Combining Texts

Ideas for 'Metaphysics', 'Essence, Necessity and Explanation' and 'System of Logic'

unexpand these ideas     |    start again     |     choose another area for these texts

display all the ideas for this combination of texts


2 ideas

12. Knowledge Sources / D. Empiricism / 4. Pro-Empiricism
All men long to understand, as shown by their delight in the senses [Aristotle]
     Full Idea: By nature, all men long to understand [eidenai]; an indication is their delight in the senses.
     From: Aristotle (Metaphysics [c.324 BCE], 0980a21)
     A reaction: See Idea 8331 and Idea 12038 to understand what this means. I take it to support the thesis that the aim of philosophy is explanations (at a higher level of generality than the sciences).
Clear concepts result from good observation, extensive experience, and accurate memory [Mill]
     Full Idea: The principle requisites of clear conceptions, are habits of attentive observation, an extensive experience, and a memory which receives and retains an exact image of what is observed.
     From: John Stuart Mill (System of Logic [1843], 4.2.5)
     A reaction: Empiricists are always crying out for people to 'attend to the evidence', and this is the deeper reason why. Not only will one know the world better in a direct way, but one will actually think more clearly. Darwin is the perfect model for this.