236 ideas
23889 | Among the Greeks Aristotle is the only philosopher in the modern style [Weil] |
23881 | All thought about values is philosophical, and thought about anything else is not philosophy [Weil] |
23885 | Philosophy aims to change the soul, not to accumulate knowledge [Weil] |
23886 | Systems are not unique to each philosopher. The platonist tradition is old and continuous [Weil] |
15390 | Metaphysics attempts to give an account of everything, in terms of categories and principles [Simons] |
12865 | Analytic philosophers may prefer formal systems because natural language is such mess [Simons] |
24215 | We call experience 'objective' when it seems necessary [Weil] |
23884 | Truth is a value of thought [Weil] |
23853 | Truth is not a object we love - it is the radiant manifestation of reality [Weil] |
23877 | Most people won't question an idea's truth if they depend on it [Weil] |
23825 | We seek truth only because it is good [Weil] |
23755 | Genius and love of truth are always accompanied by great humility [Weil] |
12832 | Complement: the rest of the Universe apart from some individual, written x-bar [Simons] |
12834 | Criticisms of mereology: parts? transitivity? sums? identity? four-dimensional? [Simons] |
12815 | Classical mereology doesn't apply well to the objects around us [Simons] |
12819 | A 'part' has different meanings for individuals, classes, and masses [Simons] |
12831 | Atom: an individual with no proper parts, written 'At x' [Simons] |
12844 | Dissective: stuff is dissective if parts of the stuff are always the stuff [Simons] |
12822 | Proper or improper part: x < y, 'x is (a) part of y' [Simons] |
12823 | Overlap: two parts overlap iff they have a part in common, expressed as 'x o y' [Simons] |
12824 | Disjoint: two individuals are disjoint iff they do not overlap, written 'x | y' [Simons] |
12827 | Difference: the difference of individuals is the remainder of an overlap, written 'x - y' [Simons] |
12828 | General sum: the sum of objects satisfying some predicate, written σx(Fx) [Simons] |
12825 | Product: the product of two individuals is the sum of all of their overlaps, written 'x · y' [Simons] |
12826 | Sum: the sum of individuals is what is overlapped if either of them are, written 'x + y' [Simons] |
12829 | General product: the nucleus of all objects satisfying a predicate, written πx(Fx) [Simons] |
12830 | Universe: the mereological sum of all objects whatever, written 'U' [Simons] |
12813 | Two standard formalisations of part-whole theory are the Calculus of Individuals, and Mereology [Simons] |
12816 | Classical mereology doesn't handle temporal or modal notions very well [Simons] |
12821 | The part-relation is transitive and asymmetric (and thus irreflexive) [Simons] |
18847 | Each wheel is part of a car, but the four wheels are not a further part [Simons] |
12846 | A 'group' is a collection with a condition which constitutes their being united [Simons] |
12861 | 'The wolves' are the matter of 'the pack'; the latter is a group, with different identity conditions [Simons] |
12848 | The same members may form two groups [Simons] |
12876 | Philosophy is stuck on the Fregean view that an individual is anything with a proper name [Simons] |
12845 | Some natural languages don't distinguish between singular and plural [Simons] |
24189 | The criterion of the real is contradictions [Weil] |
12838 | Four-dimensional ontology has no change, since that needs an object, and time to pass [Simons] |
12842 | There are real relational changes, as well as bogus 'Cambridge changes' [Simons] |
12841 | I don't believe in processes [Simons] |
12836 | Fans of process ontology cheat, since river-stages refer to 'rivers' [Simons] |
8979 | Slow and continuous events (like balding or tree-growth) are called 'processes', not 'events' [Simons] |
8981 | Maybe processes behave like stuff-nouns, and events like count-nouns [Simons] |
12880 | Moments are things like smiles or skids, which are founded on other things [Simons] |
12882 | A wave is maintained by a process, but it isn't a process [Simons] |
12881 | A smiling is an event with causes, but the smile is a continuant without causes [Simons] |
12883 | Moving disturbances are are moments which continuously change their basis [Simons] |
