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Single Idea 2649
[filed under theme 28. God / B. Proving God / 3. Proofs of Evidence / b. Teleological Proof
]
Full Idea
If flutes playing tunes were to grow on olive trees, would you not infer that the olive must have some knowledge of the flute?
Gist of Idea
If tuneful flutes grew on olive trees, you would assume the olive had some knowledge of the flute
Source
Zeno (Citium) (fragments/reports [c.294 BCE]), quoted by M. Tullius Cicero - On the Nature of the Gods ('De natura deorum') II.22
Book Ref
Cicero: 'The Nature of the Gods', ed/tr. McGregor,Horace [Penguin 1972], p.132
The
27 ideas
from 'fragments/reports'
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20801
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A wise man's chief strength is not being tricked; nothing is worse than error, frivolity or rashness
[Zeno of Citium, by Cicero]
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20770
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Philosophy has three parts, studying nature, character, and rational discourse
[Zeno of Citium, by Diog. Laertius]
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1771
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When shown seven versions of the mowing argument, he paid twice the asking price for them
[Zeno of Citium, by Diog. Laertius]
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6022
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Someone who says 'it is day' proposes it is day, and it is true if it is day
[Zeno of Citium, by Diog. Laertius]
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7555
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Zeno achieved the statement of the problems of infinitesimals, infinity and continuity
[Russell on Zeno of Citium]
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20860
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Whatever participates in substance exists
[Zeno of Citium, by Stobaeus]
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21395
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One of Zeno's books was 'That Which is Appropriate'
[Zeno of Citium, by Long]
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2662
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Zeno saw virtue as a splendid state, not just a source of splendid action
[Zeno of Citium, by Cicero]
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21397
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Perception an open hand, a fist is 'grasping', and holding that fist is knowledge
[Zeno of Citium, by Long]
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20799
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A grasp by the senses is true, because it leaves nothing out, and so nature endorses it
[Zeno of Citium, by Cicero]
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20797
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If a grasped perception cannot be shaken by argument, it is 'knowledge'
[Zeno of Citium, by Cicero]
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21398
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A presentation is true if we judge that no false presentation could appear like it
[Zeno of Citium, by Cicero]
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1770
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When a slave said 'It was fated that I should steal', Zeno replied 'Yes, and that you should be beaten'
[Zeno of Citium, by Diog. Laertius]
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3799
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A dog tied to a cart either chooses to follow and is pulled, or it is just pulled
[Zeno of Citium, by Hippolytus]
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21402
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Incorporeal substances can't do anything, and can't be acted upon either
[Zeno of Citium, by Cicero]
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20816
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A body is required for anything to have causal relations
[Zeno of Citium, by Cicero]
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1773
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A sentence always has signification, but a word by itself never does
[Zeno of Citium, by Diog. Laertius]
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20841
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Zeno said live in agreement with nature, which accords with virtue
[Zeno of Citium, by Diog. Laertius]
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1774
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Since we are essentially rational animals, living according to reason is living according to nature
[Zeno of Citium, by Diog. Laertius]
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20863
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The goal is to 'live in agreement', according to one rational consistent principle
[Zeno of Citium, by Stobaeus]
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5964
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Zeno says there are four main virtues, which are inseparable but distinct
[Zeno of Citium, by Plutarch]
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20822
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There is no void in the cosmos, but indefinite void outside it
[Zeno of Citium, by Ps-Plutarch]
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20811
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Since the cosmos produces what is alive and rational, it too must be alive and rational
[Zeno of Citium]
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2648
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Things are more perfect if they have reason; nothing is more perfect than the universe, so it must have reason
[Zeno of Citium]
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20810
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Rational is better than non-rational; the cosmos is supreme, so it is rational
[Zeno of Citium]
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2649
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If tuneful flutes grew on olive trees, you would assume the olive had some knowledge of the flute
[Zeno of Citium]
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20807
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The cosmos and heavens are the substance of god
[Zeno of Citium, by Diog. Laertius]
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