Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'The Nature and Communication of Substance' and 'Letters to Regius'

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5 ideas

9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 15. Against Essentialism

12251	Substantial forms are not understood, and explain nothing [Descartes]
	Full Idea: Clearly no explanation can be given by these substantial forms for any natural action, since their defenders admit that they are occult and that they do not understand them themselves, ...so they explain nothing.
	From: René Descartes (Letters to Regius [1642], 1642.01), quoted by David S. Oderberg - Real Essentialism 267 n5
	A reaction: [Oderberg gives refs for attack by Locke and Hume, p.66] Descartes' target is Aristotle's hylomorphism. The problem seems to be understanding what Aristotle meant, which is much more than mere 'shape'. More like 'controlling principle'.

13. Knowledge Criteria / E. Relativism / 2. Knowledge as Convention

1556	By nature people are close to one another, but culture drives them apart [Hippias]
	Full Idea: I regard you all as relatives - by nature, not by convention. By nature like is akin to like, but convention is a tyrant over humankind and often constrains people to act contrary to nature.
	From: Hippias (fragments/reports [c.430 BCE]), quoted by Plato - Protagoras 337c8

17. Mind and Body / A. Mind-Body Dualism / 5. Parallelism

2596	Maybe mind and body are parallel, like two good clocks [Leibniz]
	Full Idea: Two clocks in perfect agreement must be by natural influence, or the control of a craftsman, or their perfect construction at the beginning. Only the third way (of "preestablished harmony" by God) is possible.
	From: Gottfried Leibniz (The Nature and Communication of Substance [1690], p.121)
	A reaction: Presumably 'natural influence' would cover the possibility that (unnoticed by you, apparently) one clock is attached to the other clock at the relevant points. If they are unconnected, presumably they are quite unaware of one another's existence.

28. God / B. Proving God / 3. Proofs of Evidence / b. Teleological Proof

2595	If the universe is a perfect agreement of uncommunicating substances, there must be a common source [Leibniz]
	Full Idea: The perfect agreement of so many substances which have no communication whatever with each other can only come from a common source.
	From: Gottfried Leibniz (The Nature and Communication of Substance [1690], p.120)

29. Religion / B. Monotheistic Religion / 4. Christianity / c. Angels

16772	An angelic mind would not experience pain, even when connected to a human body [Descartes, by Pasnau]
	Full Idea: Descartes points out that an angelic mind, even if causally connected to a human body, would not experience the same sort of bodily sensations; it would, instead, simply observe flesh being torn, like a piece of paper.
	From: report of René Descartes (Letters to Regius [1642], III:493) by Robert Pasnau - Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671 25.6
	A reaction: Does that mean that the angel could not have the experience even if it wanted to have it. So they can't pick up a cup either? So they can't make themselves known to us, even if they are desperate to? So the Annunciation never happened?