166 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] |
| 20910 | Everything happens necessarily, and for a reason [Democritus] |
| 23884 | Truth is a value of thought [Weil] |
| 23755 | Genius and love of truth are always accompanied by great humility [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] |
| 23853 | Truth is not a object we love - it is the radiant manifestation of reality [Weil] |
| 16146 | Two can't be a self-contained unit, because it would need to be one to do that [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
| 20901 | True Being only occurs when it is completely full, with atoms and no void [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
| 20902 | Being does not exist more than non-being [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
| 20904 | The non-existent exists as much as the existent, because it has causal powers [Democritus] |
| 20903 | The only distinctions are Configuration (shape), Disposition (order) and Turning (position) [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
| 20893 | Nothing comes from non-existence, or passes into it [Democritus, by Diog. Laertius] |
| 23855 | Creation produced a network or web of determinations [Weil] |
| 20896 | It is not possible to know what sort each thing is [Democritus] |
| 3357 | Democritus denies reality to large objects, because atomic entities can't combine to produce new ones [Benardete,JA on Democritus] |
| 598 | Democritus said that substances could never be mixed, so atoms are the substances [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
| 23900 | Chance is compatible with necessity, and the two occur together [Weil] |
| 23888 | Knowledge is beyond question, as an unavoidable component of thinking [Weil] |
| 1532 | Sensible qualities can't be real if they appear different to different creatures [Democritus, by Theophrastus] |
| 20894 | Man is separated from reality [Democritus] |
| 517 | All evidence comes from senses, so they are indispensable to the mind [Democritus] |
| 20897 | Obscure knowledge belongs to the five senses, and genuine knowledge is the other type [Democritus] |
| 577 | Democritus says there is either no truth, or it is concealed from us [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
| 20895 | We actually know nothing, and opinions are mere flux [Democritus] |
| 1528 | We in fact know nothing, but we each restructure our reality with beliefs [Democritus] |
| 492 | It is obviously impossible to understand the reality of each thing [Democritus] |
| 515 | We know nothing in reality; for truth lies in an abyss [Democritus] |
| 20892 | Democritus was devoted to discovering causal explanations [Democritus, by Eusebius] |
| 13165 | Geometrical proofs do not show causes, as when we prove a triangle contains two right angles [Proclus] |
| 5882 | Democritus says soul consists of smooth round bodies brought together in accidental collision [Democritus, by Cicero] |
| 6034 | Atomists say soul has a rational part in the chest, and a diffused non-rational part [Democritus, by Aetius] |
| 20912 | The soul is the same as the mind [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
| 20916 | Animals have a share of reason [Democritus, by Porphyry] |
| 20914 | The directive centre is located in the whole head [Democritus, by Ps-Plutarch] |
| 23747 | What is sacred is not a person, but the whole physical human being [Weil] |
| 6033 | Democritus said everything happens of necessity, by natural motion of atoms [Democritus, by Cicero] |
| 5088 | Some say there is a determinate cause for every apparently spontaneous event [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
| 21670 | Democritus said atoms only move by their natural motions, which are therefore necessary [Democritus, by Cicero] |
| 24041 | Democritus says spherical atoms are fire, and constitute the soul [psuche] [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
| 20913 | Democritus says the soul is the body, and thinking is thus the mixture of the body [Democritus, by Theophrastus] |
| 23756 | The mind is imprisoned and limited by language, restricting our awareness of wider thoughts [Weil] |
| 9569 | The origin of geometry started in sensation, then moved to calculation, and then to reason [Proclus] |
| 23878 | Weakness of will is the inadequacy of the original impetus to carry through the action [Weil] |
| 1540 | Pleasure and pain guide our choices of good and bad [Democritus] |
| 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] |
| 23848 | The aesthete's treatment of beauty as amusement is sacreligious; beauty should nourish [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] |
| 23903 | When we admire a work, we see ourselves as its creator [Weil] |
| 23898 | Those who say immorality is not an aesthetic criterion must show that all criteria are aesthetic [Weil] |
| 23814 | Every human yearns for an unattainable transcendent good [Weil] |
| 23826 | Beauty, goodness and truth are only achieved by applying full attention [Weil] |
| 23854 | Beauty is the proof of what is 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] |
| 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] |
| 495 | Wisdom creates a healthy passion-free soul [Democritus] |
| 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] |
