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Full Idea
What everyone believes is so.
Gist of Idea
If everyone believes it, it is true
Source
Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1173a01)
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'Ethics (Nicomachean)', ed/tr. ThomsonJ A K/TredennickH [Penguin 1976], p.314
A Reaction
Would you think me terribly unfashionable if I agreed with this? Huge numbers of people can be wrong, but if 'everyone' believes something it seems crazy to go against it.
Related Ideas
Idea 22141 It is enough if we refute the objections and leave common opinions undisturbed [Aristotle]
Idea 23633 Many truths seem obvious, and point to universal agreement - which is what we find [Reid]
| 22141 | It is enough if we refute the objections and leave common opinions undisturbed [Aristotle] |
| 95 | If everyone believes it, it is true [Aristotle] |
| 6492 | Reid is seen as the main direct realist of the eighteenth century [Reid, by Robinson,H] |
| 23654 | In obscure matters the few must lead the many, but the many usually lead in common sense [Reid] |
| 23633 | Many truths seem obvious, and point to universal agreement - which is what we find [Reid] |
| 8794 | There are very few really obvious truths, and not much can be proved from them [Sosa] |
| 2960 | Commonsense realism must account for the similarity of genuine perceptions and known illusions [Lockwood] |
| 22668 | Apprehension is a complex intellect grasping the essence of a complex object [Holt,L] |
| 14466 | A chief task of philosophy is making reflective sense of our common sense worldview [Thomasson] |