguishing mark of a dialectician [Plato] |
| 4011 | For Plato, rationality is a vision of and love of a cosmic rational order [Plato, by Taylor,C] |
| 287 | Good analysis involves dividing things into appropriate forms without confusion [Plato] |
| 8937 | Plato's 'Parmenides' is the greatest artistic achievement of the ancient dialectic [Hegel on Plato] |
| 1644 | Dialectic should only be taught to those who already philosophise well [Plato] |
| 1654 | In "Gorgias" Socrates is confident that his 'elenchus' will decide moral truth [Vlastos on Plato] |
| 4321 | We should test one another, by asking and answering questions [Plato] |
| 2093 | You must never go against what you actually believe [Plato] |
| 20478 | In discussion a person's opinions are shown to be in conflict, leading to calm self-criticism [Plato] |
| 2130 | People often merely practice eristic instead of dialectic, because they don't analyse the subject-matter [Plato] |
| 2052 | Eristic discussion is aggressive, but dialectic aims to help one's companions in discussion [Plato] |
| 16125 | To reveal a nature, divide down, and strip away what it has in common with other things [Plato] |
| 16124 | No one wants to define 'weaving' just for the sake of weaving [Plato] |
| 14426 | A definition by 'extension' enumerates items, and one by 'intension' gives a defining property [Russell] |
| 15854 | A primary element has only a name, and no logos, but complexes have an account, by weaving the names [Plato] |
| 21560 | Any linguistic expression may lack meaning when taken out of context [Russell] |
| 21551 | Empirical words need ostensive definition, which makes them egocentric [Russell] |
| 14115 | Definition by analysis into constituents is useless, because it neglects the whole [Russell] |
| 14159 | In mathematics definitions are superfluous, as they name classes, and it all reduces to primitives [Russell] |
| 14148 | Infinite regresses have propositions made of propositions etc, with the key term reappearing [Russell] |
| 18002 | As well as a truth value, propositions have a range of significance for their variables [Russell] |
| 21561 | 'The number one is bald' or 'the number one is fond of cream cheese' are meaningless [Russell] |
| 8468 | The sentence 'procrastination drinks quadruplicity' is meaningless, rather than false [Russell, by Orenstein] |
| 6437 | The theory of types makes 'Socrates and killing are two' illegitimate [Russell] |
| 5420 | Truth is a property of a belief, but dependent on its external relations, not its internal qualities [Russell] |
| 251 | Truth has the supreme value, for both gods and men [Plato] |
| 6442 | Truth belongs to beliefs, not to propositions and sentences [Russell] |
| 5419 | Truth and falsehood are properties of beliefs and statements [Russell] |
| 14102 | What is true or false is not mental, and is best called 'propositions' [Russell] |
| 5784 | In its primary and formal sense, 'true' applies to propositions, not beliefs [Russell] |
| 5417 | A good theory of truth must make falsehood possible [Russell] |
| 16477 | Asserting not-p is saying p is false [Russell] |
| 5777 | The truth or falsehood of a belief depends upon a fact to which the belief 'refers' [Russell] |
| 6090 | Facts make propositions true or false, and are expressed by whole sentences [Russell] |
| 21544 | It seems that when a proposition is false, something must fail to subsist [Russell] |
| 18348 | Not only atomic truths, but also general and negative truths, have truth-makers [Russell, by Rami] |
| 13776 | Truths say of what is that it is, falsehoods say of what is that it is not [Plato] |
| 6343 | For Russell, both propositions and facts are arrangements of objects, so obviously they correspond [Horwich on Russell] |
| 7395 | Truth as congruence may work for complex beliefs, but not for simple beliefs about existence [Joslin on Russell] |
| 5428 | Beliefs are true if they have corresponding facts, and false if they don't [Russell] |
| 5783 | Propositions of existence, generalities, disjunctions and hypotheticals make correspondence tricky [Russell] |
| 5421 | The coherence theory says falsehood is failure to cohere, and truth is fitting into a complete system of Truth [Russell] |
| 5424 | Coherence is not the meaning of truth, but an important test for truth [Russell] |
| 5422 | More than one coherent body of beliefs seems possible [Russell] |
| 5423 | If we suspend the law of contradiction, nothing will appear to be incoherent [Russell] |
| 14454 | An argument 'satisfies' a function φx if φa is true [Russell] |
| 14176 | "The death of Caesar is true" is not the same proposition as "Caesar died" [Russell] |
| 5401 | The mortality of Socrates is more certain from induction than it is from deduction [Russell] |
| 14453 | The Darapti syllogism is fallacious: All M is S, all M is P, so some S is P' - but if there is no M? [Russell] |
| 2145 | In mathematics certain things have to be accepted without further explanation [Plato] |
| 16484 | There are four experiences that lead us to talk of 'some' things [Russell] |
| 14113 | The null class is a fiction [Russell] |
| 6103 | Normally a class with only one member is a problem, because the class and the member are identical [Russell] |
| 14427 | We can enumerate finite classes, but an intensional definition is needed for infinite classes [Russell] |
| 14428 | Members define a unique class, whereas defining characteristics are numerous [Russell] |
| 14447 | Infinity says 'for any inductive cardinal, there is a class having that many terms' [Russell] |
| 14440 | We may assume that there are infinite collections, as there is no logical reason against them [Russell] |
| 14443 | The British parliament has one representative selected from each constituency [Russell] |
| 14445 | Choice shows that if any two cardinals are not equal, one must be the greater [Russell] |
| 14444 | Choice is equivalent to the proposition that every class is well-ordered [Russell] |
| 14446 | We can pick all the right or left boots, but socks need Choice to insure the representative class [Russell] |
| 18130 | Axiom of Reducibility: there is always a function of the lowest possible order in a given level [Russell, by Bostock] |
| 14459 | Reducibility: a family of functions is equivalent to a single type of function [Russell] |
| 21563 | The 'no classes' theory says the propositions just refer to the members [Russell] |
| 14461 | Propositions about classes can be reduced to propositions about their defining functions [Russell] |
| 15894 | Russell invented the naïve set theory usually attributed to Cantor [Russell, by Lavine] |
| 14126 | Order rests on 'between' and 'separation' [Russell] |
| 14127 | Order depends on transitive asymmetrical relations [Russell] |
| 8469 | Russell's proposal was that only meaningful predicates have sets as their extensions [Russell, by Orenstein] |
| 11064 | Classes can be reduced to propositional functions [Russell, by Hanna] |
| 7548 | Classes, grouped by a convenient property, are logical constructions [Russell] |
| 8745 | Classes are logical fictions, and are not part of the ultimate furniture of the world [Russell] |
| 6436 | I gradually replaced classes with properties, and they ended as a symbolic convenience [Russell] |
| 15845 | It seems absurd that seeing a person's limbs, the one is many, and yet the many are one [Plato] |
| 14121 | The part-whole relation is ultimate and indefinable [Russell] |
| 6110 | Subject-predicate logic (and substance-attribute metaphysics) arise from Aryan languages [Russell] |
| 21588 | Logic gives the method of research in philosophy [Russell] |
| 6107 | It is logic, not metaphysics, that is fundamental to philosophy [Russell] |
| 14452 | All the propositions of logic are completely general [Russell] |
| 16486 | The physical world doesn't need logic, but the mental world does [Russell] |
| 21495 | Theoretical and practical politics are both concerned with the best lives for individuals [Russell] |
| 14462 | In modern times, logic has become mathematical, and mathematics has become logical [Russell] |
| 5395 | Demonstration always relies on the rule that anything implied by a truth is true [Russell] |
| 14106 | Implication cannot be defined [Russell] |
| 14108 | It would be circular to use 'if' and 'then' to define material implication [Russell] |
| 14464 | Logic can be known a priori, without study of the actual world [Russell] |
| 14167 | The only classes are things, predicates and relations [Russell] |
| 10057 | Logic can only assert hypothetical existence [Russell] |
| 22329 | Logic is highly general truths abstracted from reality [Russell, by Glock] |
| 12444 | Logic is concerned with the real world just as truly as zoology [Russell] |
| 10053 | Geometrical axioms imply the propositions, but the former may not be true [Russell] |
| 21539 | Excluded middle can be stated psychologically, as denial of p implies assertion of not-p [Russell] |
| 18944 | Russell's theories aim to preserve excluded middle (saying all sentences are T or F) [Sawyer on Russell] |
| 2947 | Questions wouldn't lead anywhere without the law of excluded middle [Russell] |
| 7758 | 'Elizabeth = Queen of England' is really a predication, not an identity-statement [Russell, by Lycan] |
| 6092 | In a logically perfect language, there will be just one word for every simple object [Russell] |
| 6101 | Romulus does not occur in the proposition 'Romulus did not exist' [Russell] |
| 6115 | Vagueness, and simples being beyond experience, are obstacles to a logical language [Russell] |
| 7528 | Leibniz bases everything on subject/predicate and substance/property propositions [Russell] |
| 23476 | Logical constants seem to be entities in propositions, but are actually pure form [Russell] |
| 23477 | We use logical notions, so they must be objects - but I don't know what they really are [Russell] |
| 21586 | The logical connectives are not objects, but are formal, and need a context [Russell] |
| 21597 | Logical connectives have the highest precision, yet are infected by the vagueness of true and false [Russell, by Williamson] |
| 14105 | There seem to be eight or nine logical constants [Russell] |
| 18722 | Negations are not just reversals of truth-value, since that can happen without negation [Wittgenstein on Russell] |
| 16489 | Is it possible to state every possible truth about the whole course of nature without using 'not'? [Russell] |
| 16479 | 'Or' expresses hesitation, in a dog at a crossroads, or birds risking grabbing crumbs [Russell] |
| 16481 | 'Or' expresses a mental state, not something about the world [Russell] |
| 16487 | Maybe the 'or' used to describe mental states is not the 'or' of logic [Russell] |
| 16480 | A disjunction expresses indecision [Russell] |
| 16483 | Disjunction may also arise in practice if there is imperfect memory. [Russell] |
| 14104 | Constants are absolutely definite and unambiguous [Russell] |
| 14114 | Variables don't stand alone, but exist as parts of propositional functions [Russell] |
| 5772 | The idea of a variable is fundamental [Russell] |
| 21566 | 'Propositional functions' are ambiguous until the variable is given a value [Russell] |
| 13777 | A name is a sort of tool [Plato] |
| 13790 | A name-giver might misname something, then force other names to conform to it [Plato] |
| 13791 | Things must be known before they are named, so it can't be the names that give us knowledge [Plato] |
| 6102 | You can understand 'author of Waverley', but to understand 'Scott' you must know who it applies to [Russell] |
| 10423 | There are a set of criteria for pinning down a logically proper name [Russell, by Sainsbury] |
| 14458 | Asking 'Did Homer exist?' is employing an abbreviated description [Russell] |
| 4945 | Russell says names are not denotations, but definite descriptions in disguise [Russell, by Kripke] |
| 18942 | Russell says a name contributes a complex of properties, rather than an object [Russell, by Sawyer] |
