40 ideas
3035 | Dialectic involves conversations with short questions and brief answers [Diog. Laertius] |
17377 | All descriptive language is classificatory [Dupré] |
17376 | We should aim for a classification which tells us as much as possible about the object [Dupré] |
17390 | Natural kinds don't need essentialism to be explanatory [Dupré] |
17388 | It seems that species lack essential properties, so they can't be natural kinds [Dupré] |
17389 | A species might have its essential genetic mechanism replaced by a new one [Dupré] |
1212 | Replacing timbers on Theseus' ship was the classic illustration of the problem of growth and change [Plutarch] |
5958 | The sun is always bright; it doesn't become bright when it emerges [Plutarch] |
1816 | Sceptics say demonstration depends on self-demonstrating things, or indemonstrable things [Diog. Laertius] |
1819 | Scepticism has two dogmas: that nothing is definable, and every argument has an opposite argument [Diog. Laertius] |
3064 | When sceptics say that nothing is definable, or all arguments have an opposite, they are being dogmatic [Diog. Laertius] |
17374 | The possibility of prediction rests on determinism [Dupré] |
3033 | Induction moves from some truths to similar ones, by contraries or consequents [Diog. Laertius] |
5959 | Some philosophers say the soul is light [Plutarch] |
5960 | When the soul is intelligent and harmonious, it is part of god and derives from god [Plutarch] |
5952 | Rather than being the whole soul, maybe I am its chief part? [Plutarch] |
5951 | If atoms have no qualities, they cannot possibly produce a mind [Plutarch] |
5963 | Some say emotion is a sort of reason, and others say virtue concerns emotion [Plutarch] |
17378 | Presumably molecular structure seems important because we never have the Twin Earth experience [Dupré] |
20796 | Action needs an affinity for a presentation, and an impulse toward the affinity [Plutarch] |
1477 | Being manly and brave is the result of convention, not of human nature [Plutarch] |
1838 | Cyrenaic pleasure is a motion, but Epicurean pleasure is a condition [Diog. Laertius] |
1478 | Animals don't value pleasure, as they cease sexual intercourse after impregnation [Plutarch] |
1769 | Cynics believe that when a man wishes for nothing he is like the gods [Diog. Laertius] |
5948 | The good life involves social participation, loyalty, temperance and honesty [Plutarch] |
1479 | Animals have not been led into homosexuality, because they value pleasure very little [Plutarch] |
5950 | If only atoms exist, how do qualities arise when the atoms come together? [Plutarch] |
17381 | Phylogenetics involves history, and cladism rests species on splits in lineage [Dupré] |
17385 | Kinds don't do anything (including evolve) because they are abstract [Dupré] |
17380 | Wales may count as fish [Dupré] |
17382 | Cooks, unlike scientists, distinguish garlic from onions [Dupré] |
17375 | Natural kinds are decided entirely by the intentions of our classification [Dupré] |
17379 | Borders between species are much less clear in vegetables than among animals [Dupré] |
17384 | Even atoms of an element differ, in the energy levels of their electrons [Dupré] |
17387 | Ecologists favour classifying by niche, even though that can clash with genealogy [Dupré] |
17383 | Species are the lowest-level classification in biology [Dupré] |
17386 | The theory of evolution is mainly about species [Dupré] |
5974 | People report seeing through rocks, or over the horizon, or impossibly small works [Plutarch] |
5957 | Absurd superstitions make people atheist, not disharmony in nature [Plutarch] |
5955 | No one will ever find a city that lacks religious practices [Plutarch] |