| 1537 | Happiness is identifying and separating the pleasures [Democritus, by Stobaeus] |
| 23865 | Morality would improve if people could pursue private interests [Weil] |
| 23896 | We see our character as a restricting limit, but also as an unshakable support [Weil] |
| 23894 | The concept of character is at the centre of morality [Weil] |
| 23893 | We don't see character in a single moment, but only over a period of time [Weil] |
| 23895 | We modify our character by placing ourselves in situations, or by attending to what seems trivial [Weil] |
| 20917 | Contentment comes from moderation and proportion in life [Democritus, by Stobaeus] |
| 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] |
| 13551 | Democritus says wealth is a burden to the virtuous mind [Democritus, by Seneca] |
| 23834 | Friendship is partly universal - the love of a person is like the ideal of loving everyone [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] |
| 23840 | A citizen should be able to understand the whole of society [Weil] |
| 23822 | We all need to partipate in public tasks, and take some initiative [Weil] |
| 23843 | Even the poorest should feel collective ownership, and participation in grand display [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] |
| 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] |
| 23831 | The essence of power is illusory prestige [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] |
| 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] |
| 23829 | National leaders want to preserve necessary order - but always the existing order [Weil] |
| 23817 | We need both equality (to attend to human needs) and hierarchy (as a scale of responsibilities) [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] |
| 23828 | National prestige consists of behaving as if you could beat the others in a war [Weil] |
| 23810 | Charity is the only love, and you can feel that for a country (a place with traditions), but not a nation [Weil] |
| 23811 | If effort is from necessity rather than for a good, it is slavery [Weil] |
| 23868 | The pleasure of completing tasks motivates just as well as the whip of slavery [Weil] |
| 23819 | Deliberate public lying should be punished [Weil] |
| 23818 | We have liberty in the space between nature and accepted authority [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] |
| 23764 | The only thing in society worse than crime is repressive justice [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] |
| 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] |
| 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] |
| 20899 | Atoms cling together, until a stronger necessity disperses them [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
| 20898 | Atoms are irregular, hooked, concave, convex, and many other shapes [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
| 20908 | There could be an atom the size of the world [Democritus, by Ps-Plutarch] |
| 1527 | There must be atoms, to avoid the absurdity of infinite division down to nothing [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
| 493 | Experiences are merely convention; only atoms and the void are real [Democritus] |
| 20909 | The basic atoms are without qualities - which only arise from encounters between atoms [Democritus, by Galen] |
| 1536 | If a cone is horizontally sliced the surfaces can't be equal, so it goes up in steps [Democritus] |
| 17542 | 'Full' and 'Void' secularised Parmenides's Being and Not-being [Democritus, by Heisenberg] |
| 1525 | Atomists say there are only three differences - in shape, arrangement and position [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
| 5947 | If only atoms are real and the rest is convention, we wouldn't bother to avoid pain [Democritus, by Diogenes of Oen.] |
| 13219 | When atoms touch, why don't they coalesce, like water drops? [Aristotle on Democritus] |
| 1533 | Because appearance is infinitely varied, atomists assume infinitely many shapes of atom [Democritus, by Aristotle] |
| 23314 | Greeks explained regularity by intellectual design, not by laws [Democritus, by Frede,M] |
| 24059 | Democritus is wrong: in a void we wouldn't see a distant ant in exact detail [Aristotle on Democritus] |
| 5101 | Movement is impossible in a void, because nothing can decide the direction of movement [Aristotle on Democritus] |
| 20905 | Growth and movement would not exist if there were no void to receive them [Democritus] |
| 20911 | There are unlimited worlds of varying sizes, some without life or water [Democritus, by Hippolytus] |
| 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] |
| 23892 | The only legitimate proof of God by order derives from beauty [Weil] |
| 1535 | Democritus said people imagined gods as the source of what awed or frightened them [Democritus, by Sext.Empiricus] |
| 23904 | The cruelty of the Old Testament put me off Christianity [Weil] |
| 23849 | Religion should quietly suffuse all human life with its light [Weil] |
| 20915 | The soul is destroyed with the body [Democritus, by Ps-Plutarch] |
| 23902 | I attach little importance to immortality, which is an undecidable fact, and irrelevant to us [Weil] |
| 23765 | The soul is the intrinsic value of a human [Weil] |