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Single Idea 19767
[filed under theme 2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 9. Limits of Reason
]
Full Idea
Reason is what engenders egocentrism ...turns man in upon himself ...and separates him from all that troubles him and afflicts him. Philosophy is what ...moves him to say at the sight of a suffering man 'Perish if you will; I am safe and sound'.
Gist of Idea
Reason leads to prudent selfishness, which overrules natural compassion
Source
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Discourse on the Origin of Inequality [1754], Part I)
Book Ref
Rousseau,Jean-Jacques: 'The Basic Political Writings', ed/tr. Cress,Donald A. [Hackett 1987], p.54
A Reaction
He goes on to observe that fights in the marketplace are stopped by women, while the philosophers have all run away! This thinking leads to the sentimental movement, and then to romanticism.
The
28 ideas
with the same theme
[extent to which our reason can reveal truth]:
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21264
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Mortals are incapable of being fully rational
[Plato]
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19740
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A very hungry man cannot choose between equidistant piles of food
[Aristotle]
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1800
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Sceptics say reason is only an instrument, because reason can only be attacked with reason
[Pyrrho, by Diog. Laertius]
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1815
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Reasoning needs arbitrary faith in preliminary hypotheses (Mode 14)
[Agrippa, by Diog. Laertius]
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1812
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All discussion is full of uncertainty and contradiction (Mode 11)
[Agrippa, by Diog. Laertius]
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1811
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Proofs often presuppose the thing to be proved (Mode 15)
[Agrippa, by Diog. Laertius]
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1813
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All reasoning endlessly leads to further reasoning (Mode 12)
[Agrippa, by Diog. Laertius]
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23343
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Because reason performs all analysis, we should analyse reason - but how?
[Epictetus]
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22752
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Reasoning is impossible without a preconception
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1403
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A rational donkey would starve to death between two totally identical piles of hay
[Buridan, by PG]
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6675
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The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing
[Pascal]
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19433
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The universe is infinitely varied, so the Buridan's Ass dilemma could never happen
[Leibniz]
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22520
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You can't reason someone out of an irrational opinion
[Swift]
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19767
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Reason leads to prudent selfishness, which overrules natural compassion
[Rousseau]
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8099
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The truths of reason instruct, but they do not illuminate
[Joubert]
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8932
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Truth does not come from giving reasons for and against propositions
[Hegel]
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6558
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A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds
[Emerson]
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4523
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What can be 'demonstrated' is of little worth
[Nietzsche]
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8594
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People have had good reasons for thinking that the circle has been squared
[Shoemaker]
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3092
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If you believe that some of your beliefs are false, then at least one of your beliefs IS false
[Harman]
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7986
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Drunken boat pilots are less likely to collide than clearly focused ones
[Baudrillard]
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8062
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Proof is a barren idea in philosophy, and the best philosophy never involves proof
[MacIntyre]
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3801
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Rationality requires the assumption that things are either for better or worse
[Dennett]
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1591
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Unfortunately for reason, argument can't be used to establish the value of argument
[Roochnik]
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1599
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Attempts to suspend all presuppositions are hopeless, because a common ground must be agreed for the process
[Roochnik]
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18781
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Inconsistency doesn't prevent us reasoning about some system
[Mares]
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6557
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Humans may never be able to attain a world view which is both rich and consistent
[Fogelin]
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6568
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A game can be played, despite having inconsistent rules
[Fogelin]
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