Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'The Courtier and the Heretic', 'Cogitata et Visa' and 'Aristotle on Friendship'

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3 ideas

12. Knowledge Sources / D. Empiricism / 1. Empiricism
Empiricists are collecting ants; rationalists are spinning spiders; and bees do both [Bacon]
     Full Idea: Empiricists are like ants; they collect and put to use; but rationalists, like spiders, spin threads out of themselves. (…and bees follow the middle way, of collecting material and transforming it).
     From: Francis Bacon (Cogitata et Visa [1607])
     A reaction: Nice (and so concisely expressed). Bees seem to be just more intelligent and energetic empiricists.
23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 4. External Goods / d. Friendship
The Greek 'philia' covers all good and fruitful relationships [Cooper,JM]
     Full Idea: The Greek 'philia' is much wider than our "friendship"; it includes family relationships, and business relationships and membership of institutions.
     From: John M. Cooper (Aristotle on Friendship [1977], p.301)
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 10. Theocracy
The politics of Leibniz was the reunification of Christianity [Stewart,M]
     Full Idea: The politics of Leibniz may be summed up in one word: theocracy. The specific agenda motivating much of his work was to reunite the Protestant and Catholic churches
     From: Matthew Stewart (The Courtier and the Heretic [2007], Ch. 5)
     A reaction: This would be a typical project for a rationalist philosopher, who thinks that good reasoning will gradually converge on the one truth.