Ideas from 'Academica' by M. Tullius Cicero [45 BCE], by Theme Structure
[found in 'De Natura Deorum and Academica (XIX)' by Cicero (ed/tr Rackham,H.) [Harvard Loeb 1933,0-674-99296-2]].
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2. Reason / C. Styles of Reason / 1. Dialectic
2661
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Dialectic is speech cast in the form of logical argument
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Full Idea:
Dialectic is speech cast in the form of logical argument.
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From:
M. Tullius Cicero (Academica [c.45 BCE], I.viii.32)
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3. Truth / A. Truth Problems / 1. Truth
2673
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There cannot be more than one truth
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Full Idea:
There cannot be more than one truth.
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From:
M. Tullius Cicero (Academica [c.45 BCE], II.xlviii.147)
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5. Theory of Logic / D. Assumptions for Logic / 2. Excluded Middle
2669
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Dialectic assumes that all statements are either true or false, but self-referential paradoxes are a big problem
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Full Idea:
It is a fundamental principle of dialectic that every statement is either true or false. So is this a true proposition or a false one: "If you say that you are lying and say it truly, you lie"?
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From:
M. Tullius Cicero (Academica [c.45 BCE], II.xxix.95)
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12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 1. Perception
2664
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If we have complete healthy senses, what more could the gods give us?
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Full Idea:
If human nature were interrogated by some god as to whether it was content with its own senses in a sound and undamaged state or demanded something better, I cannot see what more it could ask for.
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From:
M. Tullius Cicero (Academica [c.45 BCE], II.vii.19)
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12. Knowledge Sources / E. Direct Knowledge / 4. Memory
2665
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How can there be a memory of what is false?
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Full Idea:
How can there possibly be a memory of what is false?
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From:
M. Tullius Cicero (Academica [c.45 BCE], II.vii.22)
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13. Knowledge Criteria / D. Scepticism / 3. Illusion Scepticism
20800
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Every true presentation can have a false one of the same quality
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Full Idea:
[The sceptical Academics say] what is false cannot be perceived, but every true presentation is such that there can be a false presentation of the same quality.
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From:
M. Tullius Cicero (Academica [c.45 BCE], II.40)
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A reaction:
It was the stoics who focused the discussion on 'presentations'. This claim is purely theoretical; no one has ever experienced a false presentation of talking to a family member that was as vivid as the real thing.
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23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 2. Elements of Virtue Theory / c. Motivation for virtue
2672
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Virtues must be very detached, to avoid being motivated by pleasure
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Full Idea:
None of the virtues can exist unless they are disinterested, for virtue driven to duty by pleasure as a sort of pay is not virtue at all but a deceptive sham and pretence of virtue.
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From:
M. Tullius Cicero (Academica [c.45 BCE], II.xlvi.140)
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