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Single Idea 13860

[filed under theme 1. Philosophy / C. History of Philosophy / 1. History of Philosophy ]

Full Idea

We can learn from the work of philosophers of other periods only if we are prepared to run the risk of radical and almost inevitable misrepresentation of his thought.

Gist of Idea

We can only learn from philosophers of the past if we accept the risk of major misrepresentation

Source

Crispin Wright (Frege's Concept of Numbers as Objects [1983], Pref)

Book Ref

Wright,Crispin: 'Frege's Conception of Numbers' [Scots Philosophical Monographs 1983], p.-12


A Reaction

This sounds about right, and a motto for my own approach to Aristotle and Leibniz, but I see the effort as more collaborative than this suggests. Professional specialists in older philosophers are a vital part of the team. Read them!


The 8 ideas with the same theme [general ideas about the history of philosophy]:

The history of philosophy is just experiments in how to do philosophy [Novalis]
All philosophies presuppose their historical moment, and arise from it [Feuerbach]
He who is ignorant of the history of philosophy is doomed to repeat it [Santayana, by MacIntyre]
The history of philosophy only matters if the subject is a choice between rival theories [Wittgenstein]
The history of philosophy is an agent of power: how can you think if you haven't read the great names? [Deleuze]
We can only learn from philosophers of the past if we accept the risk of major misrepresentation [Wright,C]
Philosophy consists of choosing between Plato, Aristotle and Democritus [Pasnau]
Original philosophers invariably seek inspiration from past thinkers [Pasnau]