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Single Idea 10784
[filed under theme 7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 11. Ontological Commitment / a. Ontological commitment
]
Full Idea
Whenever there's speech it has to be about something. It's impossible for it not to be about something.
Gist of Idea
Whenever there's speech it has to be about something
Source
Plato (The Sophist [c.359 BCE], 262e)
Book Ref
Plato: 'Complete Works', ed/tr. Cooper,John M. [Hackett 1997], p.286
A Reaction
[Quoted by Marcus about ontological commitment] The interesting test case would be speech about the existence of circular squares.
The
463 ideas
from Plato
1655
|
If goodness needs true opinion but not knowledge, you can skip the 'examined life'
[Vlastos on Plato]
|
1590
|
The just man does not harm his enemies, but benefits everyone
[Plato]
|
13776
|
Truths say of what is that it is, falsehoods say of what is that it is not
[Plato]
|
13772
|
Is the being or essence of each thing private to each person?
[Plato]
|
13774
|
Things don't have every attribute, and essence isn't private, so each thing has an essence
[Plato]
|
13775
|
We only succeed in cutting if we use appropriate tools, not if we approach it randomly
[Plato]
|
13777
|
A name is a sort of tool
[Plato]
|
13778
|
A dialectician is someone who knows how to ask and to answer questions
[Plato]
|
13779
|
The natural offspring of a lion is called a 'lion' (but what about the offspring of a king?)
[Plato]
|
13780
|
Good people are no different from wise ones
[Plato]
|
13781
|
Soul causes the body to live, and gives it power to breathe and to be revitalized
[Plato]
|
13783
|
Even the gods love play
[Plato]
|
13785
|
'Arete' signifies lack of complexity and a free-flowing soul
[Plato]
|
13786
|
Wisdom is called 'beautiful', because it performs fine works
[Plato]
|
13787
|
Doesn't each thing have an essence, just as it has other qualities?
[Plato]
|
13788
|
If we made a perfect duplicate of Cratylus, there would be two Cratyluses
[Plato]
|
13789
|
Anyone who knows a thing's name also knows the thing
[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]
|
2063
|
How can beauty have identity if it changes?
[Plato]
|
13792
|
There can't be any knowledge if things are constantly changing
[Plato]
|
16120
|
Knowing how to achieve immortality is pointless without the knowledge how to use immortality
[Plato]
|
301
|
Only knowledge of some sort is good
[Plato]
|
302
|
What knowledge is required to live well?
[Plato]
|
303
|
Say how many teeth the other has, then count them. If you are right, we will trust your other claims
[Plato]
|
304
|
Beautiful things must be different from beauty itself, but beauty itself must be present in each of them
[Plato]
|
305
|
Something which lies midway between two evils is better than either of them
[Plato]
|
335
|
Do the gods also hold different opinions about what is right and honourable?
[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]
|
337
|
It seems that the gods love things because they are pious, rather than making them pious by loving them
[Plato]
|
1654
|
In "Gorgias" Socrates is confident that his 'elenchus' will decide moral truth
[Vlastos on Plato]
|
4320
|
The popular view is that health is first, good looks second, and honest wealth third
[Plato]
|
114
|
Rhetoric can produce conviction, but not educate people about right and wrong
[Plato]
|
4321
|
We should test one another, by asking and answering questions
[Plato]
|
116
|
Rhetoric is irrational about its means and its ends
[Plato]
|
118
|
I would rather be a victim of crime than a criminal
[Plato]
|
119
|
A criminal is worse off if he avoids punishment
[Plato]
|
120
|
Should we avoid evil because it will bring us bad consequences?
[Plato]
|
122
|
Moral rules are made by the weak members of humanity
[Plato]
|
123
|
Do most people like equality because they are second-rate?
[Plato]
|
124
|
Does nature imply that it is right for better people to have greater benefits?
[Plato]
|
125
|
Is a gifted philosopher unmanly if he avoids the strife of the communal world?
[Plato]
|
128
|
Is it natural to simply indulge our selfish desires?
[Plato]
|
129
|
Do most people praise self-discipline and justice because they are too timid to gain their own pleasure?
[Plato]
|
130
|
Is the happiest state one of sensual, self-indulgent freedom?