| 7745 | Are names descriptions, if the description is unknown, false, not special, or contains names? [McCullogh on Russell] |
| 5386 | Proper names are really descriptions, and can be replaced by a description in a person's mind [Russell] |
| 7744 | Treat description using quantifiers, and treat proper names as descriptions [Russell, by McCullogh] |
| 10450 | Russell admitted that even names could also be used as descriptions [Russell, by Bach] |
| 14457 | Names are really descriptions, except for a few words like 'this' and 'that' [Russell] |
| 18941 | Names don't have a sense, but are disguised definite descriptions [Russell, by Sawyer] |
| 15159 | The meaning of a logically proper name is its referent, but most names are not logically proper [Russell, by Soames] |
| 13789 | Anyone who knows a thing's name also knows the thing [Plato] |
| 10449 | Logically proper names introduce objects; definite descriptions introduce quantifications [Russell, by Bach] |
| 6410 | The only real proper names are 'this' and 'that'; the rest are really definite descriptions. [Russell, by Grayling] |
| 7757 | "Nobody" is not a singular term, but a quantifier [Russell, by Lycan] |
| 2612 | Russell rewrote singular term names as predicates [Russell, by Ayer] |
| 18943 | Russell implies that all sentences containing empty names are false [Sawyer on Russell] |
| 6439 | Names are meaningless unless there is an object which they designate [Russell] |
| 10426 | A name has got to name something or it is not a name [Russell] |
| 7311 | The only genuine proper names are 'this' and 'that' [Russell] |
| 14455 | 'I met a unicorn' is meaningful, and so is 'unicorn', but 'a unicorn' is not [Russell] |
| 6411 | Critics say definite descriptions can refer, and may not embody both uniqueness and existence claims [Grayling on Russell] |
| 10433 | Definite descriptions fail to refer in three situations, so they aren't essentially referring [Russell, by Sainsbury] |
| 5385 | The phrase 'a so-and-so' is an 'ambiguous' description'; 'the so-and-so' (singular) is a 'definite' description [Russell] |
| 1608 | The theory of descriptions eliminates the name of the entity whose existence was presupposed [Russell, by Quine] |
| 7754 | Russell's theory explains non-existents, negative existentials, identity problems, and substitutivity [Russell, by Lycan] |
| 21529 | Russell showed how to define 'the', and thereby reduce the ontology of logic [Russell, by Lackey] |
| 6333 | The theory of definite descriptions reduces the definite article 'the' to the concepts of predicate logic [Russell, by Horwich] |
| 6412 | Russell implies that 'the baby is crying' is only true if the baby is unique [Grayling on Russell] |
| 7743 | Russell explained descriptions with quantifiers, where Frege treated them as names [Russell, by McCullogh] |
| 7310 | Russell avoids non-existent objects by denying that definite descriptions are proper names [Russell, by Miller,A] |
| 12006 | Denying definite description sentences are subject-predicate in form blocks two big problems [Russell, by Forbes,G] |
| 4569 | Russell says apparent referring expressions are really assertions about properties [Russell, by Cooper,DE] |
| 11009 | Russell's theory must be wrong if it says all statements about non-existents are false [Read on Russell] |
| 21549 | The theory of descriptions lacks conventions for the scope of quantifiers [Lackey on Russell] |
| 12796 | Non-count descriptions don't threaten Russell's theory, which is only about singulars [Laycock on Russell] |
| 7532 | Denoting is crucial in Russell's account of mathematics, for identifying classes [Russell, by Monk] |
| 11988 | Russell's analysis means molecular sentences are ambiguous over the scope of the description [Kaplan on Russell] |
| 14137 | 'Any' is better than 'all' where infinite classes are concerned [Russell] |
| 6061 | Existence is entirely expressed by the existential quantifier [Russell, by McGinn] |
| 18273 | Logical truths are known by their extreme generality [Russell] |
| 17629 | Which premises are ultimate varies with context [Russell] |
| 17630 | The sources of a proof are the reasons why we believe its conclusion [Russell] |
| 17640 | Finding the axioms may be the only route to some new results [Russell] |
| 6109 | Some axioms may only become accepted when they lead to obvious conclusions [Russell] |
| 11259 | How can you seek knowledge of something if you don't know it? [Plato] |
| 13986 | Plato found antinomies in ideas, Kant in space and time, and Bradley in relations [Plato, by Ryle] |
| 14150 | Plato's 'Parmenides' is perhaps the best collection of antinomies ever made [Russell on Plato] |
| 7557 | To solve Zeno's paradox, reject the axiom that the whole has more terms than the parts [Russell] |
| 14149 | The Achilles Paradox concerns the one-one correlation of infinite classes [Russell] |
| 21585 | The tortoise won't win, because infinite instants don't compose an infinitely long time [Russell] |
| 21565 | Richard's puzzle uses the notion of 'definition' - but that cannot be defined [Russell] |
| 15895 | Russell discovered the paradox suggested by Burali-Forti's work [Russell, by Lavine] |
| 13365 | Russell's Paradox is a stripped-down version of Cantor's Paradox [Priest,G on Russell] |
| 10711 | Russell's paradox means we cannot assume that every property is collectivizing [Potter on Russell] |
| 6407 | The class of classes which lack self-membership leads to a contradiction [Russell, by Grayling] |
| 21564 | Vicious Circle: what involves ALL must not be one of those ALL [Russell] |
| 21567 | 'All judgements made by Epimenedes are true' needs the judgements to be of the same type [Russell] |
| 16475 | A 'heterological' predicate can't be predicated of itself; so is 'heterological' heterological? Yes=no! [Russell] |
| 10059 | In mathematic we are ignorant of both subject-matter and truth [Russell] |
| 8726 | Geometry can lead the mind upwards to truth and philosophy [Plato] |
| 9867 | It is absurd to define a circle, but not be able to recognise a real one [Plato] |
| 14152 | In geometry, Kant and idealists aimed at the certainty of the premisses [Russell] |
| 14154 | Geometry throws no light on the nature of actual space [Russell] |
| 14151 | Pure geometry is deductive, and neutral over what exists [Russell] |
| 14153 | In geometry, empiricists aimed at premisses consistent with experience [Russell] |
| 14155 | Two points have a line joining them (descriptive), a distance (metrical), and a whole line (projective) [Russell, by PG] |
| 14442 | If straight lines were like ratios they might intersect at a 'gap', and have no point in common [Russell] |
| 18254 | Russell's approach had to treat real 5/8 as different from rational 5/8 [Russell, by Dummett] |
| 14144 | Ordinals result from likeness among relations, as cardinals from similarity among classes [Russell] |
| 14438 | New numbers solve problems: negatives for subtraction, fractions for division, complex for equations [Russell] |
| 14128 | Some claim priority for the ordinals over cardinals, but there is no logical priority between them [Russell] |
| 14129 | Ordinals presuppose two relations, where cardinals only presuppose one [Russell] |
| 14132 | Properties of numbers don't rely on progressions, so cardinals may be more basic [Russell] |
| 13510 | Could a number just be something which occurs in a progression? [Russell, by Hart,WD] |
| 14141 | Ordinals are defined through mathematical induction [Russell] |
| 14142 | Ordinals are types of series of terms in a row, rather than the 'nth' instance [Russell] |
| 14139 | Transfinite ordinals don't obey commutativity, so their arithmetic is quite different from basic arithmetic [Russell] |
| 14145 | For Cantor ordinals are types of order, not numbers [Russell] |
| 14146 | We aren't sure if one cardinal number is always bigger than another [Russell] |
| 14135 | Real numbers are a class of rational numbers (and so not really numbers at all) [Russell] |
| 14436 | A series can be 'Cut' in two, where the lower class has no maximum, the upper no minimum [Russell] |
| 14439 | A complex number is simply an ordered couple of real numbers [Russell] |
| 14421 | Discovering that 1 is a number was difficult [Russell] |
| 14123 | Some quantities can't be measured, and some non-quantities are measurable [Russell] |
| 14158 | Quantity is not part of mathematics, where it is replaced by order [Russell] |
| 14120 | Counting explains none of the real problems about the foundations of arithmetic [Russell] |
| 14424 | Numbers are needed for counting, so they need a meaning, and not just formal properties [Russell] |
| 14118 | We can define one-to-one without mentioning unity [Russell] |
| 13155 | If you add one to one, which one becomes two, or do they both become two? [Plato] |
| 9865 | Daily arithmetic counts unequal things, but pure arithmetic equalises them [Plato] |
| 14441 | The formal laws of arithmetic are the Commutative, the Associative and the Distributive [Russell] |
| 14119 | We do not currently know whether, of two infinite numbers, one must be greater than the other [Russell] |
| 14133 | There are cardinal and ordinal theories of infinity (while continuity is entirely ordinal) [Russell] |
| 14420 | Infinity and continuity used to be philosophy, but are now mathematics [Russell] |
| 7556 | A collection is infinite if you can remove some terms without diminishing its number [Russell] |
| 14134 | Infinite numbers are distinguished by disobeying induction, and the part equalling the whole [Russell] |
| 14143 | ω names the whole series, or the generating relation of the series of ordinal numbers [Russell] |
| 14138 | You can't get a new transfinite cardinal from an old one just by adding finite numbers to it [Russell] |
| 14140 | For every transfinite cardinal there is an infinite collection of transfinite ordinals [Russell] |
| 17627 | It seems absurd to prove 2+2=4, where the conclusion is more certain than premises [Russell] |
| 10052 | Geometry is united by the intuitive axioms of projective geometry [Russell, by Musgrave] |
| 14431 | The definition of order needs a transitive relation, to leap over infinite intermediate terms [Russell] |
| 14124 | Axiom of Archimedes: a finite multiple of a lesser magnitude can always exceed a greater [Russell] |
| 7530 | Russell tried to replace Peano's Postulates with the simple idea of 'class' [Russell, by Monk] |
| 18246 | Dedekind failed to distinguish the numbers from other progressions [Shapiro on Russell] |
| 14422 | Any founded, non-repeating series all reachable in steps will satisfy Peano's axioms [Russell] |
| 14423 | '0', 'number' and 'successor' cannot be defined by Peano's axioms [Russell] |
| 14147 | Denying mathematical induction gave us the transfinite [Russell] |
| 14125 | Finite numbers, unlike infinite numbers, obey mathematical induction [Russell] |
| 14116 | Numbers were once defined on the basis of 1, but neglected infinities and + [Russell] |
| 14117 | Numbers are properties of classes [Russell] |
| 14425 | A number is something which characterises collections of the same size [Russell] |
| 14434 | What matters is the logical interrelation of mathematical terms, not their intrinsic nature [Russell] |
| 9977 | Ordinals can't be defined just by progression; they have intrinsic qualities [Russell] |
| 9863 | We aim for elevated discussion of pure numbers, not attaching them to physical objects [Plato] |
| 9864 | In pure numbers, all ones are equal, with no internal parts [Plato] |
| 8727 | Geometry is not an activity, but the study of unchanging knowledge [Plato] |
| 10216 | We master arithmetic by knowing all the numbers in our soul [Plato] |
| 16150 | One is, so numbers exist, so endless numbers exist, and each one must partake of being [Plato] |
| 14162 | Mathematics doesn't care whether its entities exist [Russell] |
