Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'The Poetics', 'Letter Seven' and 'works'

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4 ideas

10. Modality / B. Possibility / 1. Possibility
22518 The actual must be possible, because it occurred [Aristotle]
     Full Idea: Actual events are evidently possible, otherwise they would not have occurred.
     From: Aristotle (The Poetics [c.347 BCE], 1451b18)
     A reaction: [quoted online by Peter Adamson] Seems like common sense, but it's important to have Aristotle assert it.
16. Persons / F. Free Will / 1. Nature of Free Will
3447 All theory is against free will, and all experience is in favour of it [Johnson,S]
     Full Idea: All theory is against free will, and all experience is in favour of it.
     From: Samuel Johnson (works [1770]), quoted by PG - Db (ideas)
21. Aesthetics / B. Nature of Art / 8. The Arts / b. Literature
16566 Poetry is more philosophic than history, as it concerns universals, not particulars [Aristotle]
     Full Idea: Poetry is something more philosophic and of graver import than history, since its statements are rather of universals, whereas those of history are singulars.
     From: Aristotle (The Poetics [c.347 BCE], 1451b05)
     A reaction: Hm. Characters in great novels achieve universality by being representated very particularly. Great depth of mind seems required to be a poet, but less so for a historian (though there is, I presume, no upward limit on the possible level of thought).
22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 1. Nature of Ethics / a. Preconditions for ethics
168 To understand morality requires a soul [Plato]
     Full Idea: Good and evil are meaningless to things that have no soul.
     From: Plato (Letter Seven [c.352 BCE], 334)
     A reaction: That is presumably psuché, and hence includes plants. Soulless things can still function well, but obviously that is not 'meaningful' to them.