[Plato]
|
131
|
If absence of desire is happiness, then nothing is happier than a stone or a corpse
[Plato]
|
4319
|
In a fool's mind desire is like a leaky jar, insatiable in its desires, and order and contentment are better
[Plato]
|
132
|
If happiness is the satisfaction of desires, then a life of scratching itches should be happiness
[Plato]
|
4322
|
In slaking our thirst the goodness of the action and the pleasure are clearly separate
[Plato]
|
134
|
Good and bad people seem to experience equal amounts of pleasure and pain
[Plato]
|
135
|
All activity aims at the good
[Plato]
|
136
|
Good should be the aim of pleasant activity, not the other way round
[Plato]
|
137
|
As with other things, a good state is organised and orderly
[Plato]
|
139
|
A good person is bound to act well, and this brings happiness
[Plato]
|
140
|
Self-indulgent desire makes friendship impossible, because it makes a person incapable of co-operation
[Plato]
|
141
|
A good citizen won't be passive, but will redirect the needs of the state
[Plato]
|
297
|
What is fine is the parent of goodness
[Plato]
|
298
|
While sex is very pleasant, it should be in secret, as it looks contemptible
[Plato]
|
299
|
What is fine is always difficult
[Plato]
|
291
|
Don't assume that wisdom is the automatic consequence of old age
[Plato]
|
293
|
Being unafraid (perhaps through ignorance) and being brave are two different things
[Plato]
|
8004
|
In 'The Laws', to obey the law is to be obey god
[Plato, by MacIntyre]
|
235
|
Virtue is the aim of all laws
[Plato]
|
236
|
Sound laws achieve the happiness of those who observe them
[Plato]
|
238
|
Children's games should channel their pleasures into adult activity
[Plato]
|
239
|
Education in virtue produces citizens who are active but obedient
[Plato]
|
4331
|
Education is channelling a child's feelings into the right course before it understands why
[Plato]
|
4332
|
Virtue is a concord of reason and emotion, with pleasure and pain trained to correct ends
[Plato]
|
240
|
It would be strange if the gods rewarded those who experienced the most pleasure in life
[Plato]
|
241
|
We ought to follow where the argument leads us
[Plato]
|
15447
|
We shouldn't always follow where the argument leads!
[Lewis on Plato]
|
242
|
The best people are produced where there is no excess of wealth or poverty
[Plato]
|
243
|
It is foolish to quarrel with the mind's own reasoning processes
[Plato]
|
245
|
Totalitarian states destroy friendships and community spirit
[Plato]
|
248
|
A serious desire for moral excellence is very rare indeed
[Plato]
|
249
|
People who value beauty above virtue insult the soul by placing the body above it
[Plato]
|
250
|
The best way to educate the young is not to rebuke them, but to set a good example
[Plato]
|
251
|
Truth has the supreme value, for both gods and men
[Plato]
|
253
|
Every crime is the result of excessive self-love
[Plato]
|
254
|
Excessive laughter and tears must be avoided
[Plato]
|
256
|
Virtue and great wealth are incompatible
[Plato]
|
257
|
Mathematics has the widest application of any subject on the curriculum
[Plato]
|
1402
|
Friendship is impossible between master and slave, even if they are made equal
[Plato]
|
259
|
Justice is granting the equality which unequals deserve
[Plato]
|
260
|
Control of education is the key office of state, and should go to the best citizen
[Plato]
|
262
|
Men and women should qualify equally for honours on merit
[Plato]
|
263
|
The only worthwhile life is one devoted to physical and moral perfection
[Plato]
|
264
|
The conquest of pleasure is the noblest victory of all
[Plato]
|
265
|
An action is only just if it is performed by someone with a just character and outlook
[Plato]
|
266
|
Injustice is the mastery of the soul by bad feelings, even if they do not lead to harm
[Plato]
|
269
|
Attempted murder is like real murder, but we should respect the luck which avoided total ruin
[Plato]
|
21257
|
Self-generating motion is clearly superior to all other kinds of motion
[Plato]
|
21258
|
The only possible beginning for the endless motions of reality is something self-generated
[Plato]
|
273
|
Movement is transmitted through everything, and it must have started with self-generated motion
[Plato]
|
21259
|
To grasp a thing we need its name, its definition, and what it really is
[Plato]
|
21260
|
Soul is what is defined by 'self-generating motion'
[Plato]
|
21261
|
Self-moving soul has to be the oldest thing there is
[Plato]
|
274
|
Soul must be the cause of all the opposites, such as good and evil or beauty and ugliness
[Plato]
|
21262
|
There must be at least two souls controlling the cosmos, one doing good, the other the opposite
[Plato]
|
21263
|
If all the motions of nature reflect calculations of reason, then the best kind of soul must direct it
[Plato]
|
21264
|
Mortals are incapable of being fully rational
[Plato]
|
21265
|
The heavens must be full of gods, controlling nature either externally or from within
[Plato]
|
275
|
Creation is not for you; you exist for the sake of creation
[Plato]
|
276
|
My individuality is my soul, which carries my body around
[Plato]
|
277
|
The Guardians must aim to discover the common element in the four cardinal virtues
[Plato]
|
278
|
If astronomical movements are seen as necessary instead of by divine will, this leads to atheism
[Plato]
|
168
|
To understand morality requires a soul
[Plato]
|
294
|
People say that friendship exists only between good men
[Plato]
|
295
|
The good is beautiful
[Plato]
|
1913
|
Is virtue taught, or achieved by practice, or a natural aptitude, or what?