| 17628 | Arithmetic was probably inferred from relationships between physical objects [Russell] |
| 9861 | The same thing is both one and an unlimited number at the same time [Plato] |
| 5399 | Maths is not known by induction, because further instances are not needed to support it [Russell] |
| 14465 | Maybe numbers are adjectives, since 'ten men' grammatically resembles 'white men' [Russell] |
| 13414 | For Russell, numbers are sets of equivalent sets [Russell, by Benacerraf] |
| 14103 | Pure mathematics is the class of propositions of the form 'p implies q' [Russell] |
| 6108 | Maths can be deduced from logical axioms and the logic of relations [Russell] |
| 6423 | We tried to define all of pure maths using logical premisses and concepts [Russell] |
| 21555 | For 'x is a u' to be meaningful, u must be one range of individuals (or 'type') higher than x [Russell] |
| 18003 | In 'x is a u', x and u must be of different types, so 'x is an x' is generally meaningless [Russell, by Magidor] |
| 10418 | Type theory seems an extreme reaction, since self-exemplification is often innocuous [Swoyer on Russell] |
| 10047 | Russell's improvements blocked mathematics as well as paradoxes, and needed further axioms [Russell, by Musgrave] |
| 23478 | Type theory means that features shared by different levels cannot be expressed [Morris,M on Russell] |
| 23457 | Type theory cannot identify features across levels (because such predicates break the rules) [Morris,M on Russell] |
| 21556 | Classes are defined by propositional functions, and functions are typed, with an axiom of reducibility [Russell, by Lackey] |
| 21718 | Ramified types can be defended as a system of intensional logic, with a 'no class' view of sets [Russell, by Linsky,B] |
| 21570 | Numbers are just verbal conveniences, which can be analysed away [Russell] |
| 6424 | Formalists say maths is merely conventional marks on paper, like the arbitrary rules of chess [Russell] |
| 6425 | Formalism can't apply numbers to reality, so it is an evasion [Russell] |
| 6104 | Numbers are classes of classes, and hence fictions of fictions [Russell] |
| 6426 | Intuitionism says propositions are only true or false if there is a method of showing it [Russell] |
| 21559 | We need rules for deciding which norms are predicative (unless none of them are) [Russell] |
| 18126 | A set does not exist unless at least one of its specifications is predicative [Russell, by Bostock] |
| 18128 | Russell is a conceptualist here, saying some abstracta only exist because definitions create them [Russell, by Bostock] |
| 18124 | Vicious Circle says if it is expressed using the whole collection, it can't be in the collection [Russell, by Bostock] |
| 21568 | A one-variable function is only 'predicative' if it is one order above its arguments [Russell] |
| 21558 | 'Predicative' norms are those which define a class [Russell] |
| 14449 | There is always something psychological about inference [Russell] |
| 14463 | Existence can only be asserted of something described, not of something named [Russell] |
| 11010 | Being is what belongs to every possible object of thought [Russell] |
| 14161 | Many things have being (as topics of propositions), but may not have actual existence [Russell] |
| 229 | The one was and is and will be and was becoming and is becoming and will become [Plato] |
| 324 | Before the existence of the world there must have been being, space and becoming [Plato] |
| 20364 | The apprehensions of reason remain unchanging, but reasonless sensation shows mere becoming [Plato] |
| 9862 | To become rational, philosophers must rise from becoming into being [Plato] |
| 11278 | What does 'that which is not' refer to? [Plato] |
| 1643 | If statements about non-existence are logically puzzling, so are statements about existence [Plato] |
| 21818 | Being depends on the Good, which is not itself being, but superior to being [Plato] |
| 21821 | Plato's Parmenides has a three-part theory, of Primal One, a One-Many, and a One-and-Many [Plato, by Plotinus] |
| 7022 | To be is to have a capacity, to act on other things, or to receive actions [Plato] |
| 14173 | What exists has causal relations, but non-existent things may also have them [Russell] |
| 2061 | The best things (gods, healthy bodies, good souls) are least liable to change [Plato] |
| 2060 | There seem to be two sorts of change: alteration and motion [Plato] |
| 2063 | How can beauty have identity if it changes? [Plato] |
| 6402 | In 1927, Russell analysed force and matter in terms of events [Russell, by Grayling] |
| 16045 | General facts supervene on particular facts, but cannot be inferred from them [Russell, by Bennett,K] |
| 10968 | Russell gave up logical atomism because of negative, general and belief propositions [Russell, by Read] |
| 21684 | Atomic facts may be inferrable from others, but never from non-atomic facts [Russell] |
| 21708 | Russell's new logical atomist was of particulars, universals and facts (not platonic propositions) [Russell, by Linsky,B] |
| 19051 | Russell's atomic facts are actually compounds, and his true logical atoms are sense data [Russell, by Quine] |
| 6089 | Logical atomism aims at logical atoms as the last residue of analysis [Russell] |
| 6100 | Once you have enumerated all the atomic facts, there is a further fact that those are all the facts [Russell] |
| 6105 | Logical atoms aims to get down to ultimate simples, with their own unique reality [Russell] |
| 6113 | To mean facts we assert them; to mean simples we name them [Russell] |
| 6114 | 'Simples' are not experienced, but are inferred at the limits of analysis [Russell] |
| 21722 | Better to construct from what is known, than to infer what is unknown [Russell] |
| 21681 | Given all true atomic propositions, in theory every other truth can thereby be deduced [Russell] |
| 6419 | In 1899-1900 I adopted the philosophy of logical atomism [Russell] |
| 6438 | Complex things can be known, but not simple things [Russell] |
| 6472 | Continuity is a sufficient criterion for the identity of a rock, but not for part of a smooth fluid [Russell] |
| 14503 | If a mixture does not contain measure and proportion, it is corrupted and destroyed [Plato] |
| 15857 | Any mixture which lacks measure and proportion doesn't even count as a mixture at all [Plato] |
| 7953 | Reasoning needs to cut nature accurately at the joints [Plato] |
| 21538 | If two people perceive the same object, the object of perception can't be in the mind [Russell] |
| 221 | Absolute ideas, such as the Good and the Beautiful, cannot be known by us [Plato] |
| 6562 | Plato's reality has unchanging Parmenidean forms, and Heraclitean flux [Plato, by Fogelin] |
| 5370 | Space is neutral between touch and sight, so it cannot really be either of them [Russell] |
| 7545 | Visible things are physical and external, but only exist when viewed [Russell] |
| 1641 | Some alarming thinkers think that only things which you can touch exist [Plato] |
| 14429 | Classes are logical fictions, made from defining characteristics [Russell] |
| 21709 | You can't name all the facts, so they are not real, but are what propositions assert [Russell] |
| 6111 | As propositions can be put in subject-predicate form, we wrongly infer that facts have substance-quality form [Russell] |
| 6434 | Facts are everything, except simples; they are either relations or qualities [Russell] |
| 18376 | Russell asserts atomic, existential, negative and general facts [Russell, by Armstrong] |
| 5418 | In a world of mere matter there might be 'facts', but no truths [Russell] |
| 22315 | There can't be a negative of a complex, which is negated by its non-existence [Potter on Russell] |
| 22316 | A positive and negative fact have the same constituents; their difference is primitive [Russell] |
| 5465 | Modern trope theory tries, like logical atomism, to reduce things to elementary states [Russell, by Ellis] |
| 9051 | Since natural language is not precise it cannot be in the province of logic [Russell, by Keefe/Smith] |
| 9054 | Vagueness is only a characteristic of representations, such as language [Russell] |
| 10784 | Whenever there's speech it has to be about something [Plato] |
| 6060 | 'Existence' means that a propositional function is sometimes true [Russell] |
| 18775 | Russell showed that descriptions may not have ontological commitment [Russell, by Linsky,B] |
| 13775 | We only succeed in cutting if we use appropriate tools, not if we approach it randomly [Plato] |
| 16121 | I revere anyone who can discern a single thing that encompasses many things [Plato] |
| 7533 | The Theory of Description dropped classes and numbers, leaving propositions, individuals and universals [Russell, by Monk] |
| 14163 | Four classes of terms: instants, points, terms at instants only, and terms at instants and points [Russell] |
| 21341 | Philosophers of logic and maths insisted that a vocabulary of relations was essential [Russell, by Heil] |
| 21534 | The only thing we can say about relations is that they relate [Russell] |
| 21540 | Relational propositions seem to be 'about' their terms, rather than about the relation [Russell] |
| 21562 | There is no complexity without relations, so no propositions, and no truth [Russell] |
| 5371 | Because we depend on correspondence, we know relations better than we know the items that relate [Russell] |
| 5407 | That Edinburgh is north of London is a non-mental fact, so relations are independent universals [Russell] |
| 21576 | With asymmetrical relations (before/after) the reduction to properties is impossible [Russell] |
| 21347 | If Simmias is taller than Socrates, that isn't a feature that is just in Simmias [Plato] |
| 14502 | Plato's idea of 'structure' tends to be mathematically expressed [Plato, by Koslicki] |
| 14430 | If a relation is symmetrical and transitive, it has to be reflexive [Russell] |
| 10586 | 'Reflexiveness' holds between a term and itself, and cannot be inferred from symmetry and transitiveness [Russell] |
| 14432 | 'Asymmetry' is incompatible with its converse; a is husband of b, so b can't be husband of a [Russell] |
| 10585 | Symmetrical and transitive relations are formally like equality [Russell] |
| 9127 | Russell refuted Frege's principle that there is a set for each property [Russell, by Sorensen] |
| 21575 | When we attribute a common quality to a group, we can forget the quality and just talk of the group [Russell] |
| 6063 | Russell can't attribute existence to properties [McGinn on Russell] |
| 14327 | Trope theorists cannot explain how tropes resemble each other [Russell, by Mumford] |
| 5383 | Every complete sentence must contain at least one word (a verb) which stands for a universal [Russell] |
| 4428 | Propositions express relations (prepositions and verbs) as well as properties (nouns and adjectives) [Russell] |
| 5406 | Confused views of reality result from thinking that only nouns and adjectives represent universals [Russell] |
| 4479 | All universals are like the relation "is north of", in having no physical location at all [Russell, by Loux] |
| 2142 | The plurality of beautiful things must belong to a single class, because they have a single particular character [Plato] |
| 4427 | Every sentence contains at least one word denoting a universal, so we need universals to know truth [Russell] |
| 21710 | We know a universal in 'yellow differs from blue' or 'yellow resembles blue less than green does' [Russell] |
| 4030 | Russell claims that universals are needed to explain a priori knowledge (as their relations) [Russell, by Mellor/Oliver] |
| 223 | If you deny that each thing always stays the same, you destroy the possibility of discussion [Plato] |
| 153 | It takes a person to understand, by using universals, and by using reason to create a unity out of sense-impressions [Plato] |
| 227 | You must always mean the same thing when you utter the same name [Plato] |
