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Single Idea 6021
[filed under theme 3. Truth / A. Truth Problems / 5. Truth Bearers
]
Full Idea
It is only when we say a proposition that we speak truly or falsely.
Gist of Idea
It is only when we say a proposition that we speak truly or falsely
Source
Sextus Empiricus (Against the Professors (six books) [c.180], 8.74)
Book Ref
'The Hellenistic Philosophers:Vol.1 translations', ed/tr. Long,A. /Sedley,D. [CUP 1987], p.203
A Reaction
This makes assertions truth-bearers, rather than propositions. But a proposition can be true or false if it is stamped with a date and/or place. "Shakespeare was born in Stratford on 23rd April 1664". No one needs to assert that.
The
73 ideas
from Sextus Empiricus
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22752
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Reasoning is impossible without a preconception
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22754
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Saying the good is useful or choiceworth or happiness-creating is not the good, but a feature of it
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22755
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Like a warming fire, what is good by nature should be good for everyone
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22756
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If a desire is itself desirable, then we shouldn't desire it, as achieving it destroys it
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22759
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Fools, infants and madmen may speak truly, but do not know
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22760
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Madmen are reliable reporters of what appears to them
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22762
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Some properties are inseparable from a thing, such as the length, breadth and depth of a body
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22763
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We can only dream of a winged man if we have experienced men and some winged thing
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22764
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Ordinary speech is not exact about what is true; we say we are digging a well before the well exists
[Sext.Empiricus]
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20794
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How can sceptics show there is no criterion? Weak without, contradiction with
[Sext.Empiricus]
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20795
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Some things are their own criterion, such as straightness, a set of scales, or light
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22728
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Gods were invented as watchers of people's secret actions
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22730
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All men agree that God is blessed, imperishable, happy and good
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22731
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It is mad to think that what is useful to us, like lakes and rivers, are gods
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22732
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The perfections of God were extrapolations from mankind
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22734
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God is defended by agreement, order, absurdity of denying God, and refutations
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22735
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The original substance lacked motion or shape, and was given these by a cause
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22736
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God's sensations imply change, and hence perishing, which is absurd, so there is no such God
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22738
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The Divine must lack the virtues of continence and fortitude, because they are not needed
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22737
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An incorporeal God could do nothing, and a bodily god would perish, so there is no God
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22739
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God must suffer to understand suffering
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22740
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God without virtue is absurd, but God's virtues will be better than God
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22741
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The incorporeal is not in the nature of body, and so could not emerge from it
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22742
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Socrates either dies when he exists (before his death) or when he doesn't (after his death)
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22744
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Parts are not parts if their whole is nothing more than the parts
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22746
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If we try to conceive of a line with no breadth, it ceases to exist, and so has no length
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22747
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A man walking backwards on a forwards-moving ship is moving in a fixed place
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22748
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Some say motion is perceived by sense, but others say it is by intellect
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22749
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Time doesn't end with the Universe, because tensed statements about destruction remain true
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22750
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Time is divisible, into past, present and future
[Sext.Empiricus]
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22751
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If the present is just the limit of the past or the future, it can't exist because they don't exist
[Sext.Empiricus]
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6020
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'Man is a rational mortal animal' is equivalent to 'if something is a man, that thing is a rational mortal animal'
[Sext.Empiricus]
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6032
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Right actions, once done, are those with a reasonable justification
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1517
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The tektraktys (1+2+3+4=10) is the 'fount of ever-flowing nature'
[Sext.Empiricus]
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6026
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How can you investigate without some preconception of your object?
[Sext.Empiricus]
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6021
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It is only when we say a proposition that we speak truly or falsely
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1878
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Water that seems lukewarm can seem very hot on inflamed skin
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1879
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Sickness is perfectly natural to the sick, so their natural perceptions should carry some weight
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1880
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Some actions seem shameful when sober but not when drunk
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1881
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The same oar seems bent in water and straight when out of it
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1870
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The basis of scepticism is the claim that every proposition has an equal opposing proposition
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1882
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The necks of doves appear different in colour depending on the angle of viewing
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1871
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Whether honey is essentially sweet may be doubted, as it is a matter of judgement rather than appearance
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1872
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The same tower appears round from a distance, but square close at hand
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1873
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If we press the side of an eyeball, objects appear a different shape
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1874
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How can we judge between our impressions and those of other animals, when we ourselves are involved?
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1876
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If we enjoy different things, presumably we receive different impressions
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1877
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If we had no hearing or sight, we would assume no sound or sight exists, so there may be unsensed qualities
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1884
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If we utter three steps of a logical argument, they never exist together
[Sext.Empiricus]
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12196
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A valid hypothetical syllogism is 'that which does not begin with a truth and end with a falsehood'
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1885
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Proof moves from agreed premises to a non-evident inference
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1886
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If you don't view every particular, you may miss the one which disproves your universal induction
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1887
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You cannot divide anything into many parts, because after the first division you are no longer dividing the original
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1889
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If an argument has an absurd conclusion, we should not assent to the absurdity, but avoid the absurd argument
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1890
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We distinguish ambiguities by seeing what is useful
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1883
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How can the intellect know if sensation is reliable if it doesn't directly see external objects?
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1902
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Since Socrates either died when he was alive (a contradiction) or died when he was dead (meaningless), he didn't die
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1894
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Some say that causes are physical, some say not
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1903
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If motion and rest are abolished, so is time
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1904
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Time must be unlimited, but past and present can't be non-existent, and can't be now, so time does not exist
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1905
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How can time be divisible if we can't compare one length of time with another?
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1895
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Causes are either equal to the effect, or they link equally with other causes, or they contribute slightly
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1896
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If there were no causes then everything would have been randomly produced by everything
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1910
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With us it is shameful for men to wear earrings, but among Syrians it is considered noble
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1897
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Knowing an effect results from a cause means knowing that the cause belongs with the effect, which is circular
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1911
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Even if all known nations agree on a practice, there may be unknown nations which disagree
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1898
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Cause can't exist before effect, or exist at the same time, so it doesn't exist
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1891
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How can we agree on the concept of God, unless we agree on his substance or form or place?
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1892
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The existence of God can't be self-evident or everyone would have agreed on it, so it needs demonstration
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1899
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Does the original self-mover push itself from behind, or pull itself from in front?
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1900
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If time and place are infinitely divided, it becomes impossible for movement ever to begin
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1901
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If all atoms, times and places are the same, everything should move with equal velocity
[Sext.Empiricus]
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1893
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If God foresaw evil he would presumably prevent it, and if he only foresees some things, why those things?
[Sext.Empiricus]
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