[Plato]
|
1916
|
Even if virtues are many and various, they must have something in common to make them virtues
[Plato]
|
1918
|
How can you know part of virtue without knowing the whole?
[Plato]
|
11259
|
How can you seek knowledge of something if you don't know it?
[Plato]
|
1919
|
You don't need to learn what you know, and how do you seek for what you don't know?
[Plato]
|
5985
|
Seeking and learning are just recollection
[Plato]
|
5986
|
The slave boy learns geometry from questioning, not teaching, so it is recollection
[Plato]
|
1921
|
If virtue is a type of knowledge then it ought to be taught
[Plato]
|
1922
|
Spiritual qualities only become advantageous with the growth of wisdom
[Plato]
|
1923
|
As a guide to action, true opinion is as good as knowledge
[Plato]
|
20219
|
True opinions only become really valuable when they are tied down by reasons
[Plato]
|
1927
|
It seems that virtue is neither natural nor taught, but is a divine gift
[Plato]
|
15846
|
In Parmenides, if composition is identity, a whole is nothing more than its parts
[Plato, by Harte,V]
|
16151
|
Plato moves from Forms to a theory of genera and principles in his later work
[Plato, by Frede,M]
|
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]
|
8937
|
Plato's 'Parmenides' is the greatest artistic achievement of the ancient dialectic
[Hegel on Plato]
|
21821
|
Plato's Parmenides has a three-part theory, of Primal One, a One-Many, and a One-and-Many
[Plato, by Plotinus]
|
211
|
If admirable things have Forms, maybe everything else does as well
[Plato]
|
210
|
It would be absurd to think there were abstract Forms for vile things like hair, mud and dirt
[Plato]
|
212
|
The whole idea of each Form must be found in each thing which participates in it
[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]
|
214
|
If absolute greatness and great things are seen as the same, another thing appears which makes them seem great
[Plato]
|
215
|
If things partake of ideas, this implies either that everything thinks, or that everything actually is thought
[Plato]
|
216
|
If things are made alike by participating in something, that thing will be the absolute idea
[Plato]
|
217
|
Nothing can be like an absolute idea, because a third idea intervenes to make them alike (leading to a regress)
[Plato]
|
218
|
Participation is not by means of similarity, so we are looking for some other method of participation
[Plato]
|
219
|
If absolute ideas existed in us, they would cease to be absolute
[Plato]
|
220
|
The concept of a master includes the concept of a slave
[Plato]
|
221
|
Absolute ideas, such as the Good and the Beautiful, cannot be known by us
[Plato]
|
222
|
Only a great person can understand the essence of things, and an even greater person can teach it
[Plato]
|
223
|
If you deny that each thing always stays the same, you destroy the possibility of discussion
[Plato]
|
224
|
When questions are doubtful we should concentrate not on objects but on ideas of the intellect
[Plato]
|
13259
|
It seems that the One must be composed of parts, which contradicts its being one
[Plato]
|
225
|
The unlimited has no shape and is endless
[Plato]
|
2062
|
The only movement possible for the One is in space or in alteration
[Plato]
|
16150
|
One is, so numbers exist, so endless numbers exist, and each one must partake of being
[Plato]
|
15847
|
Two things relate either as same or different, or part of a whole, or the whole of the part
[Plato]
|
227
|
You must always mean the same thing when you utter the same name
[Plato]
|
228
|
Greatness and smallness must exist, to be opposed to one another, and come into being in things
[Plato]
|
229
|
The one was and is and will be and was becoming and is becoming and will become
[Plato]
|
15850
|
Anything which has parts must be one thing, and parts are of a one, not of a many
[Plato]
|
15849
|
Plato says only a one has parts, and a many does not
[Plato, by Harte,V]
|
231
|
Everything partakes of the One in some way
[Plato]
|
15851
|
Parts must belong to a created thing with a distinct form
[Plato]
|
232
|
Opposites are as unlike as possible
[Plato]
|
233
|
Some things do not partake of the One
[Plato]
|
234
|
We couldn't discuss the non-existence of the One without knowledge of it
[Plato]
|
16516
|
The ship which Theseus took to Crete is now sent to Delos crowned with flowers
[Plato]
|
350
|
In investigation the body leads us astray, but the soul gets a clear view of the facts
[Plato]
|
9343
|
To achieve pure knowledge, we must get rid of the body and contemplate things with the soul
[Plato]
|
351
|
War aims at the acquisition of wealth, because we are enslaved to the body
[Plato]
|
354
|
Wisdom makes virtue and true goodness possible
[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]
|
360
|
We must have a prior knowledge of equality, if we see 'equal' things and realise they fall short of it
[Plato]
|
361
|
It is a mistake to think that the most violent pleasure or pain is therefore the truest reality
[Plato]
|
362
|
The greatest misfortune for a person is to develop a dislike for argument
[Plato]
|
363
|
Whether the soul pre-exists our body depends on whether it contains the ultimate standard of reality
[Plato]
|
364
|
One soul can't be more or less of a soul than another
[Plato]
|
13154
|
Do we think and experience with blood, air or fire, or could it be our brain?