| 5409 | Normal existence is in time, so we must say that universals 'subsist' [Russell] |
| 5408 | If we identify whiteness with a thought, we can never think of it twice; whiteness is the object of a thought [Russell] |
| 228 | Greatness and smallness must exist, to be opposed to one another, and come into being in things [Plato] |
| 20906 | Platonists argue for the indivisible triangle-in-itself [Plato, by Aristotle] |
| 12043 | Forms are not universals, as they don't cover every general term [Plato, by Annas] |
| 16151 | Plato moves from Forms to a theory of genera and principles in his later work [Plato, by Frede,M] |
| 211 | If admirable things have Forms, maybe everything else does as well [Plato] |
| 219 | If absolute ideas existed in us, they would cease to be absolute [Plato] |
| 16122 | Good thinkers spot forms spread through things, or included within some larger form [Plato] |
| 5094 | Plato's Forms are said to have no location in space [Plato, by Aristotle] |
| 154 | We would have an overpowering love of knowledge if we had a pure idea of it - as with the other Forms [Plato] |
| 10422 | The not-beautiful is part of the beautiful, though opposed to it, and is just as real [Plato] |
| 12042 | Plato's Forms were seen as part of physics, rather than of metaphysics [Plato, by Annas] |
| 307 | Something will always be well-made if the maker keeps in mind the eternal underlying pattern [Plato] |
| 318 | In addition to the underlying unchanging model and a changing copy of it, there must also be a foundation of all change [Plato] |
| 321 | For knowledge and true opinion to be different there must be Forms; otherwise we are just stuck with sensations [Plato] |
| 360 | We must have a prior knowledge of equality, if we see 'equal' things and realise they fall short of it [Plato] |
| 17948 | Plato's Forms meant that the sophists only taught the appearance of wisdom and virtue [Plato, by Nehamas] |
| 1607 | Diotima said the Forms are the objects of desire in philosophical discourse [Plato, by Roochnik] |
| 3039 | When Diogenes said he could only see objects but not their forms, Plato said it was because he had eyes but no intellect [Plato, by Diog. Laertius] |
| 2159 | Craftsmen making furniture refer to the form, but no one manufactures the form of furniture [Plato] |
| 210 | It would be absurd to think there were abstract Forms for vile things like hair, mud and dirt [Plato] |
| 220 | The concept of a master includes the concept of a slave [Plato] |
| 218 | Participation is not by means of similarity, so we are looking for some other method of participation [Plato] |
| 17 | A Form applies to a set of particular things with the same name [Plato] |
| 213 | Each idea is in all its participants at once, just as daytime is a unity but in many separate places at once [Plato] |
| 216 | If things are made alike by participating in something, that thing will be the absolute idea [Plato] |
| 212 | The whole idea of each Form must be found in each thing which participates in it [Plato] |
| 1 | There is only one source for all beauty [Plato] |
| 368 | Other things are named after the Forms because they participate in them [Plato] |
| 304 | Beautiful things must be different from beauty itself, but beauty itself must be present in each of them [Plato] |
| 556 | If there is one Form for both the Form and its participants, they must have something in common [Aristotle on Plato] |
| 215 | If things partake of ideas, this implies either that everything thinks, or that everything actually is thought [Plato] |
| 317 | The universe is basically an intelligible and unchanging model, and a visible and changing copy of it [Plato] |
| 4447 | If the good is one, is it unchanged when it is in particulars, and is it then separated from itself? [Plato] |
| 190 | If asked whether justice itself is just or unjust, you would have to say that it is just [Plato] |
| 563 | If gods are like men, they are just eternal men; similarly, Forms must differ from particulars [Aristotle on Plato] |
| 214 | If absolute greatness and great things are seen as the same, another thing appears which makes them seem great [Plato] |
| 217 | Nothing can be like an absolute idea, because a third idea intervenes to make them alike (leading to a regress) [Plato] |
| 565 | The Forms cannot be changeless if they are in changing things [Aristotle on Plato] |
| 12122 | Plato mistakenly thought forms were totally abstracted away from matter [Bacon on Plato] |
| 5574 | Plato's Forms not only do not come from the senses, but they are beyond possibility of sensing [Plato, by Kant] |
| 557 | A Form is a cause of things only in the way that white mixed with white is a cause [Aristotle on Plato] |
| 4441 | 'Resemblance Nominalism' won't work, because the theory treats resemblance itself as a universal [Russell] |
| 6440 | Universals can't just be words, because words themselves are universals [Russell] |
| 4429 | If we consider whiteness to be merely a mental 'idea', we rob it of its universality [Russell] |
| 14732 | A perceived physical object is events grouped around a centre [Russell] |
| 6473 | Physical things are series of appearances whose matter obeys physical laws [Russell] |
| 9607 | The greatest discovery in human thought is Plato's discovery of abstract objects [Brown,JR on Plato] |
| 7781 | I call an object of thought a 'term'. This is a wide concept implying unity and existence. [Russell] |
| 21536 | When I perceive a melody, I do not perceive the notes as existing [Russell] |
| 21531 | Common sense agrees with Meinong (rather than Russell) that 'Pegasus is a flying horse' is true [Lackey on Russell] |
| 18777 | If the King of France is not bald, and not not-bald, this violates excluded middle [Linsky,B on Russell] |
| 21545 | I prefer to deny round squares, and deal with the difficulties by the theory of denoting [Russell] |
| 21547 | On Meinong's principles 'the existent round square' has to exist [Russell] |
| 14166 | Unities are only in propositions or concepts, and nothing that exists has unity [Russell] |
| 13263 | We can grasp whole things in science, because they have a mathematics and a teleology [Plato, by Koslicki] |
| 21535 | Objects only exist if they 'occupy' space and time [Russell] |
| 13787 | Doesn't each thing have an essence, just as it has other qualities? [Plato] |
| 15855 | If we see everything as separate, we can then give no account of it [Plato] |
| 13261 | Plato sees an object's structure as expressible in mathematics [Plato, by Koslicki] |
| 13265 | Plato was less concerned than Aristotle with the source of unity in a complex object [Plato, by Koslicki] |
| 14164 | The only unities are simples, or wholes composed of parts [Russell] |
| 15851 | Parts must belong to a created thing with a distinct form [Plato] |
| 14112 | A set has some sort of unity, but not enough to be a 'whole' [Russell] |
| 15856 | A thing can become one or many, depending on how we talk about it [Plato] |
| 593 | Plato's holds that there are three substances: Forms, mathematical entities, and perceptible bodies [Plato, by Aristotle] |
| 6465 | We need not deny substance, but there seems no reason to assert it [Russell] |
| 6471 | The assumption by physicists of permanent substance is not metaphysically legitimate [Russell] |
| 14733 | An object produces the same percepts with or without a substance, so that is irrelevant to science [Russell] |
| 15846 | In Parmenides, if composition is identity, a whole is nothing more than its parts [Plato, by Harte,V] |
| 374 | If one object is divided into its parts, someone can then say that one are many and many is one [Plato] |
| 15849 | Plato says only a one has parts, and a many does not [Plato, by Harte,V] |
| 15850 | Anything which has parts must be one thing, and parts are of a one, not of a many [Plato] |
| 2084 | If a word has no parts and has a single identity, it turns out to be the same kind of thing as a letter [Plato] |
| 15844 | A sum is that from which nothing is lacking, which is a whole [Plato] |
| 15843 | The whole can't be the parts, because it would be all of the parts, which is the whole [Plato] |
| 13260 | Plato says wholes are either containers, or they're atomic, or they don't exist [Plato, by Koslicki] |
| 13259 | It seems that the One must be composed of parts, which contradicts its being one [Plato] |
| 11237 | Only universals have essence [Plato, by Politis] |
| 13774 | Things don't have every attribute, and essence isn't private, so each thing has an essence [Plato] |
| 14435 | The essence of individuality is beyond description, and hence irrelevant to science [Russell] |
| 21259 | To grasp a thing we need its name, its definition, and what it really is [Plato] |
| 11238 | Plato and Aristotle take essence to make a thing what it is [Plato, by Politis] |
| 13772 | Is the being or essence of each thing private to each person? [Plato] |
| 14170 | Change is obscured by substance, a thing's nature, subject-predicate form, and by essences [Russell] |
| 16516 | The ship which Theseus took to Crete is now sent to Delos crowned with flowers [Plato] |
| 15847 | Two things relate either as same or different, or part of a whole, or the whole of the part [Plato] |
| 13788 | If we made a perfect duplicate of Cratylus, there would be two Cratyluses [Plato] |
| 14107 | Terms are identical if they belong to all the same classes [Russell] |
| 11849 | It at least makes sense to say two objects have all their properties in common [Wittgenstein on Russell] |
| 8375 | 'Necessary' is a predicate of a propositional function, saying it is true for all values of its argument [Russell] |
| 6099 | Modal terms are properties of propositional functions, not of propositions [Russell] |
| 16490 | Some facts about experience feel like logical necessities [Russell] |
| 22308 | Only the actual exists, so possibilities always reduce to actuality after full analysis [Russell] |
| 21533 | Contingency arises from tensed verbs changing the propositions to which they refer [Russell] |
| 12197 | Inferring q from p only needs p to be true, and 'not-p or q' to be true [Russell] |
| 14450 | All forms of implication are expressible as truth-functions [Russell] |
| 22303 | It makes no sense to say that a true proposition could have been false [Russell] |
| 5400 | In any possible world we feel that two and two would be four [Russell] |
| 14460 | If something is true in all possible worlds then it is logically necessary [Russell] |
| 16120 | Knowing how to achieve immortality is pointless without the knowledge how to use immortality [Plato] |
| 2080 | Things are only knowable if a rational account (logos) is possible [Plato] |
| 2133 | Knowledge must be of the permanent unchanging nature of things [Plato] |
| 5431 | Knowledge cannot be precisely defined, as it merges into 'probable opinion' [Russell] |
| 16482 | All our knowledge (if verbal) is general, because all sentences contain general words [Russell] |
| 6430 | In epistemology we should emphasis the continuity between animal and human minds [Russell] |
| 16126 | Expertise is knowledge of the whole by means of the parts [Plato] |
| 20184 | The only real evil is loss of knowledge [Plato] |
| 20219 | True opinions only become really valuable when they are tied down by reasons [Plato] |
| 20185 | The most important things in life are wisdom and knowledge [Plato] |
| 5780 | The three questions about belief are its contents, its success, and its character [Russell] |
| 5426 | Belief relates a mind to several things other than itself [Russell] |
| 2050 | It is impossible to believe something which is held to be false [Plato] |
| 2076 | How can a belief exist if its object doesn't exist? [Plato] |
| 5366 | We have an 'instinctive' belief in the external world, prior to all reflection [Russell] |
| 389 | How can you be certain about aspects of the world if they aren't constant? [Plato] |