12840 | I do not think there is a general identity condition for events [Simons] |
8973 | Einstein's relativity brought events into ontology, as the terms of a simultaneity relationships [Simons] |
12839 | Relativity has an ontology of things and events, not on space-time diagrams [Simons] |
23855 | Creation produced a network or web of determinations [Weil] |
12879 | Independent objects can exist apart, and maybe even entirely alone [Simons] |
12847 | Mass nouns admit 'much' and 'a little', and resist 'many' and 'few'. [Simons] |
12862 | Gold is not its atoms, because the atoms must be all gold, but gold contains neutrons [Simons] |
12863 | Mass terms (unlike plurals) are used with indifference to whether they can exist in units [Simons] |
12858 | Mixtures disappear if nearly all of the mixture is one ingredient [Simons] |
12859 | A mixture can have different qualities from its ingredients. [Simons] |
24208 | Bodies classify things prior to thought (such as chicks knowing what hits of the egg to peck) [Weil] |
9295 | Not only substances have attributes; events, actions, states and qualities can have them [Teichmann] |
18431 | Internal relations combine some tropes into a nucleus, which bears the non-essential tropes [Simons, by Edwards] |
12850 | To individuate something we must pick it out, but also know its limits of variation [Simons] |
12860 | Sortal nouns for continuants tell you their continuance- and cessation-conditions [Simons] |
12886 | A whole requires some unique relation which binds together all of the parts [Simons] |
12857 | Tibbles isn't Tib-plus-tail, because Tibbles can survive its loss, but the sum can't [Simons] |
12835 | Does Tibbles remain the same cat when it loses its tail? [Simons] |
12820 | Without extensional mereology two objects can occupy the same position [Simons] |
12866 | Composition is asymmetric and transitive [Simons] |
12867 | A hand constitutes a fist (when clenched), but a fist is not composed of an augmented hand [Simons] |
12864 | We say 'b is part of a', 'b is a part of a', 'b are a part of a', or 'b are parts of a'. [Simons] |
12817 | 'Mereological extensionality' says objects with the same parts are identical [Simons] |
12814 | Classical mereology says there are 'sums', for whose existence there is no other evidence [Simons] |
12833 | If there are c atoms, this gives 2^c - 1 individuals, so there can't be just 2 or 12 individuals [Simons] |
12849 | Sums are more plausible for pluralities and masses than they are for individuals [Simons] |
12877 | Sums of things in different categories are found within philosophy. [Simons] |
12888 | The wholeness of a melody seems conventional, but of an explosion it seems natural [Simons] |
12871 | Objects have their essential properties because of the kind of objects they are [Simons] |
12870 | We must distinguish the de dicto 'must' of propositions from the de re 'must' of essence [Simons] |
12873 | Original parts are the best candidates for being essential to artefacts [Simons] |
12874 | An essential part of an essential part is an essential part of the whole [Simons] |
12837 | Four dimensional-objects are stranger than most people think [Simons] |
12856 | Intermittent objects would be respectable if they occurred in nature, as well as in artefacts [Simons] |
12885 | Objects like chess games, with gaps in them, are thereby less unified [Simons] |
12854 | An entrepreneur and a museum curator would each be happy with their ship at the end [Simons] |
12855 | The 'best candidate' theories mistakenly assume there is one answer to 'Which is the real ship?' [Simons] |
12872 | The zygote is an essential initial part, for a sexually reproduced organism [Simons] |
23900 | Chance is compatible with necessity, and the two occur together [Weil] |
12889 | The limits of change for an individual depend on the kind of individual [Simons] |
24194 | Wanting new discoveries blocks good thinking about what has been discovered [Weil] |
24195 | Don't reject opinions; arrange them all in a hierarchy [Weil] |
23888 | Knowledge is beyond question, as an unavoidable component of thinking [Weil] |
24209 | Senses are unaware of each other, and give isolated information [Weil] |
