Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'Commentary on 'De Anima'', 'The Method of Truth in Metaphysics' and 'What is Critique?'

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4 ideas

16. Persons / A. Concept of a Person / 1. Existence of Persons

4042	Metaphysics requires the idea of people (speakers) located in space and time [Davidson]
	Full Idea: An intelligible metaphysics will assign a central place to the idea of people (= speakers) with a location in public space and time.
	From: Donald Davidson (The Method of Truth in Metaphysics [1977], §III)
	A reaction: The 'location' is the interesting bit, requiring people to be bodies, not abstractions. A big, plausible claim, but hard to prove.

19. Language / A. Nature of Meaning / 4. Meaning as Truth-Conditions

4041	Sentences held true determine the meanings of the words they contain [Davidson]
	Full Idea: Sentences held true (the linguistic representatives of beliefs) determine the meanings of the words they contain.
	From: Donald Davidson (The Method of Truth in Metaphysics [1977], §II)
	A reaction: Maybe. Historically, truth and belief presumably precede words and sentences. But words separate off from beliefs very easily. I'm not convinced. Words initiate language, not beliefs?

22. Metaethics / B. Value / 2. Values / e. Death

16764	The soul conserves the body, as we see by its dissolution when the soul leaves [Toletus]
	Full Idea: Every accident of a living thing, as well as all its organs and temperaments and its dispositions are conserved by the soul. We see this from experience, since when that soul recedes, all these dissolve and become corrupted.
	From: Franciscus Toletus (Commentary on 'De Anima' [1572], II.1.1), quoted by Robert Pasnau - Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671 24.5
	A reaction: A nice example of observing a phenemonon, but not being able to observe the dependence relation the right way round. Compare Descartes in Idea 16763.

24. Political Theory / C. Ruling a State / 3. Government / a. Government

22236	The big question of the Renaissance was how to govern everything, from the state to children [Foucault]
	Full Idea: How to govern was one of the fundamental question of the fifteenth and sixteenth century. ...How to govern children, the poor and beggars, how to govern the family, a house, how to govern armies, different groups, cities, states, and govern one's self.
	From: Michel Foucault (What is Critique? [1982], p.28), quoted by Johanna Oksala - How to Read Foucault 9
	A reaction: A nice example of Foucault showing how things we take for granted (techniques of control) have been slowly learned, and then taught as standard. Of course, the Romans knew how to govern an army.