Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'The Science of Rights' and 'Internalism and Externalism: a History'

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4 ideas

13. Knowledge Criteria / C. External Justification / 1. External Justification
4254 Externalist accounts of knowledge do not require the traditional sort of justification [Kornblith]
     Full Idea: What is distinctive about externalist accounts of knowledge is that they do not require justification, at least in the traditional sense.
     From: Hilary Kornblith (Internalism and Externalism: a History [2001], p.2)
     A reaction: At least this gives animals the chance to know things, but I suspect that they never get beyond true beliefs. I'm sure humans have 'better' knowledge than animals.
16. Persons / D. Continuity of the Self / 6. Body sustains Self
22063 Effective individuals must posit a specific material body for themselves [Fichte]
     Full Idea: Rational beings cannot posit themselves as effective individuals without ascribing to themselves a material body and determining it in doing so.
     From: Johann Fichte (The Science of Rights [1797], p.87), quoted by Ludwig Siep - Fichte
     A reaction: To be free entails a belief that one is 'effective', and a body is our only concept for that. This seems to be a transcendental proof that the body must exist, which is a neat inverted move! The Self sustains the body, for Fichte.
25. Social Practice / E. Policies / 5. Education / b. Education principles
13304 Learned men gain more in one day than others do in a lifetime [Posidonius]
     Full Idea: In a single day there lies open to men of learning more than there ever does to the unenlightened in the longest of lifetimes.
     From: Posidonius (fragments/reports [c.95 BCE]), quoted by Seneca the Younger - Letters from a Stoic 078
     A reaction: These remarks endorsing the infinite superiority of the educated to the uneducated seem to have been popular in late antiquity. It tends to be the religions which discourage great learning, especially in their emphasis on a single book.
27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 1. Nature of Time / d. Time as measure
20820 Time is an interval of motion, or the measure of speed [Posidonius, by Stobaeus]
     Full Idea: Posidonius defined time thus: it is an interval of motion, or the measure of speed and slowness.
     From: report of Posidonius (fragments/reports [c.95 BCE]) by John Stobaeus - Anthology 1.08.42
     A reaction: Hm. Can we define motion or speed without alluding to time? Looks like we have to define them as a conjoined pair, which means we cannot fully understand either of them.