| 17637 | The most obvious beliefs are not infallible, as other obvious beliefs may conflict [Russell] |
| 5359 | Descartes showed that subjective things are the most certain [Russell] |
| 4758 | Naïve realism leads to physics, but physics then shows that naïve realism is false [Russell] |
| 21537 | I assume we perceive the actual objects, and not their 'presentations' [Russell] |
| 5377 | 'Acquaintance' is direct awareness, without inferences or judgements [Russell] |
| 6510 | Russell (1912) said phenomena only resemble reality in abstract structure [Russell, by Robinson,H] |
| 5372 | There is no reason to think that objects have colours [Russell] |
| 21580 | Science condemns sense-data and accepts matter, but a logical construction must link them [Russell] |
| 6466 | Where possible, logical constructions are to be substituted for inferred entities [Russell] |
| 6418 | Russell rejected phenomenalism because it couldn't account for causal relations [Russell, by Grayling] |
| 5373 | 'Idealism' says that everything which exists is in some sense mental [Russell] |
| 5362 | It is not illogical to think that only myself and my mental events exist [Russell] |
| 7554 | Self-evidence is often a mere will-o'-the-wisp [Russell] |
| 5412 | Some propositions are self-evident, but their implications may also be self-evident [Russell] |
| 5413 | Particular instances are more clearly self-evident than any general principles [Russell] |
| 5415 | As shown by memory, self-evidence comes in degrees [Russell] |
| 5416 | If self-evidence has degrees, we should accept the more self-evident as correct [Russell] |
| 5985 | Seeking and learning are just recollection [Plato] |
| 5986 | The slave boy learns geometry from questioning, not teaching, so it is recollection [Plato] |
| 357 | People are obviously recollecting when they react to a geometrical diagram [Plato] |
| 359 | If we feel the inadequacy of a resemblance, we must recollect the original [Plato] |
| 5961 | The soul gets its goodness from god, and its evil from previous existence. [Plato] |
| 5397 | The rationalists were right, because we know logical principles without experience [Russell] |
| 9343 | To achieve pure knowledge, we must get rid of the body and contemplate things with the soul [Plato] |
| 4430 | All a priori knowledge deals with the relations of universals [Russell] |
| 5411 | We can know some general propositions by universals, when no instance can be given [Russell] |
| 2045 | Perception is infallible, suggesting that it is knowledge [Plato] |
| 2067 | Our senses could have been separate, but they converge on one mind [Plato] |
| 6514 | Russell's representationalism says primary qualities only show the structure of reality [Russell, by Robinson,H] |
| 6415 | After 1912, Russell said sense-data are last in analysis, not first in experience [Russell, by Grayling] |
| 5358 | 'Sense-data' are what are immediately known in sensation, such as colours or roughnesses [Russell] |
| 6417 | In 1921 Russell abandoned sense-data, and the gap between sensation and object [Russell, by Grayling] |
| 6474 | Seeing is not in itself knowledge, but is separate from what is seen, such as a patch of colour [Russell] |
| 6467 | No sensibile is ever a datum to two people at once [Russell] |
| 6483 | Russell held that we are aware of states of our own brain [Russell, by Robinson,H] |
| 8244 | Sense-data are qualities devoid of subjectivity, which are the basis of science [Russell, by Deleuze/Guattari] |
| 6462 | Sense-data are not mental, but are part of the subject-matter of physics [Russell] |
| 6463 | Sense-data are objects, and do not contain the subject as part, the way beliefs do [Russell] |
| 6464 | Sense-data are usually objects within the body, but are not part of the subject [Russell] |
| 7549 | If my body literally lost its mind, the object seen when I see a flash would still exist [Russell] |
| 7553 | Sense-data are purely physical [Russell] |
| 6459 | We do not know whether sense-data exist as objects when they are not data [Russell] |
| 6460 | 'Sensibilia' are identical to sense-data, without actually being data for any mind [Russell] |
| 6461 | Ungiven sense-data can no more exist than unmarried husbands [Russell] |
| 21583 | When sense-data change, there must be indistinguishable sense-data in the process [Russell] |
| 8854 | My 'acquaintance' with sense-data is nothing like my knowing New York [Williams,M on Russell] |
| 6458 | Individuating sense-data is difficult, because they divide when closely attended to [Russell] |
| 6469 | Sense-data may be subjective, if closing our eyes can change them [Russell] |
| 6476 | We cannot assume that the subject actually exists, so we cannot distinguish sensations from sense-data [Russell] |
| 6098 | Perception goes straight to the fact, and not through the proposition [Russell] |
| 2068 | With what physical faculty do we perceive pairs of opposed abstract qualities? [Plato] |
| 2078 | You might mistake eleven for twelve in your senses, but not in your mind [Plato] |
| 1637 | A soul without understanding is ugly [Plato] |
| 21577 | Empirical truths are particular, so general truths need an a priori input of generality [Russell] |
| 2162 | If theory and practice conflict, the best part of the mind accepts theory, so the other part is of lower grade [Plato] |
| 2069 | Thought must grasp being itself before truth becomes possible [Plato] |
| 151 | True knowledge is of the reality behind sense experience [Plato] |
| 334 | Only bird-brained people think astronomy is entirely a matter of evidence [Plato] |
| 7290 | If Russell rejects innate ideas and direct a priori knowledge, he is left with a tabula rasa [Russell, by Thompson] |
| 5357 | It is natural to begin from experience, and presumably that is the basis of knowledge [Russell] |
| 5382 | We are acquainted with outer and inner sensation, memory, Self, and universals [Russell, by PG] |
| 5389 | Knowledge by descriptions enables us to transcend private experience [Russell] |
| 16476 | For simple words, a single experience can show that they are true [Russell] |
| 6441 | Pragmatism judges by effects, but I judge truth by causes [Russell] |
| 21532 | Full empiricism is not tenable, but empirical investigation is always essential [Russell] |
| 5376 | I can know the existence of something with which nobody is acquainted [Russell] |
| 16485 | Perception can't prove universal generalisations, so abandon them, or abandon empiricism? [Russell] |
| 16488 | It is hard to explain how a sentence like 'it is not raining' can be found true by observation [Russell] |
| 6431 | Empiricists seem unclear what they mean by 'experience' [Russell] |
| 5414 | Images are not memory, because they are present, and memories are of the past [Russell] |
| 2792 | It is possible the world came into existence five minutes ago, complete with false memories [Russell] |
| 1923 | As a guide to action, true opinion is as good as knowledge [Plato] |
| 2089 | An inadequate rational account would still not justify knowledge [Plato] |
| 2140 | True belief without knowledge is like blind people on the right road [Plato] |
| 174 | True opinion without reason is midway between wisdom and ignorance [Plato] |
| 2085 | Parts and wholes are either equally knowable or equally unknowable [Plato] |
| 2091 | Without distinguishing marks, how do I know what my beliefs are about? [Plato] |
| 5430 | A true belief is not knowledge if it is reached by bad reasoning [Russell] |
| 5429 | True belief is not knowledge when it is deduced from false belief [Russell] |
| 6444 | True belief about the time is not knowledge if I luckily observe a stopped clock at the right moment [Russell] |
| 2087 | A rational account might be seeing an image of one's belief, like a reflection in a mirror [Plato] |
| 2090 | A rational account involves giving an image, or analysis, or giving a differentiating mark [Plato] |
| 2081 | Maybe primary elements can be named, but not receive a rational account [Plato] |
| 5378 | All knowledge (of things and of truths) rests on the foundations of acquaintance [Russell] |
| 17639 | Believing a whole science is more than believing each of its propositions [Russell] |
| 21579 | Objects are treated as real when they connect with other experiences in a normal way [Russell] |
| 2088 | A rational account of a wagon would mean knowledge of its hundred parts [Plato] |
| 303 | Say how many teeth the other has, then count them. If you are right, we will trust your other claims [Plato] |
| 22326 | Knowledge needs more than a sensitive response; the response must also be appropriate [Russell] |
| 13792 | There can't be any knowledge if things are constantly changing [Plato] |
| 2047 | What evidence can be brought to show whether we are dreaming or not? [Plato] |
| 5365 | Dreams can be explained fairly scientifically if we assume a physical world [Russell] |
| 21578 | Global scepticism is irrefutable, but can't replace our other beliefs, and just makes us hesitate [Russell] |
| 1919 | You don't need to learn what you know, and how do you seek for what you don't know? [Plato] |
| 335 | Do the gods also hold different opinions about what is right and honourable? [Plato] |
| 2054 | Clearly some people are superior to others when it comes to medicine [Plato] |
| 2053 | If you claim that all beliefs are true, that includes beliefs opposed to your own [Plato] |
| 2059 | How can a relativist form opinions about what will happen in the future? [Plato] |
| 165 | If the apparent facts strongly conflict with probability, it is in everyone's interests to suppress the facts [Plato] |
| 14433 | Mathematically expressed propositions are true of the world, but how to interpret them? [Russell] |
| 5391 | Science aims to find uniformities to which (within the limits of experience) there are no exceptions [Russell] |
| 17631 | Induction is inferring premises from consequences [Russell] |
| 5394 | We can't prove induction from experience without begging the question [Russell] |
| 5390 | Chickens are not very good at induction, and are surprised when their feeder wrings their neck [Russell] |
| 5392 | It doesn't follow that because the future has always resembled the past, that it always will [Russell] |
| 17085 | A good explanation totally rules out the opposite explanation (so Forms are required) [Plato, by Ruben] |
| 15859 | To investigate the causes of things, study what is best for them [Plato] |
| 5363 | If the cat reappears in a new position, presumably it has passed through the intermediate positions [Russell] |
| 5367 | Belief in real objects makes our account of experience simpler and more systematic [Russell] |
| 2096 | Is the function of the mind management, authority and planning - or is it one's whole way of life? [Plato] |
| 13781 | Soul causes the body to live, and gives it power to breathe and to be revitalized [Plato] |
| 6009 | Psychic conflict is clear if appetite is close to the body and reason fairly separate [Plato, by Modrak] |
| 6041 | There is a third element to the mind - spirit - lying between reason and appetite [Plato] |
| 9296 | The soul is self-motion [Plato] |
| 5962 | Plato says the soul is ordered by number [Plato, by Plutarch] |
| 21260 | Soul is what is defined by 'self-generating motion' [Plato] |
| 5364 | It is hard not to believe that speaking humans are expressing thoughts, just as we do ourselves [Russell] |
| 6416 | Other minds seem to exist, because their testimony supports realism about the world [Russell, by Grayling] |
| 5379 | If we didn't know our own minds by introspection, we couldn't know that other people have minds [Russell] |
| 2127 | The mind has parts, because we have inner conflicts [Plato] |
| 1737 | The soul seems to have an infinity of parts [Aristotle on Plato] |
| 13154 | Do we think and experience with blood, air or fire, or could it be our brain? [Plato] |
| 21569 | It is good to generalise truths as much as possible [Russell] |
