Combining Texts

Ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'The Problem of the Soul' and 'Nicomachean Ethics'

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4 ideas

12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 6. Inference in Perception
Particular facts (such as 'is it cooked?') are matters of sense-perception, not deliberation [Aristotle]
     Full Idea: Deliberation is not concerned with particular facts, such as 'is it a loaf?' or 'is it properly cooked?'; these are matters of sense-perception.
     From: Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1112b33)
     A reaction: This seems to be Aristotle's commitment to direct cognition through perception, though if pressed he might concede that concepts (such as 'cooked') are involved in perception.
12. Knowledge Sources / E. Direct Knowledge / 1. Common Sense
It is enough if we refute the objections and leave common opinions undisturbed [Aristotle]
     Full Idea: If we both refute the objections and leave the common opinions undisturbed, we shall have proved the case sufficiently.
     From: Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1145b05), quoted by Stephen Boulter - Why Medieval Philosophy Matters 3
     A reaction: This quotation is a sacred text for philosophers who place a high value on the consensus of thinking among the majority of people. I hate it when philosophers hijack an ordinary word and assign it a different meaning.
If everyone believes it, it is true [Aristotle]
     Full Idea: What everyone believes is so.
     From: Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1173a01)
     A reaction: Would you think me terribly unfashionable if I agreed with this? Huge numbers of people can be wrong, but if 'everyone' believes something it seems crazy to go against it.
12. Knowledge Sources / E. Direct Knowledge / 2. Intuition
Intuition grasps the definitions that can't be proved [Aristotle]
     Full Idea: Intuition apprehends the definitions which cannot be logically demonstrated.
     From: Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1142a25)
     A reaction: Nice to see that (like me) he has a positive view of intuition. I'm not sure how you would 'prove' a definition of the hidden nature of a thing (which is usually taken to be hidden).