101 ideas
22659 | It is wisdom to believe what you desire, because belief is needed to achieve it [James] |
17016 | Philosophy must abstract from the senses [Newton] |
22657 | All good philosophers start from a dumb conviction about which truths can be revealed [James] |
22647 | A complete system is just a classification of the whole world's ingredients [James] |
21960 | Ordinary language is the beginning of philosophy, but there is much more to it [Austin,JL] |
22648 | A single explanation must have a single point of view [James] |
22642 | Man has an intense natural interest in the consistency of his own thinking [James] |
22644 | Our greatest pleasure is the economy of reducing chaotic facts to one single fact [James] |
6710 | You can only define a statement that something is 'true' by referring to its functional possibilities [James] |
18986 | Truth is just a name for verification-processes [James] |
10835 | True sentences says the appropriate descriptive thing on the appropriate demonstrative occasion [Austin,JL] |
18983 | In many cases there is no obvious way in which ideas can agree with their object [James] |
10836 | Correspondence theorists shouldn't think that a country has just one accurate map [Austin,JL] |
18972 | Ideas are true in so far as they co-ordinate our experiences [James] |
18973 | New opinions count as 'true' if they are assimilated to an individual's current beliefs [James] |
22305 | If the hypothesis of God is widely successful, it is true [James] |
18984 | True ideas are those we can assimilate, validate, corroborate and verify (and false otherwise) [James] |
18079 | Newton developed a kinematic approach to geometry [Newton, by Kitcher] |
13152 | We can talk of 'innumerable number', about the infinite points on a line [Newton] |
13151 | Not all infinites are equal [Newton] |
18082 | Quantities and ratios which continually converge will eventually become equal [Newton] |
17783 | A number is not a multitude, but a unified ratio between quantities [Newton] |
22641 | Realities just are, and beliefs are true of them [James] |
21598 | Austin revealed many meanings for 'vague': rough, ambiguous, general, incomplete... [Austin,JL, by Williamson] |
22649 | Classification can only ever be for a particular purpose [James] |
17011 | I suspect that each particle of bodies has attractive or repelling forces [Newton] |
18987 | A 'thing' is simply carved out of reality for human purposes [James] |
17028 | Particles mutually attract, and cohere at short distances [Newton] |
18981 | 'Substance' is just a word for groupings and structures in experience [James] |
17014 | The place of a thing is the sum of the places of its parts [Newton] |
18974 | Truth is a species of good, being whatever proves itself good in the way of belief [James] |
18989 | Pragmatism accepts any hypothesis which has useful consequences [James] |
22640 | We find satisfaction in consistency of all of our beliefs, perceptions and mental connections [James] |
22655 | Scientific genius extracts more than other people from the same evidence [James] |
22658 | Experimenters assume the theory is true, and stick to it as long as result don't disappoint [James] |
18971 | Theories are practical tools for progress, not answers to enigmas [James] |
18982 | Pragmatism says all theories are instrumental - that is, mental modes of adaptation to reality [James] |
18985 | True thoughts are just valuable instruments of action [James] |
17546 | If you changed one of Newton's concepts you would destroy his whole system [Heisenberg on Newton] |
17027 | Science deduces propositions from phenomena, and generalises them by induction [Newton] |
22654 | We can't know if the laws of nature are stable, but we must postulate it or assume it [James] |
22656 | Trying to assess probabilities by mere calculation is absurd and impossible [James] |
17022 | We should admit only enough causes to explain a phenomenon, and no more [Newton] |
17021 | Natural effects of the same kind should be assumed to have the same causes [Newton] |
22646 | We have a passion for knowing the parts of something, rather than the whole [James] |
17026 | From the phenomena, I can't deduce the reason for the properties of gravity [Newton] |
22652 | The mind has evolved entirely for practical interests, seen in our reflex actions [James] |
22651 | Dogs' curiosity only concerns what will happen next [James] |
9286 | Consciousness is not a stuff, but is explained by the relations between experiences [James] |
9285 | 'Consciousness' is a nonentity, a mere echo of the disappearing 'soul' [James] |
23981 | Rage is inconceivable without bodily responses; so there are no disembodied emotions [James] |
