Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'Internal and External Reasons' and 'The World'

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5 ideas

12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 2. Qualities in Perception / d. Secondary qualities
22593 Our sensation of light may not be the same as what produces the sensation [Descartes]
     Full Idea: There can be a difference between our sensation of light and what is in the objects that produce that sensation in us.
     From: René Descartes (The World [1631]), quoted by Ian Dunt - How to be a Liberal 1
     A reaction: Note only that they 'may' differ, and that he does not assert that they are entirely different. Secondary qualities give information, and are not just mental events.
20. Action / C. Motives for Action / 3. Acting on Reason / c. Reasons as causes
9284 Reasons are 'internal' if they give a person a motive to act, but 'external' otherwise [Williams,B]
     Full Idea: Someone has 'internal reasons' to act when the person has some motive which will be served or furthered by the action; if this turns out not to be so, the reason is false. Reasons are 'external' when there is no such condition.
     From: Bernard Williams (Internal and External Reasons [1980], p.101)
     A reaction: [compressed] An external example given is a family tradition of joining the army, if the person doesn't want to. Williams says (p.111) external reason statements are actually false, and a misapplication of the concept of a 'reason to act'. See Idea 8815.
21. Aesthetics / C. Artistic Issues / 7. Art and Morality
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?
26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 6. Early Matter Theories / f. Ancient elements
16569 The Hot, Cold, Wet and Dry of the philosophers need themselves to be explained [Descartes]
     Full Idea: If you find it strange that in explaining these elements I do not use the qualities called Hot, Cold, Wet and Dry - as the philosophers do - I shall say to you that these qualities themselves seem to me to need explanation.
     From: René Descartes (The World [1631], 9:25-6), quoted by Robert Pasnau - Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671 1.3
     A reaction: Nice. I take pushing the boundaries of explanation back (or down) to be the basic driving force of all human thought, in metaphysics as well as in physics.
27. Natural Reality / A. Classical Physics / 1. Mechanics / b. Laws of motion
20964 Descartes said there was conservation of 'quantity of motion' [Descartes, by Papineau]
     Full Idea: Descartes incorporated the conservation of what he called 'quantity of motion', by which he meant mass times speed.
     From: report of René Descartes (The World [1631]) by David Papineau - Thinking about Consciousness App 2
     A reaction: Mass times velocity is now called 'momentum'. Is this the first ever conservation law? There are now lots of them.