Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'The Fourth Revolution' and 'Tonk, Plonk and Plink'

unexpand these ideas     |    start again     |     specify just one area for these texts


7 ideas

1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 3. Philosophy Defined
Even pointing a finger should only be done for a reason [Epictetus]
     Full Idea: Philosophy says it is not right even to stretch out a finger without some reason.
     From: Epictetus (fragments/reports [c.57], 15)
     A reaction: The key point here is that philosophy concerns action, an idea on which Epictetus is very keen. He rather despise theory. This idea perfectly sums up the concept of the wholly rational life (which no rational person would actually want to live!).
5. Theory of Logic / A. Overview of Logic / 5. First-Order Logic
Classical liberalism seeks freedom of opinion, of private life, of expression, and of property [Micklethwait/Wooldridge]
     Full Idea: The classical liberals agreed on a basic list of freedoms: of opinion (including religion), of private life, of expression, and of property
     From: Micklethwait,J/Wooldridge,A (The Fourth Revolution [2014], 9)
     A reaction: Mill is main articulator of this. Modern neo-liberals focus on economic freedom. Neither of them seem to make freedom of opportunity central, though I suspect our modern Liberal Party would.
14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / a. Types of explanation
Analytic explanation is wholes in terms of parts; synthetic is parts in terms of wholes or contexts [Belnap]
     Full Idea: Throughout the whole texture of philosophy we distinguish two modes of explanation: the analytic mode, which tends to explain wholes in terms of parts, and the synthetic mode, which explains parts in terms of the wholes or contexts in which they occur.
     From: Nuel D. Belnap (Tonk, Plonk and Plink [1962], p.132)
     A reaction: The analytic would be bottom-up, and the synthetic would be top-down. I'm inclined to combine them, and say explanation begins with a model, which can then be sliced in either direction, though the bottom looks more interesting.
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 8. Socialism
The welfare state aims at freedom from want, and equality of opportunity [Micklethwait/Wooldridge]
     Full Idea: In the classical liberal tradition freedom meant freedom from external control, and equality meant equality before the law. In the welfare state (of Beatrice Webb) freedom was reinterpreted as freedom from want, and equality as equality of opportunity.
     From: Micklethwait,J/Wooldridge,A (The Fourth Revolution [2014], 3)
     A reaction: The authors call this the 'third revolution' in government, after 17th century centralisation and early 19th century accountability. Tawney 1931 is the key text.
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 9. Communism
For communists history is driven by the proletariat [Micklethwait/Wooldridge]
     Full Idea: For the communists the proletariat rather than the state was the locomotive of history.
     From: Micklethwait,J/Wooldridge,A (The Fourth Revolution [2014], 3)
     A reaction: I feel increasingly reluctant to support any party which appears to mainly represent the interests of a single social class, no matter how large that class may be. An attraction of liberalism is that it makes no reference to class.
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 11. Capitalism
Fans of economic freedom claim that capitalism is self-correcting [Micklethwait/Wooldridge]
     Full Idea: The central laissez-faire conceit is that capitalism is a self-correcting mechanism.
     From: Micklethwait,J/Wooldridge,A (The Fourth Revolution [2014], 3)
     A reaction: This was Keynes's rather left-wing criticism of standard capitalist views. These resurfaced in the 1980s with mantras about the virtues of 'market forces'.
25. Social Practice / C. Rights / 4. Property rights
Roman law entrenched property rights [Micklethwait/Wooldridge]
     Full Idea: Roman law entrenched property rights.
     From: Micklethwait,J/Wooldridge,A (The Fourth Revolution [2014], 1 Intro)
     A reaction: Normally attributed to Locke, so this is a good corrective. Was the principle gradually forgotten before Locke?