24211 | Associations are not lawlike, because we make arbitrary choice of which representation matters [Weil] |
24214 | Pragmatists are right that science is action on nature - but it must be methodical [Weil] |
24213 | Explanations always concern how one thing changes into another [Weil] |
24210 | Abstraction is just the character of generalisation [Weil] |
24212 | We don't infer the straight from the twisted, because judging the twisted needs the straight [Weil] |
23747 | What is sacred is not a person, but the whole physical human being [Weil] |
24207 | Observing oneself in the present is impossible, and oneself in the past may be wrong [Weil] |
24182 | We must be obedient, and love necessity [Weil] |
9293 | Body-spirit interaction ought to result in losses and increases of energy in the material world [Teichmann] |
23756 | The mind is imprisoned and limited by language, restricting our awareness of wider thoughts [Weil] |
24177 | Higher emotions have less energy, and actions may need the lower emotions [Weil] |
18883 | Any equivalence relation among similar things allows the creation of an abstractum [Simons] |
18884 | Abstraction is usually seen as producing universals and numbers, but it can do more [Simons] |
12843 | With activities if you are doing it you've done it, with performances you must finish to have done it [Simons] |
23878 | Weakness of will is the inadequacy of the original impetus to carry through the action [Weil] |
24184 | What matters about an action is not its aim, but the origin of its compulsion [Weil] |
23848 | The aesthete's treatment of beauty as amusement is sacrilegious; beauty should nourish [Weil] |
23899 | The secret of art is that beauty is a just blend of unity and its opposite [Weil] |
23832 | We both desire what is beautiful, and want it to remain as it is [Weil] |
23758 | Beauty is an attractive mystery, leaving nothing to be desired [Weil] |
23887 | Art (like philosophy) establishes a relation between world and self, and between oneself and others [Weil] |
12875 | One false note doesn't make it a performance of a different work [Simons] |
23903 | When we admire a work, we see ourselves as its creator [Weil] |
24198 | Perfect works of art seem to be essentially anonymous [Weil] |
23898 | Those who say immorality is not an aesthetic criterion must show that all criteria are aesthetic [Weil] |
24216 | Everyone is devoted to morality, if they don't have to implement it [Weil] |
23826 | Beauty, goodness and truth are only achieved by applying full attention [Weil] |
23854 | Beauty is the proof of what is good [Weil] |
23814 | Every human yearns for an unattainable transcendent good [Weil] |
23824 | Where human needs are satisfied we find happiness, friendship and beauty [Weil] |
23879 | In a violent moral disagreement, it can't be that both sides are just following social morality [Weil] |
24191 | We want our values to be eternal [Weil] |
24197 | Power and money are supreme means, thus blinding people to ends [Weil] |
23882 | Ends, unlike means, cannot be defined, which is why people tend to pursue means [Weil] |
23760 | All we need are the unity of justice, truth and beauty [Weil] |
23883 | Minds essentially and always strive towards value [Weil] |
23748 | The sacred in every human is their expectation of good rather than evil [Weil] |
24181 | We need love to have a good death [Weil] |
24179 | We should never desire the immortality of the people we love [Weil] |
23759 | Everything which originates in love is beautiful [Weil] |
23762 | Evil is transmitted by comforts and pleasures, but mostly by doing harm to people [Weil] |
23808 | There are two goods - the absolute good we want, and the reachable opposite of evil [Weil] |
23833 | The good is a nothingness, and yet real [Weil] |
24193 | If we focus on the good, our whole soul is drawn towards it [Weil] |
23865 | Morality would improve if people could pursue private interests [Weil] |
24196 | Loving others as ourselves implies varied love, and varied suffering [Weil] |
23896 | We see our character as a restricting limit, but also as an unshakable support [Weil] |
23893 | We don't see character in a single moment, but only over a period of time [Weil] |
