6 ideas
| 12036 | Xenophanes began the concern with knowledge [Annas] |
| Full Idea: Xenophanes begins a long concern with knowledge and its grounds. | |
| From: Julia Annas (Ancient Philosophy: very short introduction [2000], Intro) | |
| A reaction: Having that on his cv ought to make Xenophanes more famous than he is. |
| 12046 | Plato was the first philosopher who was concerned to systematize his ideas [Annas] |
| Full Idea: In the ancient world Plato was seen as a pivotal figure, the first philosopher who was concerned to systematize his ideas. | |
| From: Julia Annas (Ancient Philosophy: very short introduction [2000], Ch.6) |
| 21907 | We don't want another new set of categories; we want a variety of flexible categories [Deleuze, by May] |
| Full Idea: For Deleuze, the task is not one of replacing a single set of categories with another set. It is one of being able to create and move among various sets of categories, and even to cross between them. | |
| From: report of Gilles Deleuze (The Actual and the Virtual [1977]) by Todd May - Gilles Deleuze 4.05 | |
| A reaction: This sounds fun, but I'm not clear why we need this anarchic mix of categories. The motto of Deleuze seems to be 'at all costs, keep moving'. He loved the idea of nomads. Is Rimbaud our role model? The influence of Foucault is obvious. |
| 6672 | Moore's Paradox: you can't assert 'I believe that p but p is false', but can assert 'You believe p but p is false' [Moore,GE, by Lowe] |
| Full Idea: Moore's Paradox says it makes no sense to assert 'I believe that p, but p is false', even though it makes perfectly good sense to assert 'I used to believe p, but p is false' or 'You believe p, but p is false'. | |
| From: report of G.E. Moore (works [1905]) by E.J. Lowe - Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind Ch.10 | |
| A reaction: I'm not sure if this really deserves the label of 'paradox'. I take it as drawing attention to the obvious fact that belief is commitment to truth. I think my assessment that p is true is correct, but your assessment is wrong. ('True' is not redundant!) |
| 12037 | Euripides's Medea is a key case of reason versus the passions [Annas] |
| Full Idea: Euripides's Medea has remained a key case for discussion of reason and the passions. | |
| From: Julia Annas (Ancient Philosophy: very short introduction [2000], Ch.1) |
| 12040 | Virtue is a kind of understanding of moral value [Annas] |
| Full Idea: There is a widespread view in ancient ethics that virtue is a kind of understanding of moral value. | |
| From: Julia Annas (Ancient Philosophy: very short introduction [2000], Ch.3) | |
| A reaction: In Aristotle's case, this coincides with his apparent view that 'understanding' is the aim of all areas of human thought. See Idea 12038. |