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Single Idea 7137
[filed under theme 1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 7. Despair over Philosophy
]
Full Idea
Is the 'philosopher' still possible today? Is not the extent of what is known too large? Is it not very unlikely that he will be able to reach an overview, the less so the more conscientious he is?
Gist of Idea
Is a 'philosopher' now impossible, because knowledge is too vast for an overview?
Source
Friedrich Nietzsche (Writings from Late Notebooks [1887], 35[24])
Book Ref
Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'Writings from the Late Notebooks', ed/tr. Bittner,Rüdiger [CUP 2003], p.19
A Reaction
If Aristotle had a wonderful overview because knowledge was limited, presumably the overview was inaccurate - not an idea that would appeal to Nietzsche, with his relativism. I'd rather have too much knowledge, and struggle towards an overview.
The
48 ideas
with the same theme
[view of the whole enterprise as hopeless]:
6321
|
Vulgar people are alert; I alone am muddled
[Laozi (Lao Tzu)]
|
5863
|
Reason is eternal, but men are foolish
[Heraclitus]
|
9283
|
Our ancient beliefs can never be overthrown by subtle arguments
[Euripides]
|
125
|
Is a gifted philosopher unmanly if he avoids the strife of the communal world?
[Plato]
|
2056
|
Philosophers are always switching direction to something more interesting
[Plato]
|
112
|
Most people are readier to submit to compulsion than to argument
[Aristotle]
|
7281
|
Don't even start, let's just stay put
[Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu)]
|
8138
|
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy
[Paul]
|
23766
|
Don't be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, by cunning deceptive men
[Paul]
|
6814
|
Instead of prayer and charity, sinners pursue vain disputes and want their own personal scripture
[Mohammed]
|
8658
|
For there was never yet philosopher/ That could endure the toothache patiently
[Shakespeare]
|
6602
|
Philosophy is like a statue which is worshipped but never advances
[Bacon]
|
24032
|
Clever scholars can obscure things which are obvious even to peasants
[Descartes]
|
3601
|
Most things in human life seem vain and useless
[Descartes]
|
3602
|
Almost every daft idea has been expressed by some philosopher
[Descartes]
|
2196
|
The observation of human blindness and weakness is the result of all philosophy
[Hume]
|
5635
|
In ordinary life the highest philosophy is no better than common understanding
[Kant]
|
22087
|
Philosophy fails to articulate the continual becoming of existence
[Kierkegaard, by Carlisle]
|
20256
|
What we think is totally dictated by the language available to express it
[Nietzsche]
|
14854
|
Deep thinkers know that they are always wrong
[Nietzsche]
|
7167
|
Words such as 'I' and 'do' and 'done to' are placed at the point where our ignorance begins
[Nietzsche]
|
7196
|
Pessimism is laughable, because the world cannot be evaluated
[Nietzsche]
|
7137
|
Is a 'philosopher' now impossible, because knowledge is too vast for an overview?
[Nietzsche]
|
14876
|
Philosophy is always secondary, because it cannot support a popular culture
[Nietzsche]
|
14878
|
It would better if there was no thought
[Nietzsche]
|
14881
|
Why do people want philosophers?
[Nietzsche]
|
20107
|
How many mediocre thinkers are occupied with influential problems!
[Nietzsche]
|
21572
|
Philosophical disputes are mostly hopeless, because philosophers don't understand each other
[Russell]
|
18710
|
Philosophers express puzzlement, but don't clearly state the puzzle
[Wittgenstein]
|
4148
|
What is your aim in philosophy? - To show the fly the way out of the fly-bottle
[Wittgenstein]
|
9810
|
The 'Tractatus' is a masterpiece of anti-philosophy
[Badiou on Wittgenstein]
|
23459
|
This work solves all the main problems, but that has little value
[Wittgenstein]
|
23512
|
Once you understand my book you will see that it is nonsensical
[Wittgenstein]
|
19621
|
Originality in philosophy is just the invention of terms
[Cioran]
|
19618
|
I abandoned philosophy because it didn't acknowledge melancholy and human weakness
[Cioran]
|
19607
|
The mind is superficial, only concerned with the arrangement of events, not their significance
[Cioran]
|
9245
|
To an absurd mind reason is useless, and there is nothing beyond reason
[Camus]
|
15970
|
People generalise because it is easier to understand, and that is mistaken for deep philosophy
[Feynman]
|
21893
|
Philosophy is necessarily metaphorical, and its writing is aesthetic
[Derrida]
|
19090
|
If we can't check our language against experience, philosophy is just comparing beliefs and words
[Rorty]
|
8047
|
Philosophy has been marginalised by its failure in the Enlightenment to replace religion
[MacIntyre]
|
12772
|
Philosophy is a value- and attitude-driven enterprise
[Fraassen]
|
2956
|
There is nothing so obvious that a philosopher cannot be found to deny it
[Lockwood]
|
9208
|
Philosophers with a new concept are like children with a new toy
[Fine,K]
|
18494
|
Using a technical vocabulary actually prevents discussion of the presuppositions
[Heil]
|
16227
|
Philosophers are good at denying the obvious
[Hawley]
|
9271
|
Human knowledge may not produce well-being; the examined life may not be worth living
[Gray]
|
6575
|
Philosophy may never find foundations, and may undermine our lives in the process
[Fogelin]
|