[Plato]
|
15859
|
To investigate the causes of things, study what is best for them
[Plato]
|
13155
|
If you add one to one, which one becomes two, or do they both become two?
[Plato]
|
13156
|
Fancy being unable to distinguish a cause from its necessary background conditions!
[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]
|
21347
|
If Simmias is taller than Socrates, that isn't a feature that is just in Simmias
[Plato]
|
369
|
If the Earth is spherical and in the centre, it is kept in place by universal symmetry, not by force
[Plato]
|
370
|
Philosophy is a purification of the soul ready for the afterlife
[Plato]
|
23997
|
Plato saw emotions and appetites as wild horses, in need of taming
[Plato, by Goldie]
|
143
|
The two ruling human principles are the natural desire for pleasure, and an acquired love of virtue
[Plato]
|
144
|
Reason impels us towards excellence, which teaches us self-control
[Plato]
|
146
|
Soul is always in motion, so it must be self-moving and immortal
[Plato]
|
148
|
If the prime origin is destroyed, it will not come into being again out of anything
[Plato]
|
9296
|
The soul is self-motion
[Plato]
|
149
|
There isn't a single reason for positing the existence of immortal beings
[Plato]
|
150
|
We cannot conceive of God, so we have to think of Him as an immortal version of ourselves
[Plato]
|
151
|
True knowledge is of the reality behind sense experience
[Plato]
|
152
|
The mind of God is fully satisfied and happy with a vision of reality and truth
[Plato]
|
153
|
It takes a person to understand, by using universals, and by using reason to create a unity out of sense-impressions
[Plato]
|
154
|
We would have an overpowering love of knowledge if we had a pure idea of it - as with the other Forms
[Plato]
|
155
|
Beauty is the clearest and most lovely of the Forms
[Plato]
|
156
|
Bad people are never really friends with one another
[Plato]
|
157
|
Most pleasure is release from pain, and is therefore not worthwhile
[Plato]
|
158
|
An excellent speech seems to imply a knowledge of the truth in the mind of the speaker
[Plato]
|
159
|
Only a good philosopher can be a good speaker
[Plato]
|
7953
|
Reasoning needs to cut nature accurately at the joints
[Plato]
|
16121
|
I revere anyone who can discern a single thing that encompasses many things
[Plato]
|
160
|
The highest ability in man is the ability to discuss unity and plurality in the nature of things
[Plato]
|
162
|
Can we understand an individual soul without knowing the soul in general?
[Plato]
|
165
|
If the apparent facts strongly conflict with probability, it is in everyone's interests to suppress the facts
[Plato]
|
166
|
A speaker should be able to divide a subject, right down to the limits of divisibility
[Plato]
|
5946
|
'Phaedrus' pioneers the notion of philosophical rhetoric
[Lawson-Tancred on Plato]
|
371
|
Reason, memory, truth and wisdom are far better than pleasure, for those who can attain them
[Plato]
|
373
|
Pleasure is certainly very pleasant, but it doesn't follow that all pleasures are good
[Plato]
|
15845
|
It seems absurd that seeing a person's limbs, the one is many, and yet the many are one
[Plato]
|
374
|
If one object is divided into its parts, someone can then say that one are many and many is one
[Plato]
|
4447
|
If the good is one, is it unchanged when it is in particulars, and is it then separated from itself?
[Plato]
|
15856
|
A thing can become one or many, depending on how we talk about it
[Plato]
|
376
|
Would you prefer a life of pleasure without reason, or one of reason without pleasure?
[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]
|
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]
|
382
|
It is unlikely that the gods feel either pleasure or pain
[Plato]
|
385
|
Some of the pleasures and pains we feel are false
[Plato]
|
386
|
Intense pleasure and pain are not felt in a good body, but in a worthless one
[Plato]
|
387
|
A small pure pleasure is much finer than a large one contaminated with pain
[Plato]
|
388
|
Hedonists must say that someone in pain is bad, even if they are virtuous
[Plato]
|
9865
|
Daily arithmetic counts unequal things, but pure arithmetic equalises them
[Plato]
|
389
|
How can you be certain about aspects of the world if they aren't constant?
