Combining Texts

Ideas for 'The Evolution of Modern Metaphysics', 'Davidson on himself' and 'A Philosophy of Boredom'

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

display all the ideas for this combination of texts


3 ideas

18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 3. Emotions / b. Types of emotion
Emotions have intentional objects, while a mood is objectless [Svendsen]
     Full Idea: An emotion normally has an intentional object, while a mood is objectless.
     From: Lars Svendsen (A Philosophy of Boredom [2005], Ch.3)
     A reaction: It doesn't follow that the object of the emotion is clearly understood, or even that it is conscious. One may experience rising anger while struggling to see what its object is. Artistic symbolism seems to involve objects that create moods.
18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 5. Rationality / a. Rationality
Absence of all rationality would be absence of thought [Davidson]
     Full Idea: To imagine a totally irrational animal is to imagine an animal without thought.
     From: Donald Davidson (Davidson on himself [1994], p.232)
     A reaction: This wouldn't be so clear without the theory of evolution, which suggests that only the finders of truth last long enough to breed.
18. Thought / C. Content / 6. Broad Content
Our meanings are partly fixed by events of which we may be ignorant [Davidson]
     Full Idea: What we mean by what we say is partly fixed by events of which we may be ignorant.
     From: Donald Davidson (Davidson on himself [1994], p.235)
     A reaction: There is 'strict and literal meaning', which is fixed by the words, even if I don't know what I am saying. But 'speaker's meaning' is surely a pure matter of a state of mind?