23894 | The concept of character is at the centre of morality [Weil] |
23895 | We modify our character by placing ourselves in situations, or by attending to what seems trivial [Weil] |
24183 | We should only perform the good actions which we can't help doing [Weil] |
23837 | Respect is our only obligation, which can only be expressed through deeds, not words [Weil] |
23815 | We cannot equally respect what is unequal, so equal respect needs a shared ground [Weil] |
24185 | Friendship is a virtue, not a state we should dream of [Weil] |
23834 | Friendship is partly universal - the love of a person is like the ideal of loving everyone [Weil] |
24219 | My neighbour's pleasure can't be an end for me [Weil] |
24188 | It is absurd to say that evil proves life is worthless. If it were, why would evil matter? [Weil] |
24205 | Monotony is beautiful as a reflection of eternity, or atrocious as unvarying perpetuity [Weil] |
23823 | Life needs risks to avoid sickly boredom [Weil] |
23844 | The most important human need is to have multiple roots [Weil] |
23838 | The need for order stands above all others, and is understood via the other needs [Weil] |
23836 | Obligations only bind individuals, not collectives [Weil] |
24202 | Obedience to an illegitimate ruler is a nightmare [Weil] |
23840 | A citizen should be able to understand the whole of society [Weil] |
24218 | People can't be citizens in public life if they are oppressed in economic life [Weil] |
23843 | Even the poorest should feel collective ownership, and participation in grand display [Weil] |
23822 | We all need to partipate in public tasks, and take some initiative [Weil] |
24200 | A citizen is defined by their subjection to the laws [Weil] |
23846 | Culture is an instrument for creating an ongoing succession of teachers [Weil] |
23857 | People in power always try to increase their power [Weil] |
23831 | The essence of power is illusory prestige [Weil] |
23866 | In oppressive societies the scope of actual control is extended by a religion of power [Weil] |
23812 | Force is what turns man into a thing, and ultimately into a corpse [Weil] |
24201 | Social order is equilibrium of forces, which must be corrected when imbalanced [Weil] |
24199 | There is no oppression, or oppressive class; there is only an oppressive society [Weil] |
23839 | A lifelong head of society should only be a symbol, not a ruler [Weil] |
23871 | No central authority can initiate decentralisation [Weil] |
23856 | Spontaneous movements are powerless against organised repression [Weil] |
23867 | After a bloody revolution the group which already had the power comes to the fore [Weil] |
24203 | Atheistic materialism must be revolutionary, because its good is in the future [Weil] |
23830 | A group is only dangerous if it endorses an abstract entity [Weil] |
23870 | Decentralisation is only possible by co-operation between strong and weak - which is absurd [Weil] |
23809 | Our only social duty is to try to limit evil [Weil] |
24190 | Anarchists thought (hopelessly) that empowering the oppressed would end evil [Weil] |
23817 | We need both equality (to attend to human needs) and hierarchy (as a scale of responsibilities) [Weil] |
23829 | National leaders want to preserve necessary order - but always the existing order [Weil] |
23842 | Party politics in a democracy can't avoid an anti-democratic party [Weil] |
23859 | True democracy is the subordination of society to the individual [Weil] |
23863 | Only individual people of good will can achieve social progress [Weil] |
23869 | In the least evil societies people can think, control community life, and be autonomous [Weil] |
23847 | Socialism tends to make a proletariat of the whole population [Weil] |
23750 | It is not more money which the wretched members of society need [Weil] |
23807 | The collective is the one and only object of false idolatry [Weil] |
23749 | The problem of the collective is not suppression of persons, but persons erasing themselves [Weil] |
23861 | Marx showed that capitalist oppression, because of competition, is unstoppable [Weil] |
23897 | Once money is the main aim, society needs everyone to think wealth is possible [Weil] |