22650 | How can the ground of rationality be itself rational? [James] |
22643 | It seems that we feel rational when we detect no irrationality [James] |
18975 | We return to experience with concepts, where they show us differences [James] |
22660 | Evolution suggests prevailing or survival as a new criterion of right and wrong [James] |
6570 | Imagine millions made happy on condition that one person suffers endless lonely torture [James] |
6421 | Newton's four fundamentals are: space, time, matter and force [Newton, by Russell] |
13470 | Mass is central to matter [Newton, by Hart,WD] |
17020 | An attraction of a body is the sum of the forces of their particles [Newton] |
23012 | Newtonian causation is changes of motion resulting from collisions [Newton, by Baron/Miller] |
22645 | Understanding by means of causes is useless if they are not reduced to a minimum number [James] |
15863 | The principles of my treatise are designed to fit with a belief in God [Newton] |
16746 | Principles of things are not hidden features of forms, but the laws by which they were formed [Newton] |
8340 | I do not pretend to know the cause of gravity [Newton] |
17008 | You have discovered that elliptical orbits result just from gravitation and planetary movement [Newton, by Leibniz] |
17010 | We have given up substantial forms, and now aim for mathematical laws [Newton] |
17023 | I am not saying gravity is essential to bodies [Newton] |
17009 | I won't object if someone shows that gravity consistently arises from the action of matter [Newton] |
13150 | The motions of the planets could only derive from an intelligent agent [Newton] |
12178 | That gravity should be innate and essential to matter is absurd [Newton] |
15866 | Newton reclassified vertical motion as violent, and unconstrained horizontal motion as natural [Newton, by Harré] |
15958 | Inertia rejects the Aristotelian idea of things having natural states, to which they return [Newton, by Alexander,P] |
20968 | Newton's Third Law implies the conservation of momentum [Newton, by Papineau] |
17017 | 1: Bodies rest, or move in straight lines, unless acted on by forces [Newton] |
17018 | 2: Change of motion is proportional to the force [Newton] |
17019 | 3: All actions of bodies have an equal and opposite reaction [Newton] |
17547 | Newton's idea of force acting over a long distance was very strange [Heisenberg on Newton] |
20966 | Newton introduced forces other than by contact [Newton, by Papineau] |
20967 | Newton's laws cover the effects of forces, but not their causes [Newton, by Papineau] |
16708 | Newton's forces were accused of being the scholastics' real qualities [Pasnau on Newton] |
13153 | I am studying the quantities and mathematics of forces, not their species or qualities [Newton] |
12724 | The aim is to discover forces from motions, and use forces to demonstrate other phenomena [Newton] |
13593 | Newton showed that falling to earth and orbiting the sun are essentially the same [Newton, by Ellis] |
20969 | Early Newtonians could not formulate conservation of energy, having no concept of potential energy [Newton, by Papineau] |
17013 | Absolute space is independent, homogeneous and immovable [Newton] |
22915 | Newton needs intervals of time, to define velocity and acceleration [Newton, by Le Poidevin] |
22893 | Newton thought his laws of motion needed absolute time [Newton, by Bardon] |
17012 | Time exists independently, and flows uniformly [Newton] |
14012 | Absolute time, from its own nature, flows equably, without relation to anything external [Newton] |
22954 | Newtonian mechanics does not distinguish negative from positive values of time [Newton, by Coveney/Highfield] |
17015 | If there is no uniform motion, we cannot exactly measure time [Newton] |
18980 | If there is a 'greatest knower', it doesn't follow that they know absolutely everything [James] |
17025 | If a perfect being does not rule the cosmos, it is not God [Newton] |
18978 | It is hard to grasp a cosmic mind which produces such a mixture of goods and evils [James] |
18991 | If the God hypothesis works well, then it is true [James] |
17024 | The elegance of the solar system requires a powerful intellect as designer [Newton] |
18977 | The wonderful design of a woodpecker looks diabolical to its victims [James] |
18979 | Things with parts always have some structure, so they always appear to be designed [James] |
18976 | Private experience is the main evidence for God [James] |
22653 | Early Christianity says God recognises the neglected weak and tender impulses [James] |
18990 | Nirvana means safety from sense experience, and hindus and buddhists are just afraid of life [James] |