| 5410 | I learn the universal 'resemblance' by seeing two shades of green, and their contrast with red [Russell] |
| 191 | Everything resembles everything else up to a point [Plato] |
| 276 | My individuality is my soul, which carries my body around [Plato] |
| 5381 | In seeing the sun, we are acquainted with our self, but not as a permanent person [Russell] |
| 5380 | In perceiving the sun, I am aware of sun sense-data, and of the perceiver of the data [Russell] |
| 364 | One soul can't be more or less of a soul than another [Plato] |
| 7546 | A man is a succession of momentary men, bound by continuity and causation [Russell] |
| 180 | We call a person the same throughout life, but all their attributes change [Plato] |
| 181 | Only the gods stay unchanged; we replace our losses with similar acquisitions [Plato] |
| 6475 | In perception, the self is just a logical fiction demanded by grammar [Russell] |
| 330 | No one wants to be bad, but bad men result from physical and educational failures, which they do not want or choose [Plato] |
| 5778 | If we object to all data which is 'introspective' we will cease to believe in toothaches [Russell] |
| 6433 | Behaviourists struggle to explain memory and imagination, because they won't admit images [Russell] |
| 5779 | There are distinct sets of psychological and physical causal laws [Russell] |
| 7550 | We could probably, in principle, infer minds from brains, and brains from minds [Russell] |
| 23997 | Plato saw emotions and appetites as wild horses, in need of taming [Plato, by Goldie] |
| 1651 | Plato wanted to somehow control and purify the passions [Vlastos on Plato] |
| 5369 | It is rational to believe in reality, despite the lack of demonstrative reasons for it [Russell] |
| 5375 | Knowledge of truths applies to judgements; knowledge by acquaintance applies to sensations and things [Russell] |
| 21711 | Russell's 'multiple relations' theory says beliefs attach to ingredients, not to propositions [Russell, by Linsky,B] |
| 5427 | Truth is when a mental state corresponds to a complex unity of external constituents [Russell] |
| 6443 | Surprise is a criterion of error [Russell] |
| 21542 | Do incorrect judgements have non-existent, or mental, or external objects? [Russell] |
| 22306 | To explain false belief we should take belief as relating to a proposition's parts, not to the whole thing [Russell] |
| 5425 | In order to explain falsehood, a belief must involve several terms, not two [Russell] |
| 6097 | The theory of error seems to need the existence of the non-existent [Russell] |
| 21541 | The complexity of the content correlates with the complexity of the object [Russell] |
| 7531 | We don't assert private thoughts; the objects are part of what we assert [Russell] |
| 5384 | A universal of which we are aware is called a 'concept' [Russell] |
| 10583 | Abstraction principles identify a common property, which is some third term with the right relation [Russell] |
| 10582 | The principle of Abstraction says a symmetrical, transitive relation analyses into an identity [Russell] |
| 10584 | A certain type of property occurs if and only if there is an equivalence relation [Russell] |
| 6112 | Meaning takes many different forms, depending on different logical types [Russell] |
| 13468 | Russell started philosophy of language, by declaring some plausible sentences to be meaningless [Russell, by Hart,WD] |
| 5388 | Every understood proposition is composed of constituents with which we are acquainted [Russell] |
| 6427 | Unverifiable propositions about the remote past are still either true or false [Russell] |
| 4567 | Russell argued with great plausibility that we rarely, if ever, refer with our words [Russell, by Cooper,DE] |
| 5810 | Referring is not denoting, and Russell ignores the referential use of definite descriptions [Donnellan on Russell] |
| 16385 | A definite description 'denotes' an entity if it fits the description uniquely [Russell, by Recanati] |
| 5774 | Denoting phrases are meaningless, but guarantee meaning for propositions [Russell] |
| 5775 | In 'Scott is the author of Waverley', denotation is identical, but meaning is different [Russell] |
| 16987 | By eliminating descriptions from primitive notation, Russell seems to reject 'sense' [Russell, by Kripke] |
| 5387 | It is pure chance which descriptions in a person's mind make a name apply to an individual [Russell] |
| 4570 | Russell assumes that expressions refer, but actually speakers refer by using expressions [Cooper,DE on Russell] |
| 9022 | Russell uses 'propositional function' to refer to both predicates and to attributes [Quine on Russell] |
| 16349 | Russell rejected sense/reference, because it made direct acquaintance with things impossible [Russell, by Recanati] |
| 7313 | 'Sense' is superfluous (rather than incoherent) [Russell, by Miller,A] |
| 7767 | The theory of definite descriptions aims at finding correct truth conditions [Russell, by Lycan] |
| 21550 | Science reduces indexicals to a minimum, but they can never be eliminated from empirical matters [Russell] |
| 5776 | A proposition is what we believe when we believe truly or falsely [Russell] |
| 14451 | Propositions are mainly verbal expressions of true or false, and perhaps also symbolic thoughts [Russell] |
| 14110 | Proposition contain entities indicated by words, rather than the words themselves [Russell] |
| 21543 | If p is false, then believing not-p is knowing a truth, so negative propositions must exist [Russell] |
| 6091 | Propositions don't name facts, because each fact corresponds to a proposition and its negation [Russell] |
| 5781 | Our important beliefs all, if put into words, take the form of propositions [Russell] |
| 5782 | A proposition expressed in words is a 'word-proposition', and one of images an 'image-proposition' [Russell] |
| 19164 | If propositions are facts, then false and true propositions are indistinguishable [Davidson on Russell] |
| 21726 | In graspable propositions the constituents are real entities of acquaintance [Russell] |
| 21702 | In 1918 still believes in nonlinguistic analogues of sentences, but he now calls them 'facts' [Russell, by Quine] |
| 6435 | You can believe the meaning of a sentence without thinking of the words [Russell] |
| 22307 | Propositions don't name facts, because two opposed propositions can match one fact [Russell] |
| 14111 | A proposition is a unity, and analysis destroys it [Russell] |
| 19157 | Russell said the proposition must explain its own unity - or else objective truth is impossible [Russell, by Davidson] |
| 7534 | In 1906, Russell decided that propositions did not, after all, exist [Russell, by Monk] |
| 21724 | The main aim of the multiple relations theory of judgement was to dispense with propositions [Russell, by Linsky,B] |
| 6094 | An inventory of the world does not need to include propositions [Russell] |
| 6096 | I no longer believe in propositions, especially concerning falsehoods [Russell] |
| 21712 | I know longer believe in shadowy things like 'that today is Wednesday' when it is actually Tuesday [Russell] |
| 159 | Only a good philosopher can be a good speaker [Plato] |
| 5945 | The 'Republic' is a great work of rhetorical theory [Lawson-Tancred on Plato] |
| 114 | Rhetoric can produce conviction, but not educate people about right and wrong [Plato] |
| 3324 | Plato's whole philosophy may be based on being duped by reification - a figure of speech [Benardete,JA on Plato] |
| 5946 | 'Phaedrus' pioneers the notion of philosophical rhetoric [Lawson-Tancred on Plato] |
| 158 | An excellent speech seems to imply a knowledge of the truth in the mind of the speaker [Plato] |
| 283 | The question of whether or not to persuade comes before the science of persuasion [Plato] |
| 116 | Rhetoric is irrational about its means and its ends [Plato] |
| 16491 | If we define 'this is not blue' as disbelief in 'this is blue', we eliminate 'not' as an ingredient of facts [Russell] |
| 6093 | The names in a logically perfect language would be private, and could not be shared [Russell] |
| 135 | All activity aims at the good [Plato] |
| 23316 | For Plato and Aristotle there is no will; there is only rational desire for what is seen as good [Plato, by Frede,M] |
| 16 | We avoid evil either through a natural aversion, or because we have acquired knowledge [Plato] |
| 203 | Courage is knowing what should or shouldn't be feared [Plato] |
| 1655 | If goodness needs true opinion but not knowledge, you can skip the 'examined life' [Vlastos on Plato] |
| 16478 | A mother cat is paralysed if equidistant between two needy kittens [Russell] |
| 4026 | Beauty is harmony with what is divine, and ugliness is lack of such harmony [Plato] |
| 390 | If goodness involves moderation and proportion, then it seems to be found in beauty [Plato] |
| 299 | What is fine is always difficult [Plato] |
| 172 | Love of ugliness is impossible [Plato] |
| 173 | Beauty and goodness are the same [Plato] |
| 155 | Beauty is the clearest and most lovely of the Forms [Plato] |
| 249 | People who value beauty above virtue insult the soul by placing the body above it [Plato] |
| 183 | Stage two is the realisation that beauty of soul is of more value than beauty of body [Plato] |
| 184 | Progress goes from physical beauty, to moral beauty, to the beauty of knowledge, and reaches absolute beauty [Plato] |
| 282 | Non-physical beauty can only be shown clearly by speech [Plato] |
| 171 | Music is a knowledge of love in the realm of harmony and rhythm [Plato] |
| 316 | Music has harmony like the soul, and serves to reorder disharmony within us [Plato] |
| 16565 | Without the surface decoration, poetry shows only appearances and nothing of what is real [Plato] |
| 2160 | Representation is two steps removed from the truth [Plato] |
| 2163 | Artists should be excluded from a law-abiding community, because they destroy the rational mind [Plato] |
| 2135 | Truth is closely related to proportion [Plato] |
| 297 | What is fine is the parent of goodness [Plato] |
| 168 | To understand morality requires a soul [Plato] |
| 2141 | I suggest that we forget about trying to define goodness itself for the time being [Plato] |
| 21740 | I doubt whether ethics is part of philosophy [Russell] |
| 302 | What knowledge is required to live well? [Plato] |
| 1869 | The good cannot be expressed in words, but imprints itself upon the soul [Plato, by Celsus] |
| 7503 | Plato never refers to examining the conscience [Plato, by Foucault] |
| 143 | The two ruling human principles are the natural desire for pleasure, and an acquired love of virtue [Plato] |
| 23154 | We divide mankind into friend and foe, and cooperate with one and compete with the other [Russell] |
| 4115 | Plato found that he could only enforce rational moral justification by creating an authoritarian society [Williams,B on Plato] |
| 122 | Moral rules are made by the weak members of humanity [Plato] |
| 21741 | 'You ought to do p' primarily has emotional content, expressing approval [Russell] |
| 2173 | As religion and convention collapsed, Plato sought morals not just in knowledge, but in the soul [Williams,B on Plato] |
| 4547 | Plato measured the degree of reality by the degree of value [Nietzsche on Plato] |
| 2094 | A thing's function is what it alone can do, or what it does better than other things [Plato] |
| 2095 | If something has a function then it has a state of being good [Plato] |
| 2129 | Goodness is mental health, badness is mental sickness [Plato] |
| 1590 | The just man does not harm his enemies, but benefits everyone [Plato] |
| 14177 | Love assists men in achieving merit and happiness [Plato] |
| 179 | Love is desire for perpetual possession of the good [Plato] |
| 176 | Love follows beauty, wisdom is exceptionally beautiful, so love follows wisdom [Plato] |
| 21746 | Unlike hate, all desires can be satisfied by love [Russell] |
