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8000 | He who is ignorant of the history of philosophy is doomed to repeat it |
Full Idea: Santayana remarked that he who is ignorant of the history of philosophy is doomed to repeat it. | |||
From: report of George Santayana (The Life of Reason [1906]) by Alasdair MacIntyre - A Short History of Ethics Ch.1 | |||
A reaction: Santayana's remark seems to have been about history in general, so this is a Macintyre thought. It obviously has a lot of truth, and most great philosophers seem hugely knowledgeable. However, ignorance brings a kind of freedom. |