7460
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The great moments are the death of Aristotle, Machiavelli, and Romanticism [Berlin, by Watson]
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Full Idea:
Berlin says there were three great turning points: after the death of Aristotle (when Greek schools focused on the inner life of individuals, instead of as social beings), Machiavelli's division of political and individual virtues, and Romanticism.
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From:
report of Isaiah Berlin (The Sense of Reality [1996], p.168-9) by Peter Watson - Ideas Intro
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A reaction:
I have the impression that Machiavelli introduced a new hard-boiled ethics, which dominated the sixteenth century, but in the seventeenth and eighteenth century they fought back, and Machiavellianism turned out to be just a phase.
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21394
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Philosophy is knowing each logos, how they fit together, and what follows from them [Epictetus]
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Full Idea:
[Philosophical speculation] consists in knowing the elements of 'logos', what each of them is like, how they fit together, and what follows from them.
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From:
Epictetus (The Discourses [c.56], 4.08.14), quoted by A.A. Long - Hellenistic Philosophy 4.1
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A reaction:
[Said to echo Zeno] If you substitute understanding for 'logos' (plausibly), I think this is exactly the view of philosophy I would subscribe to. We want to understand each aspect of life, and we want those understandings to cohere with one another.
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20772
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Three branches of philosophy: first logic, second ethics, third physics (which ends with theology) [Chrysippus]
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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).
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From:
Chrysippus (fragments/reports [c.240 BCE]), quoted by Plutarch - 70: Stoic Self-contradictions 1035a
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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.
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20876
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Philosophy investigates the causes of disagreements, and seeks a standard for settling them [Epictetus]
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Full Idea:
The start of philosophy is perception of the mutual conflict among people, and a search for its cause, plus the rejection and distrust of mere opinion, an investigation to see if opinion is right, and the discovery of some canon, like scales for weighing.
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From:
Epictetus (The Discourses [c.56], 2.11.13)
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A reaction:
So the number one aim of philosophy is epistemological, to find the criterion for true opinion. But it starts in real life, and would cease to trade if people would just agree. I think we should set the bar higher than that.
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