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3 ideas
23906 | Courage from spirit is natural and unconquerable, as seen in the young [Aristotle] |
Full Idea: The courage of spirit is the most natural kind; for spirit is unconquerable, which is why the young are the best fighters. | |
From: Aristotle (Eudemian Ethics [c.333 BCE], 1229a27) | |
A reaction: [thumos, presumably, as in Plato] I suppose Aristotle knows better than me, but I suspect the young are just the quickest and strongest. I'd rather be led by someone with experience than by someone who is young. |
20204 | Whether the mind has parts is irrelevant, since it obviously has distinct capacities [Aristotle] |
Full Idea: It makes no difference if the soul is divided into parts or lacks parts, as it certainly has distinct capacities. | |
From: Aristotle (Eudemian Ethics [c.333 BCE], 1219b32), quoted by Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski - Virtues of the Mind II 3.1 | |
A reaction: I take this to endorse my view that the mind-body problem is of limited interest to philosophers. The focus should be on what the mind does, not how it is constructed. But then I presume the latter issue is revealed by neuroscience. |
21867 | Conatus is brain circuits seeking survival and well-being [Damasio] |
Full Idea: Conatus is explicable as the aggregate of dispositions laid down in brain circuitry that seeks both survival and well-being. | |
From: Antonio Damasio (Looking for Spinoza [2003], p.36) | |
A reaction: So conatus is the motivation of my inner personal assistant, who reminds me what I am doing later today. I like the mention of dispositions, hence powers. |