[Plato]
|
9867
|
It is absurd to define a circle, but not be able to recognise a real one
[Plato]
|
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]
|
390
|
If goodness involves moderation and proportion, then it seems to be found in beauty
[Plato]
|
391
|
The good involves beauty, proportion and truth
[Plato]
|
393
|
Good first, then beauty, then reason, then knowledge, then pleasure
[Plato, by PG]
|
392
|
Neither intellect nor pleasure are the good, because they are not perfect and self-sufficient
[Plato]
|
188
|
Socrates did not believe that virtue could be taught
[Plato]
|
189
|
If we punish wrong-doers, it shows that we believe virtue can be taught
[Plato]
|
190
|
If asked whether justice itself is just or unjust, you would have to say that it is just
[Plato]
|
191
|
Everything resembles everything else up to a point
[Plato]
|
192
|
Only one thing can be contrary to something
[Plato]
|
193
|
Some things are good even though they are not beneficial to men
[Plato]
|
20184
|
The only real evil is loss of knowledge
[Plato]
|
197
|
Some pleasures are not good, and some pains are not evil
[Plato]
|
20185
|
The most important things in life are wisdom and knowledge
[Plato]
|
200
|
People tend only to disapprove of pleasure if it leads to pain, or prevents future pleasure
[Plato]
|
202
|
No one willingly and knowingly embraces evil
[Plato]
|
203
|
Courage is knowing what should or shouldn't be feared
[Plato]
|
204
|
Socrates is contradicting himself in claiming virtue can't be taught, but that it is knowledge
[Plato]
|
12043
|
Forms are not universals, as they don't cover every general term
[Plato, by Annas]
|
5945
|
The 'Republic' is a great work of rhetorical theory
[Lawson-Tancred on Plato]
|
4115
|
Plato found that he could only enforce rational moral justification by creating an authoritarian society
[Williams,B on Plato]
|
1869
|
The good cannot be expressed in words, but imprints itself upon the soul
[Plato, by Celsus]
|
2630
|
If Plato's God is immaterial, he will lack consciousness, wisdom, pleasure and movement, which are essential to him
[Cicero on Plato]
|
5094
|
Plato's Forms are said to have no location in space
[Plato, by Aristotle]
|
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]
|
6562
|
Plato's reality has unchanging Parmenidean forms, and Heraclitean flux
[Plato, by Fogelin]
|
7
|
Surely you don't return a borrowed weapon to a mad friend?
[Plato]
|
2092
|
Simonides said morality is helping one's friends and harming one's enemies
[Plato]
|
5
|
Justice is merely the interests of the stronger party
[Plato]
|
8
|
Is right just the interests of the powerful?
[Plato]
|
6009
|
Psychic conflict is clear if appetite is close to the body and reason fairly separate
[Plato, by Modrak]
|
2093
|
You must never go against what you actually believe
[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]
|
2096
|
Is the function of the mind management, authority and planning - or is it one's whole way of life?
[Plato]
|
19946
|
Morality is a compromise, showing restraint, to avoid suffering wrong without compensation
[Plato]
|
10
|
After a taste of mutual harm, men make a legal contract to avoid it
[Plato]
|
12
|
If we were invisible, would the just man become like the unjust?
[Plato]
|
13
|
Is the supreme reward for virtue to be drunk for eternity?
[Plato]
|
2097
|
Isn't it better to have a reputation for goodness than to actually be good?
[Plato]
|
14
|
If the gods are non-existent or indifferent, why bother to deceive them?
[Plato]
|
15
|
Sin first, then sacrifice to the gods from the proceeds
[Plato]
|
16
|
We avoid evil either through a natural aversion, or because we have acquired knowledge
[Plato]
|
19889
|
People need society because the individual has too many needs
[Plato]
|
19890
|
All exchanges in a community are for mutual benefit
[Plato]
|
2120
|
God is responsible for the good things, but we must look elsewhere for the cause of the bad things
[Plato]
|
2061
|
The best things (gods, healthy bodies, good souls) are least liable to change
[Plato]
|
23767
|
The winds of the discussion should decide its destination
[Plato]
|
2123
|
Excessive pleasure deranges people, making the other virtues impossible
[Plato]
|
2126
|
A good community necessarily has wisdom, courage, self-discipline and morality
[Plato]
|
23561
|
People doing their jobs properly is the fourth cardinal virtue for a city
[Plato]
|
2127
|
The mind has parts, because we have inner conflicts
[Plato]
|
1737
|
The soul seems to have an infinity of parts
[Aristotle on Plato]
|
6041
|
There is a third element to the mind - spirit - lying between reason and appetite
[Plato]
|
23562
|
If the parts of our soul do their correct work, we will be just people, and will act justly
[Plato]
|
2129
|
Goodness is mental health, badness is mental sickness
[Plato]
|
2130
|
People often merely practice eristic instead of dialectic, because they don't analyse the subject-matter
[Plato]
|
2131
|
Is there anything better for a community than to produce excellent people?
