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Ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'reports of last days' and 'At the Existentialist Caf'

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4 ideas

22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / k. Ethics from nature
6000 The goal is rationality in the selection of things according to nature [Diogenes of Babylon, by Blank]
     Full Idea: Diogenes of Babylon defined the goal to be rationality in the selection and rejection of the things according to nature.
     From: report of Diogenes (Bab) (fragments/reports [c.180 BCE]) by D.L. Blank - Diogenes of Babylon
     A reaction: This captures the central Stoic idea quite nicely. 'Live according to nature', but this always meant 'live according to reason', because that is (as Aristotle had taught) the essence of our nature. This only makes sense if reason and nature coincide.
22. Metaethics / B. Value / 2. Values / e. Death
344 If death is like a night of dreamless sleep, such nights are very pleasant [Socrates]
     Full Idea: If death is like a night of dreamless sleep it is an advantage, for such nights are very pleasant, and eternity would seem like a single night.
     From: Socrates (reports of last days [c.399 BCE]), quoted by Plato - The Apology 40d
     A reaction: Dreamless sleep is only pleasant if being awake is unpleasant. Very quiet days are only pleasant if the active days are horrible. A desire for a totally quiet life is absurd.
339 Men fear death as a great evil when it may be a great blessing [Socrates]
     Full Idea: No one knows whether death may not be the greatest of all blessings for a man, yet men fear it as if they knew that it is the greatest of evils.
     From: Socrates (reports of last days [c.399 BCE]), quoted by Plato - The Apology 29a
     A reaction: As a neutral observer, I see little sign of it being a blessing, except as a relief from misery. It seem wrong to view such a natural thing as evil, but it is the thing most of us least desire.
22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 1. Goodness / a. Form of the Good
5999 The good is what is perfect by nature [Diogenes of Babylon, by Blank]
     Full Idea: Diogenes of Babylon defined the good as what is perfect by nature.
     From: report of Diogenes (Bab) (fragments/reports [c.180 BCE]) by D.L. Blank - Diogenes of Babylon
     A reaction: This might come close to G.E. Moore's Ideal Utilitarianism, but its dependence on the rather uneasy of concept of 'perfection' makes it questionable. Personally I find it appealing. I wish we had Diogenes' explanation.