11 ideas
4748 | Anselm of Canterbury identified truth with God [Anselm, by Engel] |
Full Idea: Anselm of Canterbury identified truth with God. | |
From: report of Anselm (De Veritate (On Truth) [1095]) by Pascal Engel - Truth §1.6 | |
A reaction: An interesting claim, perhaps, depending on what it means. God decrees truth, God knows all truth, God makes truth possible, God connects us to the world, God is the world…? |
8228 | Being is revealed at the point between waking and sleep [Anon (Cent)] |
Full Idea: At the point of sleep when sleep has not yet come and external wakefulness vanishes, at this point being is revealed. | |
From: Anon (Cent) (Centring [c.500 BCE], 50) | |
A reaction: One for Heidegger. The problem with eastern philosophy is that no one expects that this revelation could be put into words, so we cannot compare our revelations of being, or pass them on to others. Which means they can't be criticised. |
7458 | The reliability of witnesses depends on whether they benefit from their observations [Laplace, by Hacking] |
Full Idea: The credibility of a witness is in part a function of the story being reported. When the story claims to have infinite value, the temptation to lie for personal benefit is asymptotically infinite. | |
From: report of Pierre Simon de Laplace (Philosophical Essay on Probability [1820], Ch.XI) by Ian Hacking - The Emergence of Probability Ch.8 | |
A reaction: Laplace seems to especially have reports of miracles in mind. This observation certainly dashes any dreams one might have of producing a statistical measure of the reliability of testimony. |
8232 | Neglect your self, and feel the consciousness of each other being [Anon (Cent)] |
Full Idea: Feel the consciousness of each person as your own consciousness. So, leaving aside concern for self, become each being. | |
From: Anon (Cent) (Centring [c.500 BCE], 83) | |
A reaction: Good. The western scepticism about other minds puts up a barrier to this sort of thought. The best of Zen is when it encourages the use of imagination to explore what is real. But imagination struggles to distinguish what is true. |
3441 | If a supreme intellect knew all atoms and movements, it could know all of the past and the future [Laplace] |
Full Idea: An intelligence knowing at an instant the whole universe could know the movement of the largest bodies and atoms in one formula, provided his intellect were powerful enough to subject all data to analysis. Past and future would be present to his eyes. | |
From: Pierre Simon de Laplace (Philosophical Essay on Probability [1820]), quoted by Mark Thornton - Do we have free will? p.70 |
8230 | Just as you have the impulse to do something, stop [Anon (Cent)] |
Full Idea: Just as you have the impulse to do something, stop. | |
From: Anon (Cent) (Centring [c.500 BCE], 64) | |
A reaction: Nice. You might train your own will like a dog in this way. It is a counterexample to the simplistic idea that all you need is a belief and a desire, and you have got an action. But (pace Searle, Ideas 3817 + 3818) this does not prove free will. |
8234 | Bondage and liberation are relative terms, which only frighten those already terrified of the universe [Anon (Cent)] |
Full Idea: Since in truth, bondage and freedom are relative, these words are only for those terrified with the universe. The universe is a reflection of minds. As you see many suns in water from one sun, so see bondage and liberation. | |
From: Anon (Cent) (Centring [c.500 BCE], 110) | |
A reaction: Since most easterners have experienced permanent social repression, their philosophies all encourage them not to worry about it. No wonder marxism, proved popular, when it suggested you could actually change things. |
8231 | Abandon attachment to body, and feel the joy of being everywhere [Anon (Cent)] |
Full Idea: Toss attachment for body aside, realising I am everywhere. One who is everywhere is joyous. | |
From: Anon (Cent) (Centring [c.500 BCE], 79) | |
A reaction: I really don't think it is wisdom to spend your time imagining things which are not true. I might imagine that some gorgeous film star is in love with me, but I don't recommend it. Live according to nature. We are physical beings. |
8227 | Feel your whole body saturated with cosmic essence [Anon (Cent)] |
Full Idea: Feel your substance, bones, flesh, blood, saturated with cosmic essence. | |
From: Anon (Cent) (Centring [c.500 BCE], 23) | |
A reaction: I find this unsatisfactory. Being a sad victim of materialistic western scientific culture, I don't think 'cosmic essence' exists. I could imagine myself full of the stuff, and that might feel good, but I could also imagine I had won the lottery. |
8229 | The serenity in blue sky beyond clouds [Anon (Cent)] |
Full Idea: Simply by looking into blue sky beyond clouds - the serenity. | |
From: Anon (Cent) (Centring [c.500 BCE], 59) | |
A reaction: Philip Larkin finds the same experience looking through high windows. If we articulate the experience, it seems to combine humility and detachment. The sky makes us insignificant, but the mind can project into the sky. |
8233 | Imagine fire burning up your whole body, but not you [Anon (Cent)] |
Full Idea: Focus on fire rising through your form from the toes up until the body burns to ashes, but not you. | |
From: Anon (Cent) (Centring [c.500 BCE], 28) | |
A reaction: Try very hard to persuade yourself that you are immortal, even if you are not. Hm. Zen Buddhism actually contains very little commitment to what is true or false. It explores interesting beliefs like children playing with toys. Very post-modern. |