[Plato]
|
2132
|
Only rule by philosophers of integrity can keep a community healthy
[Plato]
|
2133
|
Knowledge must be of the permanent unchanging nature of things
[Plato]
|
2134
|
Philosophers are concerned with totally non-physical pleasures
[Plato]
|
2135
|
Truth is closely related to proportion
[Plato]
|
2136
|
Philosophers become as divine and orderly as possible, by studying divinity and order
[Plato]
|
23682
|
It would be absurd to be precise about the small things, but only vague about the big things
[Plato]
|
2137
|
The main aim is to understand goodness, which gives everything its value and advantage
[Plato]
|
2138
|
Pleasure is commonly thought to be the good, though the more ingenious prefer knowledge
[Plato]
|
2070
|
Even people who think pleasure is the good admit that there are bad pleasures
[Plato]
|
4007
|
For Plato we abandon honour and pleasure once we see the Good
[Plato, by Taylor,C]
|
2139
|
Every person, and every activity, aims at the good
[Plato]
|
2140
|
True belief without knowledge is like blind people on the right road
[Plato]
|
2141
|
I suggest that we forget about trying to define goodness itself for the time being
[Plato]
|
2142
|
The plurality of beautiful things must belong to a single class, because they have a single particular character
[Plato]
|
2143
|
Good has the same role in the world of knowledge as the sun has in the physical world
[Plato]
|
2144
|
Goodness makes truth and knowledge possible
[Plato]
|
21818
|
Being depends on the Good, which is not itself being, but superior to being
[Plato]
|
2145
|
In mathematics certain things have to be accepted without further explanation
[Plato]
|
2147
|
The sight of goodness leads to all that is fine and true and right
[Plato]
|
2148
|
To gain knowledge, turn away from the world of change, and focus on true goodness
[Plato]
|
4547
|
Plato measured the degree of reality by the degree of value
[Nietzsche on Plato]
|
2149
|
Reluctant rulers make a better and more unified administration
[Plato]
|
9861
|
The same thing is both one and an unlimited number at the same time
[Plato]
|
9862
|
To become rational, philosophers must rise from becoming into being
[Plato]
|
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]
|
8726
|
Geometry can lead the mind upwards to truth and philosophy
[Plato]
|
2151
|
Dialectic is the only method of inquiry which uproots the things which it takes for granted
[Plato]
|
2152
|
Dialectic is the highest and most important part of the curriculum
[Plato]
|
2153
|
Compulsory intellectual work never remains in the mind
[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]
|
2155
|
True goodness requires mental unity and harmony
[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]
|
2156
|
There are three types of pleasure, for reason, for spirit and for appetite
[Plato]
|
2157
|
Nice smells are intensive, have no preceding pain, and no bad after-effect
[Plato]
|
2158
|
Pleasure-seekers desperately seek illusory satisfaction, like filling a leaky vessel
[Plato]
|
17
|
A Form applies to a set of particular things with the same name
[Plato]
|
2159
|
Craftsmen making furniture refer to the form, but no one manufactures the form of furniture
[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]
|
2162
|
If theory and practice conflict, the best part of the mind accepts theory, so the other part is of lower grade
[Plato]
|
2163
|
Artists should be excluded from a law-abiding community, because they destroy the rational mind
[Plato]
|
2164
|
Bad is always destructive, where good preserves and benefits
[Plato]
|
2165
|
Something is unlikely to be immortal if it is imperfectly made from diverse parts
[Plato]
|
2166
|
We should behave well even if invisible, for the health of the mind
[Plato]
|
2168
|
Clever criminals do well at first, but not in the long run
[Plato]
|
5944
|
For Plato, virtue is its own reward
[Lawson-Tancred on Plato]
|
1636
|
Wickedness is an illness of the soul
[Plato]
|
1637
|
A soul without understanding is ugly
[Plato]
|
1638
|
Didactic education is hard work and achieves little
[Plato]
|
20478
|
In discussion a person's opinions are shown to be in conflict, leading to calm self-criticism
[Plato]
|
11278
|
What does 'that which is not' refer to?
[Plato]
|
1641
|
Some alarming thinkers think that only things which you can touch exist
[Plato]
|
7022
|
To be is to have a capacity, to act on other things, or to receive actions
[Plato]
|
1642
|
We must fight fiercely for knowledge, understanding and intelligence
[Plato]
|
1643
|
If statements about non-existence are logically puzzling, so are statements about existence
[Plato]
|
287
|
Good analysis involves dividing things into appropriate forms without confusion
[Plato]
|
16122
|
Good thinkers spot forms spread through things, or included within some larger form
[Plato]
|
1644
|
Dialectic should only be taught to those who already philosophise well
[Plato]
|
10422
|
The not-beautiful is part of the beautiful, though opposed to it, and is just as real
[Plato]
|
15855
|
If we see everything as separate, we can then give no account of it
[Plato]
|
1645
|
The desire to split everything into its parts is unpleasant and unphilosophical
[Plato]
|
10784
|
Whenever there's speech it has to be about something
[Plato]
|
16125
|
To reveal a nature, divide down, and strip away what it has in common with other things
[Plato]
|
279
|
Only divine things can always stay the same, and bodies are not like that
[Plato]
|
5961
|
The soul gets its goodness from god, and its evil from previous existence.
