|
20812
|
Covers are for shields, and sheaths for swords; likewise, all in the cosmos is for some other thing [Chrysippus]
|
|
Full Idea:
Just as the cover was made for the sake of the shield, and the sheath for the sword, in the same way everything else except the cosmos was made for the sake of other things.
|
|
From:
Chrysippus (fragments/reports [c.240 BCE]), quoted by M. Tullius Cicero - On the Nature of the Gods ('De natura deorum') 2.37
|
|
A reaction:
Chrysippus was wise to stop at the cosmos. Similarly, religious teleology had better not ask about the purpose of God. What does he think pebbles are for? Nature is the source of stoic value, so it needs to be purposeful.
|
|
5975
|
Stoics say earth, air, fire and water are the primary elements [Chrysippus, by Plutarch]
|
|
Full Idea:
The Stoics call the four bodies - earth and water and air and fire - primary elements.
|
|
From:
report of Chrysippus (fragments/reports [c.240 BCE], fr 444) by Plutarch - 72: Against Stoics on common Conceptions 1085c
|
|
A reaction:
Elsewhere (fr 413) Chrysippus denies that they are all 'primary'. Essentially, though, he seems to be adopting the doctrine of Empedocles and Aristotle, in specific opposition to Epicurus' atomism.
|
|
16954
|
Generalised talk of 'natural kinds' is unfortunate, as they vary too much [Dummett]
|
|
Full Idea:
In my view, Kripke's promotion of 'natural kinds', coverning chemical substances and animal and plant species, is unfortunate, since these are rather different types of things, and words used for them behave differently.
|
|
From:
Michael Dummett (Could There Be Unicorns? [1983], 2)
|
|
A reaction:
My view is that the only significant difference among natural kinds is their degree of stability in character. Presumably particles, elements and particular molecules are fairly invariant, but living things evolve.
|