23845 | The capitalists neglect the people and the nation, and even their own interests [Weil] |
23810 | Charity is the only love, and you can feel that for a country (a place with traditions), but not a nation [Weil] |
23828 | National prestige consists of behaving as if you could beat the others in a war [Weil] |
23868 | The pleasure of completing tasks motivates just as well as the whip of slavery [Weil] |
23811 | If effort is from necessity rather than for a good, it is slavery [Weil] |
23819 | Deliberate public lying should be punished [Weil] |
23818 | We have liberty in the space between nature and accepted authority [Weil] |
24221 | Equality is the result of unlimited freedom [Weil] |
23901 | Relationships depend on equality, so unequal treatment kills them [Weil] |
23753 | People absurdly claim an equal share of things which are essentially privileged [Weil] |
23841 | By making money the sole human measure, inequality has become universal [Weil] |
23864 | Inequality could easily be mitigated, if it were not for the struggle for power [Weil] |
23835 | People have duties, and only have rights because of the obligations of others to them [Weil] |
23751 | Rights are asserted contentiously, and need the backing of force [Weil] |
23752 | Giving centrality to rights stifles all impulses of charity [Weil] |
23820 | People need personal and collective property, and a social class lacking property is shameful [Weil] |
23813 | Only people who understand force, and don't respect it, are capable of justice [Weil] |
23757 | The spirit of justice needs the full attention of truth, and that attention is love [Weil] |
23761 | Justice (concerning harm) is distinct from rights (concerning inequality) [Weil] |
23852 | To punish people we must ourselves be innocent - but that undermines the desire to punish [Weil] |
23821 | Crime should be punished, to bring the perpetrator freely back to morality [Weil] |
23763 | Punishment aims at the good for men who don't desire it [Weil] |
23764 | The only thing in society worse than crime is repressive justice [Weil] |
23827 | Modern wars are fought in the name of empty words which are given capital letters [Weil] |
23880 | When war was a profession, customary morality justified any act of war [Weil] |
23850 | The soldier-civilian distinction should be abolished; every citizen is committed to a war [Weil] |
23858 | War is perpetuated by its continual preparations [Weil] |
23851 | Education is essentially motivation [Weil] |
24217 | History is scientific when it relies on accurate documents [Weil] |
23873 | Dividing history books into separate chapters is disastrous [Weil] |
23860 | Even if a drowning man is doomed, he should keep swimming to the last [Weil] |
24204 | The past is known to us but unreachable - a perfect image of eternal, supernatural reality [Weil] |
24222 | If we ignore all our thoughts of the past and the future, there is nothing left of the present [Weil] |
24220 | As the highest value, God cannot be proved [Weil] |
23816 | Attention to a transcendent reality motivates a duty to foster the good of humanity [Weil] |
23754 | The only choice is between supernatural good, or evil [Weil] |
24192 | My love makes me believe in God; the inconceivability of this God makes me disbelieve [Weil] |
23892 | The only legitimate proof of God by order derives from beauty [Weil] |
23904 | The cruelty of the Old Testament put me off Christianity [Weil] |
24178 | We must leave on one side the ordinary 'consolations' of religion [Weil] |
24206 | Revolution (not religion) is the opium of the people [Weil] |
23849 | Religion should quietly suffuse all human life with its light [Weil] |
23902 | I attach little importance to immortality, which is an undecidable fact, and irrelevant to us [Weil] |
24180 | We just see immortality as prolongation of life, making death meaningless [Weil] |
23765 | The soul is the intrinsic value of a human [Weil] |
9292 | The Soul has no particular capacity (in the way thinking belongs to the mind) [Teichmann] |
9294 | No individuating marks distinguish between Souls [Teichmann] |
24186 | If the world lacked evil, then the evil would be in our desires, which would be worse [Weil] |
24187 | Without worldly affliction, we'd think this is paradise [Weil] |