[Plato]
|
281
|
The arts produce good and beautiful things by preserving the mean
[Plato]
|
16123
|
Whenever you perceive a community of things, you should also hunt out differences in the group
[Plato]
|
16124
|
No one wants to define 'weaving' just for the sake of weaving
[Plato]
|
282
|
Non-physical beauty can only be shown clearly by speech
[Plato]
|
22559
|
Democracy is the worst of good constitutions, but the best of bad constitutions
[Plato, by Aristotle]
|
283
|
The question of whether or not to persuade comes before the science of persuasion
[Plato]
|
14177
|
Love assists men in achieving merit and happiness
[Plato]
|
170
|
The only slavery which is not dishonourable is slavery to excellence
[Plato]
|
171
|
Music is a knowledge of love in the realm of harmony and rhythm
[Plato]
|
172
|
Love of ugliness is impossible
[Plato]
|
173
|
Beauty and goodness are the same
[Plato]
|
174
|
True opinion without reason is midway between wisdom and ignorance
[Plato]
|
14178
|
Happiness is secure enjoyment of what is good and beautiful
[Plato]
|
175
|
Gods are not lovers of wisdom, because they are already wise
[Plato]
|
176
|
Love follows beauty, wisdom is exceptionally beautiful, so love follows wisdom
[Plato]
|
177
|
If a person is good they will automatically become happy
[Plato]
|
179
|
Love is desire for perpetual possession of the good
[Plato]
|
4026
|
Beauty is harmony with what is divine, and ugliness is lack of such harmony
[Plato]
|
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]
|
14179
|
The finest branch of wisdom is justice and moderation in ordering states and families
[Plato]
|
182
|
The first step on the right path is the contemplation of physical beauty when young
[Plato]
|
1607
|
Diotima said the Forms are the objects of desire in philosophical discourse
[Plato, by Roochnik]
|
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]
|
2045
|
Perception is infallible, suggesting that it is knowledge
[Plato]
|
2047
|
What evidence can be brought to show whether we are dreaming or not?
[Plato]
|
2050
|
It is impossible to believe something which is held to be false
[Plato]
|
2052
|
Eristic discussion is aggressive, but dialectic aims to help one's companions in discussion
[Plato]
|
2053
|
If you claim that all beliefs are true, that includes beliefs opposed to your own
[Plato]
|
2054
|
Clearly some people are superior to others when it comes to medicine
[Plato]
|
2056
|
Philosophers are always switching direction to something more interesting
[Plato]
|
2057
|
There must always be some force of evil ranged against good
[Plato]
|
2058
|
God must be the epitome of goodness, and we can only approach a divine state by being as good as possible
[Plato]
|
2059
|
How can a relativist form opinions about what will happen in the future?
[Plato]
|
2060
|
There seem to be two sorts of change: alteration and motion
[Plato]
|
2067
|
Our senses could have been separate, but they converge on one mind
[Plato]
|
2068
|
With what physical faculty do we perceive pairs of opposed abstract qualities?
[Plato]
|
2069
|
Thought must grasp being itself before truth becomes possible
[Plato]
|
2076
|
How can a belief exist if its object doesn't exist?
[Plato]
|
2078
|
You might mistake eleven for twelve in your senses, but not in your mind
[Plato]
|
10216
|
We master arithmetic by knowing all the numbers in our soul
[Plato]
|
2080
|
Things are only knowable if a rational account (logos) is possible
[Plato]
|
2081
|
Maybe primary elements can be named, but not receive a rational account
[Plato]
|
2082
|
A rational account is essentially a weaving together of things with names
[Plato]
|
15854
|
A primary element has only a name, and no logos, but complexes have an account, by weaving the names
[Plato]
|
15843
|
The whole can't be the parts, because it would be all of the parts, which is the whole
[Plato]
|
15844
|
A sum is that from which nothing is lacking, which is a whole
[Plato]
|
2083
|
Either a syllable is its letters (making parts as knowable as whole) or it isn't (meaning it has no parts)
[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]
|
2085
|
Parts and wholes are either equally knowable or equally unknowable
[Plato]
|
2086
|
Understanding mainly involves knowing the elements, not their combinations
[Plato]
|
2087
|
A rational account might be seeing an image of one's belief, like a reflection in a mirror
[Plato]
|
2088
|
A rational account of a wagon would mean knowledge of its hundred parts
[Plato]
|
16126
|
Expertise is knowledge of the whole by means of the parts
[Plato]
|
2089
|
An inadequate rational account would still not justify knowledge
[Plato]
|
2090
|
A rational account involves giving an image, or analysis, or giving a differentiating mark
[Plato]
|
2091
|
Without distinguishing marks, how do I know what my beliefs are about?
