6 ideas
8460 | Philosophers have given precise senses to deduction, probability, computability etc [Quine/Ullian] |
Full Idea: Successful explications (giving a precise sense to a term) have been found for the concepts of deduction, probability and computability, to name just three. | |
From: W Quine / J Ullian (The Web of Belief [1970], 65), quoted by Alex Orenstein - W.V. Quine Ch.3 | |
A reaction: Quine also cites the concept of an 'ordered pair'. Orenstein adds Tarski's definition of truth, Russell's definite descriptions, and the explication of existence in terms of quantifications. Cf. Idea 2958. |
20955 | Art can make reason more all-inclusive, by articulating what seemed inexpressible [Bowie] |
Full Idea: The early German Romantics argued that art pointed to a more all-inclusive conception of reason, which can offer ways of articulating what is not conceptually accessible. | |
From: Andrew Bowie (Introduction to German Philosophy [2003], 5 'Reason') | |
A reaction: [This is Novalis, F.Schlegel, Schleiermacher, and Hölderlin] I'm in favour of expanding reason, to include assessment of situations and coherence, rather than just stepwise reasoning. Not sure that art 'articulates' something new. |
20950 | German Idealism says our thinking and nature have the same rational structure [Bowie] |
Full Idea: German Idealism aims to demonstrate that our thinking relates to a nature which is intelligibly structured in the same way as our thinking is structured. | |
From: Andrew Bowie (Introduction to German Philosophy [2003], 3 'Limits') | |
A reaction: Now that's an idealism I might buy into. Frege thought his logic was mapping rational reality. My angle is that we are a product of this 'reality', so we should expect our thinking to be similarly structured. Reason is derived from nature. |
20942 | Nazis think race predetermines the self [Bowie] |
Full Idea: The Nazi idea is that the self is predetermined primarily by its race. | |
From: Andrew Bowie (Introduction to German Philosophy [2003], Intro) | |
A reaction: I suspect that I occasionally encounter this view, in very patriotic people. But then you meet people who feeling that their self is mainly determined by support of a football team. Note, though, 'pre-'determined. Hegel makes this idea possible? |
20946 | Rhetoric is built into language, so it cannot be stripped from philosophy [Bowie] |
Full Idea: The attempt to rid philosophy of rhetoric falls prey precisely to that fact that what is involved in rhetoric is inherent in what is built into all natural languages by their genesis in the real historical world. | |
From: Andrew Bowie (Introduction to German Philosophy [2003], 2 'Hamann') | |
A reaction: Rhetoric can range from charming to bullying, and it is the latter which is the problem. The underlying issue is dogma versus dialectic. Some analytic philosophers have a good shot at being non-rhetorical. |
468 | Musical performance can reveal a range of virtues [Damon of Ath.] |
Full Idea: In singing and playing the lyre, a boy will be likely to reveal not only courage and moderation, but also justice. | |
From: Damon (fragments/reports [c.460 BCE], B4), quoted by (who?) - where? |