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Ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'The Limits of Contingency' and 'Works (refs to 8 vol Colli and Montinari)'

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3 ideas

1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 1. Philosophy
7846 Nietzsche thinks philosophy makes us more profound, but not better [Nietzsche, by Ansell Pearson]
     Full Idea: Nietzsche does not think philosopher exists to make us better human beings - but it can make us more profound ones.
     From: report of Friedrich Nietzsche (Works (refs to 8 vol Colli and Montinari) [1885]) by Keith Ansell Pearson - How to Read Nietzsche Intro
     A reaction: What is the point of being more 'profound' if that isn't 'better'? Are we sure that Kant is more 'profound' than a Yanomamo Indian? Personally I think philosophy tends to produce moral improvement, but I have seen a few striking counterexamples.
1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 4. Divisions of Philosophy
20772 Three branches of philosophy: first logic, second ethics, third physics (which ends with theology) [Chrysippus]
     Full Idea: There are three kinds of philosophical theorems, logical, ethical, and physical; of these the logic should be placed first, ethics second, and physics third (and theology is the final topic in physics).
     From: Chrysippus (fragments/reports [c.240 BCE]), quoted by Plutarch - 70: Stoic Self-contradictions 1035a
     A reaction: [in his lost 'On Lives' Bk 4] 'Theology is the final topic in physics'! That should create a stir in theology departments. Is this an order of study, or of importance? You come to theology right at the end of your studies.
1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 7. Despair over Philosophy
20107 How many mediocre thinkers are occupied with influential problems! [Nietzsche]
     Full Idea: It is a terrible thought to contemplate that an immense number of mediocre thinkers are occupied with really influential matters.
     From: Friedrich Nietzsche (Works (refs to 8 vol Colli and Montinari) [1885]), quoted by Rüdiger Safranski - Nietzsche: a philosophical biography 03
     A reaction: [in a journal of 1867] What would he say now, with the plethora of academics and students aspiring to the highest levels of human thought? If I face up to the fact that I am 'mediocre', should I stop? And become mediocre at something else?