| 139 | A good person is bound to act well, and this brings happiness [Plato] |
| 12 | If we were invisible, would the just man become like the unjust? [Plato] |
| 128 | Is it natural to simply indulge our selfish desires? [Plato] |
| 2168 | Clever criminals do well at first, but not in the long run [Plato] |
| 202 | No one willingly and knowingly embraces evil [Plato] |
| 2137 | The main aim is to understand goodness, which gives everything its value and advantage [Plato] |
| 2139 | Every person, and every activity, aims at the good [Plato] |
| 392 | Neither intellect nor pleasure are the good, because they are not perfect and self-sufficient [Plato] |
| 2143 | Good has the same role in the world of knowledge as the sun has in the physical world [Plato] |
| 2147 | The sight of goodness leads to all that is fine and true and right [Plato] |
| 4007 | For Plato we abandon honour and pleasure once we see the Good [Plato, by Taylor,C] |
| 295 | The good is beautiful [Plato] |
| 2144 | Goodness makes truth and knowledge possible [Plato] |
| 2164 | Bad is always destructive, where good preserves and benefits [Plato] |
| 391 | The good involves beauty, proportion and truth [Plato] |
| 21747 | Goodness is a combination of love and knowledge [Russell] |
| 393 | Good first, then beauty, then reason, then knowledge, then pleasure [Plato, by PG] |
| 9274 | Plato's legacy to European thought was the Good, the Beautiful and the True [Plato, by Gray] |
| 177 | If a person is good they will automatically become happy [Plato] |
| 301 | Only knowledge of some sort is good [Plato] |
| 2138 | Pleasure is commonly thought to be the good, though the more ingenious prefer knowledge [Plato] |
| 4322 | In slaking our thirst the goodness of the action and the pleasure are clearly separate [Plato] |
| 94 | Pleasure is better with the addition of intelligence, so pleasure is not the good [Plato, by Aristotle] |
| 2070 | Even people who think pleasure is the good admit that there are bad pleasures [Plato] |
| 136 | Good should be the aim of pleasant activity, not the other way round [Plato] |
| 265 | An action is only just if it is performed by someone with a just character and outlook [Plato] |
| 193 | Some things are good even though they are not beneficial to men [Plato] |
| 269 | Attempted murder is like real murder, but we should respect the luck which avoided total ruin [Plato] |
| 14178 | Happiness is secure enjoyment of what is good and beautiful [Plato] |
| 17947 | Plato decided that the virtuous and happy life was the philosophical life [Plato, by Nehamas] |
| 332 | One should exercise both the mind and the body, to avoid imbalance [Plato] |
| 21743 | In wartime, happiness is hating the enemy, because it gives the war a purpose [Russell] |
| 20180 | A happy and joyous life must largely be a quiet life [Russell] |
| 385 | Some of the pleasures and pains we feel are false [Plato] |
| 387 | A small pure pleasure is much finer than a large one contaminated with pain [Plato] |
| 2157 | Nice smells are intensive, have no preceding pain, and no bad after-effect [Plato] |
| 371 | Reason, memory, truth and wisdom are far better than pleasure, for those who can attain them [Plato] |
| 376 | Would you prefer a life of pleasure without reason, or one of reason without pleasure? [Plato] |
| 382 | It is unlikely that the gods feel either pleasure or pain [Plato] |
| 240 | It would be strange if the gods rewarded those who experienced the most pleasure in life [Plato] |
| 197 | Some pleasures are not good, and some pains are not evil [Plato] |
| 200 | People tend only to disapprove of pleasure if it leads to pain, or prevents future pleasure [Plato] |
| 2134 | Philosophers are concerned with totally non-physical pleasures [Plato] |
| 157 | Most pleasure is release from pain, and is therefore not worthwhile [Plato] |
| 373 | Pleasure is certainly very pleasant, but it doesn't follow that all pleasures are good [Plato] |
| 379 | The good must be sufficient and perfect, and neither intellect nor pleasure are that [Plato] |
| 381 | We feel pleasure when we approach our natural state of harmony [Plato] |
| 2156 | There are three types of pleasure, for reason, for spirit and for appetite [Plato] |
| 361 | It is a mistake to think that the most violent pleasure or pain is therefore the truest reality [Plato] |
| 328 | Everything that takes place naturally is pleasant [Plato] |
| 134 | Good and bad people seem to experience equal amounts of pleasure and pain [Plato] |
| 386 | Intense pleasure and pain are not felt in a good body, but in a worthless one [Plato] |
| 2123 | Excessive pleasure deranges people, making the other virtues impossible [Plato] |
| 264 | The conquest of pleasure is the noblest victory of all [Plato] |
| 132 | If happiness is the satisfaction of desires, then a life of scratching itches should be happiness [Plato] |
| 2158 | Pleasure-seekers desperately seek illusory satisfaction, like filling a leaky vessel [Plato] |
| 4319 | In a fool's mind desire is like a leaky jar, insatiable in its desires, and order and contentment are better [Plato] |
| 2166 | We should behave well even if invisible, for the health of the mind [Plato] |
| 1636 | Wickedness is an illness of the soul [Plato] |
| 388 | Hedonists must say that someone in pain is bad, even if they are virtuous [Plato] |
| 130 | Is the happiest state one of sensual, self-indulgent freedom? [Plato] |
| 377 | If you lived a life of maximum pleasure, would you still be lacking anything? [Plato] |
| 378 | A life of pure pleasure with no intellect is the life of a jellyfish [Plato] |
| 2097 | Isn't it better to have a reputation for goodness than to actually be good? [Plato] |
| 19946 | Morality is a compromise, showing restraint, to avoid suffering wrong without compensation [Plato] |
| 5 | Justice is merely the interests of the stronger party [Plato] |
| 7 | Surely you don't return a borrowed weapon to a mad friend? [Plato] |
| 8 | Is right just the interests of the powerful? [Plato] |
| 15 | Sin first, then sacrifice to the gods from the proceeds [Plato] |
| 13785 | 'Arete' signifies lack of complexity and a free-flowing soul [Plato] |
| 6015 | Plato, unusually, said that theoretical and practical wisdom are inseparable [Plato, by Kraut] |
| 21742 | Originally virtue was obedience, to gods, government, or custom [Russell] |
| 170 | The only slavery which is not dishonourable is slavery to excellence [Plato] |
| 144 | Reason impels us towards excellence, which teaches us self-control [Plato] |
| 5944 | For Plato, virtue is its own reward [Lawson-Tancred on Plato] |
| 4332 | Virtue is a concord of reason and emotion, with pleasure and pain trained to correct ends [Plato] |
| 248 | A serious desire for moral excellence is very rare indeed [Plato] |
| 253 | Every crime is the result of excessive self-love [Plato] |
| 263 | The only worthwhile life is one devoted to physical and moral perfection [Plato] |
| 120 | Should we avoid evil because it will bring us bad consequences? [Plato] |
| 182 | The first step on the right path is the contemplation of physical beauty when young [Plato] |
| 1927 | It seems that virtue is neither natural nor taught, but is a divine gift [Plato] |
| 189 | If we punish wrong-doers, it shows that we believe virtue can be taught [Plato] |
| 235 | Virtue is the aim of all laws [Plato] |
| 1913 | Is virtue taught, or achieved by practice, or a natural aptitude, or what? [Plato] |
| 1921 | If virtue is a type of knowledge then it ought to be taught [Plato] |
| 188 | Socrates did not believe that virtue could be taught [Plato] |
| 204 | Socrates is contradicting himself in claiming virtue can't be taught, but that it is knowledge [Plato] |
| 118 | I would rather be a victim of crime than a criminal [Plato] |
| 305 | Something which lies midway between two evils is better than either of them [Plato] |
| 281 | The arts produce good and beautiful things by preserving the mean [Plato] |
| 1918 | How can you know part of virtue without knowing the whole? [Plato] |
| 1916 | Even if virtues are many and various, they must have something in common to make them virtues [Plato] |
| 2155 | True goodness requires mental unity and harmony [Plato] |
| 277 | The Guardians must aim to discover the common element in the four cardinal virtues [Plato] |
| 2126 | A good community necessarily has wisdom, courage, self-discipline and morality [Plato] |
| 140 | Self-indulgent desire makes friendship impossible, because it makes a person incapable of co-operation [Plato] |
| 131 | If absence of desire is happiness, then nothing is happier than a stone or a corpse [Plato] |
| 254 | Excessive laughter and tears must be avoided [Plato] |
| 119 | A criminal is worse off if he avoids punishment [Plato] |
| 2092 | Simonides said morality is helping one's friends and harming one's enemies [Plato] |
| 266 | Injustice is the mastery of the soul by bad feelings, even if they do not lead to harm [Plato] |
| 23562 | If the parts of our soul do their correct work, we will be just people, and will act justly [Plato] |
| 129 | Do most people praise self-discipline and justice because they are too timid to gain their own pleasure? [Plato] |
| 293 | Being unafraid (perhaps through ignorance) and being brave are two different things [Plato] |
| 21517 | Individuals need creativity, reverence for others, and self-respect [Russell] |
| 4320 | The popular view is that health is first, good looks second, and honest wealth third [Plato] |
| 242 | The best people are produced where there is no excess of wealth or poverty [Plato] |
| 256 | Virtue and great wealth are incompatible [Plato] |
| 351 | War aims at the acquisition of wealth, because we are enslaved to the body [Plato] |
| 294 | People say that friendship exists only between good men [Plato] |
| 156 | Bad people are never really friends with one another [Plato] |
| 21745 | Act so as to produce harmonious rather than discordant desires [Russell] |
| 5398 | Judgements of usefulness depend on judgements of value [Russell] |
| 20177 | Boredom always involves not being fully occupied [Russell] |
| 20179 | Happiness involves enduring boredom, and the young should be taught this [Russell] |
| 20176 | Boredom is an increasingly strong motivating power [Russell] |
| 20178 | Life is now more interesting, but boredom is more frightening [Russell] |
| 2912 | Plato is boring [Nietzsche on Plato] |
| 19889 | People need society because the individual has too many needs [Plato] |
| 23153 | Gradually loyalty to a creed increased, which could even outweigh nationality [Russell] |
| 23152 | Increasingly war expands communities, and unifies them through fear [Russell] |
| 23155 | In early societies the leaders needed cohesion, but the rest just had to obey [Russell] |
| 23156 | The economic and political advantages of great size seem to have no upper limit [Russell] |
| 137 | As with other things, a good state is organised and orderly [Plato] |
| 19890 | All exchanges in a community are for mutual benefit [Plato] |
| 23157 | Government has a negative purpose, to prevent trouble, and a positive aim of realising our desires [Russell] |
| 10 | After a taste of mutual harm, men make a legal contract to avoid it [Plato] |
| 23561 | People doing their jobs properly is the fourth cardinal virtue for a city [Plato] |
| 23151 | A monarch is known to everyone in the group, and can thus unite large groups [Russell] |
| 245 | Totalitarian states destroy friendships and community spirit [Plato] |
| 2149 | Reluctant rulers make a better and more unified administration [Plato] |
| 2132 | Only rule by philosophers of integrity can keep a community healthy [Plato] |
| 21523 | We would not want UK affairs to be settled by a world parliament [Russell] |
| 23167 | Power should be with smaller bodies, as long as it doesn't restrict central powers [Russell] |
| 21522 | Democracy is inadequate without a great deal of devolution [Russell] |
