Combining Texts

Ideas for 'General Facts,Phys Necessity, and Metaph of Time', 'Principles of Philosophy of the Future' and 'The Really Hard Problem'

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3 ideas

24. Political Theory / A. Basis of a State / 1. A People / a. Human distinctiveness
Man is not a particular being, like animals, but a universal being [Feuerbach]
     Full Idea: Man is not a particular being, like the animals, but a universal being.
     From: Ludwig Feuerbach (Principles of Philosophy of the Future [1843], §53)
     A reaction: This sounds a bit extravagent. The capacity of man to use universals in thought seems crucial to Feuerbach (though he doesn't directly address the problem). 'We are particulars with access to universals' sounds better.
The essence of man is in community, but with distinct individuals [Feuerbach]
     Full Idea: The essence of man is contained only in the community and unity of man and man; it is a unity, however, which rests only on the reality of the distinction between I and thou.
     From: Ludwig Feuerbach (Principles of Philosophy of the Future [1843], §59)
     A reaction: In English provincial suburbs (where I live) it is astonishing how little interest in and need for their neighbours people seem to have. People seem to survive without community. Most of us, though, think full human happiness needs community.
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 9. Communism
Alienation is not finding what one wants, or being unable to achieve it [Flanagan]
     Full Idea: What Marx called 'alienation' is the widespread condition of not being able to discover what one wants, or not being remotely positioned to achieve.
     From: Owen Flanagan (The Really Hard Problem [2007], 2 'Expanding')
     A reaction: I took alienation to concern people's relationship to the means of production in their trade. On Flanagan's definition I would expect almost everyone aged under 20 to count as alienated.