[Plato]
|
5962
|
Plato says the soul is ordered by number
[Plato, by Plutarch]
|
12042
|
Plato's Forms were seen as part of physics, rather than of metaphysics
[Plato, by Annas]
|
20364
|
The apprehensions of reason remain unchanging, but reasonless sensation shows mere becoming
[Plato]
|
306
|
Nothing can come to be without a cause
[Plato]
|
307
|
Something will always be well-made if the maker keeps in mind the eternal underlying pattern
[Plato]
|
308
|
If the cosmos is an object of perception then it must be continually changing
[Plato]
|
309
|
Clearly the world is good, so its maker must have been concerned with the eternal, not with change
[Plato]
|
310
|
The creator of the cosmos had no envy, and so wanted things to be as like himself as possible
[Plato]
|
311
|
The cosmos must be unique, because it resembles the creator, who is unique
[Plato]
|
312
|
Time came into existence with the heavens, so that there will be a time when they can be dissolved
[Plato]
|
314
|
Heavenly movements gave us the idea of time, and caused us to inquire about the heavens
[Plato]
|
315
|
Philosophy is the supreme gift of the gods to mortals
[Plato]
|
316
|
Music has harmony like the soul, and serves to reorder disharmony within us
[Plato]
|
317
|
The universe is basically an intelligible and unchanging model, and a visible and changing copy of it
[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]
|
322
|
Intelligence is the result of rational teaching; true opinion can result from irrational persuasion
[Plato]
|
324
|
Before the existence of the world there must have been being, space and becoming
[Plato]
|
325
|
We must consider the four basic shapes as too small to see, only becoming visible in large numbers
[Plato]
|
326
|
For relaxation one can consider the world of change, instead of eternal things
[Plato]
|
327
|
There are two types of cause, the necessary and the divine
[Plato]
|
328
|
Everything that takes place naturally is pleasant
[Plato]
|
330
|
No one wants to be bad, but bad men result from physical and educational failures, which they do not want or choose
[Plato]
|
331
|
Bad governments prevent discussion, and discourage the study of virtue
[Plato]
|
332
|
One should exercise both the mind and the body, to avoid imbalance
[Plato]
|
334
|
Only bird-brained people think astronomy is entirely a matter of evidence
[Plato]
|
556
|
If there is one Form for both the Form and its participants, they must have something in common
[Aristotle on Plato]
|
13260
|
Plato says wholes are either containers, or they're atomic, or they don't exist
[Plato, by Koslicki]
|
11237
|
Only universals have essence
[Plato, by Politis]
|
593
|
Plato's holds that there are three substances: Forms, mathematical entities, and perceptible bodies
[Plato, by Aristotle]
|
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]
|
9607
|
The greatest discovery in human thought is Plato's discovery of abstract objects
[Brown,JR on Plato]
|
13263
|
We can grasp whole things in science, because they have a mathematics and a teleology
[Plato, by Koslicki]
|
20906
|
Platonists argue for the indivisible triangle-in-itself
[Plato, by Aristotle]
|
17948
|
Plato's Forms meant that the sophists only taught the appearance of wisdom and virtue
[Plato, by Nehamas]
|
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]
|
563
|
If gods are like men, they are just eternal men; similarly, Forms must differ from particulars
[Aristotle on Plato]
|
557
|
A Form is a cause of things only in the way that white mixed with white is a cause
[Aristotle on Plato]
|
565
|
The Forms cannot be changeless if they are in changing things
[Aristotle on Plato]
|
14502
|
Plato's idea of 'structure' tends to be mathematically expressed
[Plato, by Koslicki]
|
23891
|
Two contradictories force us to find a relation which will correlate them
[Plato, by Weil]
|
2912
|
Plato is boring
[Nietzsche on Plato]
|
3060
|
Plato never mentions Democritus, and wished to burn his books
[Plato, by Diog. Laertius]
|
23890
|
For Plato true wisdom is supernatural
[Plato, by Weil]
|
7503
|
Plato never refers to examining the conscience
[Plato, by Foucault]
|
2173
|
As religion and convention collapsed, Plato sought morals not just in knowledge, but in the soul
[Williams,B on Plato]
|
6015
|
Plato, unusually, said that theoretical and practical wisdom are inseparable
[Plato, by Kraut]
|
1526
|
Almost everyone except Plato thinks that time could not have been generated
[Plato, by Aristotle]
|
1651
|
Plato wanted to somehow control and purify the passions
[Vlastos on Plato]
|
9274
|
Plato's legacy to European thought was the Good, the Beautiful and the True
[Plato, by Gray]
|
94
|
Pleasure is better with the addition of intelligence, so pleasure is not the good
[Plato, by Aristotle]
|
3324
|
Plato's whole philosophy may be based on being duped by reification - a figure of speech
[Benardete,JA on Plato]
|
17085
|
A good explanation totally rules out the opposite explanation (so Forms are required)
[Plato, by Ruben]
|
17947
|
Plato decided that the virtuous and happy life was the philosophical life
[Plato, by Nehamas]
|
11238
|
Plato and Aristotle take essence to make a thing what it is
[Plato, by Politis]
|