| 23168 | A state is essential, to control greedy or predatory impulses [Russell] |
| 21521 | Anarchy does not maximise liberty [Russell] |
| 23163 | In an anarchy universities, research, books, and even seaside holidays, would be impossible [Russell] |
| 22559 | Democracy is the worst of good constitutions, but the best of bad constitutions [Plato, by Aristotle] |
| 21528 | Groups should be autonomous, with a neutral authority as arbitrator [Russell] |
| 141 | A good citizen won't be passive, but will redirect the needs of the state [Plato] |
| 21527 | On every new question the majority is always wrong at first [Russell] |
| 23166 | In democracy we are more aware of being governed than of our tiny share in government [Russell] |
| 23169 | Democratic institutions become impossible in a fanatical democracy [Russell] |
| 21526 | Unfortunately ordinary voters can't detect insincerity [Russell] |
| 23170 | Liberal opinions are tentative rather than dogmatic, and are always responsive to new evidence [Russell] |
| 23172 | Empiricist Liberalism is the only view for someone who favours scientific evidence and happiness [Russell] |
| 23171 | Empiricism is ethically superior, because dogmatism favours persecution and hatred [Russell] |
| 239 | Education in virtue produces citizens who are active but obedient [Plato] |
| 2131 | Is there anything better for a community than to produce excellent people? [Plato] |
| 23160 | Being a slave of society is hardly better than being a slave of a despot [Russell] |
| 21525 | When the state is the only employer, there is no refuge from the prejudices of other people [Russell] |
| 23162 | Managers are just as remote from workers under nationalisation as under capitalism [Russell] |
| 23165 | Socialists say economic justice needs some state control of industries, and of foreign trade [Russell] |
| 21518 | Men unite in pursuit of material things, and idealise greed as part of group loyalty [Russell] |
| 23158 | Slavery began the divorce between the work and the purposes of the worker [Russell] |
| 21519 | We need security and liberty, and then encouragement of creativity [Russell] |
| 262 | Men and women should qualify equally for honours on merit [Plato] |
| 123 | Do most people like equality because they are second-rate? [Plato] |
| 1402 | Friendship is impossible between master and slave, even if they are made equal [Plato] |
| 23161 | Slaves can be just as equal as free people [Russell] |
| 124 | Does nature imply that it is right for better people to have greater benefits? [Plato] |
| 23159 | Scarce goods may be denied entirely, to avoid their unequal distribution [Russell] |
| 236 | Sound laws achieve the happiness of those who observe them [Plato] |
| 21524 | The right to own land gives a legal right to a permanent income [Russell] |
| 259 | Justice is granting the equality which unequals deserve [Plato] |
| 23164 | Modern justice is seen as equality, apart from modest extra rewards for exceptional desert [Russell] |
| 21744 | Legally curbing people's desires is inferior to improving their desires [Russell] |
| 322 | Intelligence is the result of rational teaching; true opinion can result from irrational persuasion [Plato] |
| 2152 | Dialectic is the highest and most important part of the curriculum [Plato] |
| 257 | Mathematics has the widest application of any subject on the curriculum [Plato] |
| 2148 | To gain knowledge, turn away from the world of change, and focus on true goodness [Plato] |
| 331 | Bad governments prevent discussion, and discourage the study of virtue [Plato] |
| 238 | Children's games should channel their pleasures into adult activity [Plato] |
| 260 | Control of education is the key office of state, and should go to the best citizen [Plato] |
| 222 | Only a great person can understand the essence of things, and an even greater person can teach it [Plato] |
| 250 | The best way to educate the young is not to rebuke them, but to set a good example [Plato] |
| 4331 | Education is channelling a child's feelings into the right course before it understands why [Plato] |
| 2153 | Compulsory intellectual work never remains in the mind [Plato] |
| 1638 | Didactic education is hard work and achieves little [Plato] |
| 298 | While sex is very pleasant, it should be in secret, as it looks contemptible [Plato] |
| 311 | The cosmos must be unique, because it resembles the creator, who is unique [Plato] |
| 310 | The creator of the cosmos had no envy, and so wanted things to be as like himself as possible [Plato] |
| 275 | Creation is not for you; you exist for the sake of creation [Plato] |
| 225 | The unlimited has no shape and is endless [Plato] |
| 233 | Some things do not partake of the One [Plato] |
| 2062 | The only movement possible for the One is in space or in alteration [Plato] |
| 231 | Everything partakes of the One in some way [Plato] |
| 325 | We must consider the four basic shapes as too small to see, only becoming visible in large numbers [Plato] |
| 327 | There are two types of cause, the necessary and the divine [Plato] |
| 13156 | Fancy being unable to distinguish a cause from its necessary background conditions! [Plato] |
| 14175 | We can drop 'cause', and just make inferences between facts [Russell] |
| 14172 | Moments and points seem to imply other moments and points, but don't cause them [Russell] |
| 4396 | The law of causality is a source of confusion, and should be dropped from philosophy [Russell] |
| 8376 | If causes are contiguous with events, only the last bit is relevant, or the event's timing is baffling [Russell] |
| 8380 | Striking a match causes its igniting, even if it sometimes doesn't work [Russell] |
| 17633 | The law of gravity has many consequences beyond its grounding observations [Russell] |
| 8379 | In causal laws, 'events' must recur, so they have to be universals, not particulars [Russell] |
| 8381 | The constancy of scientific laws rests on differential equations, not on cause and effect [Russell] |
| 14174 | The laws of motion and gravitation are just parts of the definition of a kind of matter [Russell] |
| 5393 | We can't know that our laws are exceptionless, or even that there are any laws [Russell] |
| 14168 | Occupying a place and change are prior to motion, so motion is just occupying places at continuous times [Russell] |
| 4786 | Russell's 'at-at' theory says motion is to be at the intervening points at the intervening instants [Russell, by Psillos] |
| 14171 | Force is supposed to cause acceleration, but acceleration is a mathematical fiction [Russell] |
| 6470 | Matter is the limit of appearances as distance from the object diminishes [Russell] |
| 7551 | Matter is a logical construction [Russell] |
| 7547 | Matter requires a division into time-corpuscles as well as space-corpuscles [Russell] |
| 21706 | At first matter is basic and known by sense-data; later Russell says matter is constructed [Russell, by Linsky,B] |
| 6468 | There is 'private space', and there is also the 'space of perspectives' [Russell] |
| 7552 | Six dimensions are needed for a particular, three within its own space, and three to locate that space [Russell] |
| 14160 | Space is the extension of 'point', and aggregates of points seem necessary for geometry [Russell] |
| 314 | Heavenly movements gave us the idea of time, and caused us to inquire about the heavens [Plato] |
| 21581 | We never experience times, but only succession of events [Russell] |
| 1526 | Almost everyone except Plato thinks that time could not have been generated [Plato, by Aristotle] |
| 312 | Time came into existence with the heavens, so that there will be a time when they can be dissolved [Plato] |
| 14156 | Mathematicians don't distinguish between instants of time and points on a line [Russell] |
| 22891 | We could be aware of time if senses briefly vibrated, extending their experience of movement [Russell, by Bardon] |
| 369 | If the Earth is spherical and in the centre, it is kept in place by universal symmetry, not by force [Plato] |
| 7608 | The world is established, and cannot be moved [Isaiah] |
| 14169 | The 'universe' can mean what exists now, what always has or will exist [Russell] |
| 309 | Clearly the world is good, so its maker must have been concerned with the eternal, not with change [Plato] |
| 273 | Movement is transmitted through everything, and it must have started with self-generated motion [Plato] |
| 148 | If the prime origin is destroyed, it will not come into being again out of anything [Plato] |
| 308 | If the cosmos is an object of perception then it must be continually changing [Plato] |
| 13779 | The natural offspring of a lion is called a 'lion' (but what about the offspring of a king?) [Plato] |
| 7343 | Beside me there is no God [Isaiah] |
| 13783 | Even the gods love play [Plato] |
| 279 | Only divine things can always stay the same, and bodies are not like that [Plato] |
| 175 | Gods are not lovers of wisdom, because they are already wise [Plato] |
| 152 | The mind of God is fully satisfied and happy with a vision of reality and truth [Plato] |
| 2630 | If Plato's God is immaterial, he will lack consciousness, wisdom, pleasure and movement, which are essential to him [Cicero on Plato] |
| 337 | It seems that the gods love things because they are pious, rather than making them pious by loving them [Plato] |
| 336 | Is what is pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because they love it? (the 'Euthyphro Question') [Plato] |
| 2609 | If God's decrees are good, and this is not a mere tautology, then goodness is separate from God's decrees [Russell] |
| 2058 | God must be the epitome of goodness, and we can only approach a divine state by being as good as possible [Plato] |
| 8004 | In 'The Laws', to obey the law is to be obey god [Plato, by MacIntyre] |
| 234 | We couldn't discuss the non-existence of the One without knowledge of it [Plato] |
| 5773 | The ontological argument begins with an unproven claim that 'there exists an x..' [Russell] |
| 6119 | You can discuss 'God exists', so 'God' is a description, not a name [Russell] |
| 21258 | The only possible beginning for the endless motions of reality is something self-generated [Plato] |
| 21261 | Self-moving soul has to be the oldest thing there is [Plato] |
| 21257 | Self-generating motion is clearly superior to all other kinds of motion [Plato] |
| 274 | Soul must be the cause of all the opposites, such as good and evil or beauty and ugliness [Plato] |
| 21263 | If all the motions of nature reflect calculations of reason, then the best kind of soul must direct it [Plato] |
| 14 | If the gods are non-existent or indifferent, why bother to deceive them? [Plato] |
| 150 | We cannot conceive of God, so we have to think of Him as an immortal version of ourselves [Plato] |
| 149 | There isn't a single reason for positing the existence of immortal beings [Plato] |
| 278 | If astronomical movements are seen as necessary instead of by divine will, this leads to atheism [Plato] |
| 21265 | The heavens must be full of gods, controlling nature either externally or from within [Plato] |
| 21262 | There must be at least two souls controlling the cosmos, one doing good, the other the opposite [Plato] |
| 363 | Whether the soul pre-exists our body depends on whether it contains the ultimate standard of reality [Plato] |
| 146 | Soul is always in motion, so it must be self-moving and immortal [Plato] |
| 2165 | Something is unlikely to be immortal if it is imperfectly made from diverse parts [Plato] |
| 13 | Is the supreme reward for virtue to be drunk for eternity? [Plato] |
| 21520 | That our heaven is a dull place reflects the misery of excessive work in life [Russell] |
| 2057 | There must always be some force of evil ranged against good [Plato] |
| 2120 | God is responsible for the good things, but we must look elsewhere for the cause of the bad things [Plato] |