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Single Idea 14873
[filed under theme 14. Science / D. Explanation / 3. Best Explanation / b. Ultimate explanation
]
Full Idea
The feeling of certainty is the most difficult to develop. Initially one seeks explanation: if a hypothesis explains many things, we draw the conclusion that it explains everything.
Gist of Idea
If we find a hypothesis that explains many things, we conclude that it explains everything
Source
Friedrich Nietzsche (Unpublished Notebooks 1872-74 [1873], 19 [238])
Book Ref
Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'Unpublished of 'Unfashionable Obs' period (v 11)', ed/tr. Gray,Richard T. [Stanford 1995], p.75
A Reaction
As so often, a wonderful warning from Nietzsche to other philosophers. They love to latch onto a Big Idea, and offer it as the answer to everything (especially, dare I say it, continental philosophers).
The
30 ideas
from 'Unpublished Notebooks 1872-74'
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14859
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If philosophy controls science, then it has to determine its scope, and its value
[Nietzsche]
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14860
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Kant has undermined our belief in metaphysics
[Nietzsche]
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14861
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Philosophy ennobles the world, by producing an artistic conception of our knowledge
[Nietzsche]
|
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14862
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Philosophy is more valuable than much of science, because of its beauty
[Nietzsche]
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14863
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Unlike science, true wisdom involves good taste
[Nietzsche]
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14864
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The Greeks lack a normative theology: each person has their own poetic view of things
[Nietzsche]
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|
14865
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We do not know the nature of one single causality
[Nietzsche]
|
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14866
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It always remains possible that the world just is the way it appears
[Nietzsche]
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14867
|
It is just madness to think that the mind is supernatural (or even divine!)
[Nietzsche]
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14868
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Our primary faculty is perception of structure, as when looking in a mirror
[Nietzsche]
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14869
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If some sort of experience is at the root of matter, then human knowledge is close to its essence
[Nietzsche]
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14870
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We experience causation between willing and acting, and thereby explain conjunctions of changes
[Nietzsche]
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14871
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Laws of nature are merely complex networks of relations
[Nietzsche]
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14872
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Our knowledge is illogical, because it rests on false identities between things
[Nietzsche]
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14873
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If we find a hypothesis that explains many things, we conclude that it explains everything
[Nietzsche]
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14875
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Belief matters more than knowledge, and only begins when knowledge ceases
[Nietzsche]
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14876
|
Philosophy is always secondary, because it cannot support a popular culture
[Nietzsche]
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14878
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It would better if there was no thought
[Nietzsche]
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14880
|
Logic is just slavery to language
[Nietzsche]
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14879
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The most extreme scepticism is when you even give up logic
[Nietzsche]
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14881
|
Why do people want philosophers?
[Nietzsche]
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|
14882
|
Protest against vivisection - living things should not become objects of scientific investigation
[Nietzsche]
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14883
|
We should evaluate the past morally
[Nietzsche]
|
|
14884
|
The shortest path to happiness is forgetfulness, the path of animals (but of little value)
[Nietzsche]
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14885
|
The first aim of a philosopher is a life, not some works
[Nietzsche]
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14886
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Education is contrary to human nature
[Nietzsche]
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14887
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You should only develop a philosophy if you are willing to live by it
[Nietzsche]
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14888
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Wisdom prevents us from being ruled by the moment
[Nietzsche]
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14889
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Philosophy is pointless if it does not advocate, and live, a new way of life
[Nietzsche]
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14890
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Suffering is the meaning of existence
[Nietzsche]
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