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Single Idea 12126

[filed under theme 15. Nature of Minds / C. Capacities of Minds / 5. Generalisation by mind ]

Full Idea

It is the nature of the mind of man (to the extreme prejudice of knowledge) to delight in the spacious liberty of generalities, as in a champaign region, and not in the inclosures of particularity.

Clarification

'Champaign regions' are open fields, and 'inclosures' are fenced in

Gist of Idea

People love (unfortunately) extreme generality, rather than particular knowledge

Source

Francis Bacon (The Advancement of Learning [1605], II.VIII.1)

Book Ref

Bacon,Francis: 'Advancement of Learning/New Atlantis' [OUP 1966], p.115

A Reaction

I have to plead guilty to this myself. He may have pinpointed the key motivation behind philosophy. We all want to know things, as Aristotle said, but some of us want the broad brush, and others want the fine detail.

Related Idea

Idea 15970 People generalise because it is easier to understand, and that is mistaken for deep philosophy [Feynman]

The 31 ideas with the same theme [uniting similarities in reality into single propositions]:

9088 Skill comes from a general assumption obtained from thinking about similar things [Aristotle]
16153 Aristotle distinguishes two different sorts of generality - kinds, and properties [Aristotle, by Frede,M]
9068 Perception creates primitive immediate principles by building a series of firm concepts [Aristotle]
9069 A perception lodging in the soul creates a primitive universal, which becomes generalised [Aristotle]
18911 Linguistic terms form a hierarchy, with higher terms predicable of increasing numbers of things [Aristotle, by Engelbretsen]
9093 We understand the general nature of things by ignoring individual peculiarities [Aquinas]
9097 The mind abstracts generalities from images, but also uses images for understanding [Aquinas]
9095 Very general ideas (being, oneness, potentiality) can be abstracted from thought matter in general [Aquinas]
9099 Particular instances come first, and (pace Plato) generalisations are abstracted from them [Aquinas]
10508 Species are abstracted from appearances by ignoring individual conditions [Aquinas]
12126 People love (unfortunately) extreme generality, rather than particular knowledge [Bacon]
10501 A triangle diagram is about all triangles, if some features are ignored [Arnauld,A/Nicole,P]
9083 The mind creates abstractions by generalising about appearances of objects, ignoring time or place [Locke]
7040 General words represent general ideas, which are abstractions from immediate circumstances [Locke]
12951 Abstraction attends to the general, not the particular, and involves universal truths [Leibniz]
19760 General ideas are purely intellectual; imagining them is immediately particular [Rousseau]
19759 Only words can introduce general ideas into the mind [Rousseau]
19242 Generalization is the true end of life [Peirce]
19255 Generalisation is the great law of mind [Peirce]
18310 The 'highest' concepts are the most general and empty concepts [Nietzsche]
21569 It is good to generalise truths as much as possible [Russell]
10732 If concepts are just recognitional, then general judgements would be impossible [Geach]
18375 General truths are a type of negative truth, saying there are no more ravens than black ones [Armstrong]
19169 Predicates are a source of generality in sentences [Davidson]
15301 The very concepts of a particular power or nature imply the possibility of being generalised [Harré/Madden]
9330 Generalization seems to be more fundamental to minds than spotting similarities [Lehrer]
18266 Mathematics generalises by using variables [Coffa]
9152 If green is abstracted from a thing, it is only seen as a type if it is common to many things [Fine,K]
18504 Only particulars exist, and generality is our mode of presentation [Heil]
17696 'Humility is a virtue' has an abstract noun, but 'water is a liquid' has a generic concrete noun [Laycock]
17937 Mathematical generalisation is by extending a system, or by abstracting away from it [Colyvan]