Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'The Gettier Problem', 'Letters to a German Princess' and 'works'

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7 ideas

2. Reason / B. Laws of Thought / 6. Ockham's Razor

6806	Do not multiply entities beyond necessity [William of Ockham]
	Full Idea: Do not multiply entities beyond necessity.
	From: William of Ockham (works [1335])
	A reaction: This is the classic statement of Ockham's Razor, though it is not found in his printed works. It appears to be mainly aimed at Plato's Theory of Forms. It is taken to refer to types of entities, not numbers. One seraph is as bad as a hundred.

8. Modes of Existence / D. Universals / 5. Universals as Concepts

22132	Species and genera are individual concepts which naturally signify many individuals [William of Ockham]
	Full Idea: In his mature nominalism, species and genera are identified with certain mental qualities called concepts or intentions of the mind. Ontologically they are individuals too, like everthing else, ...but they naturally signify many different individuals.
	From: William of Ockham (works [1335]), quoted by Claude Panaccio - William of Ockham p.1056
	A reaction: 'Naturally' is the key word, because the concepts are not fictions, but natural responses to encountering individuals in the world. I am an Ockhamist.

13. Knowledge Criteria / A. Justification Problems / 2. Justification Challenges / b. Gettier problem

19699	A Gettier case is a belief which is true, and its fallible justification involves some luck [Hetherington]
	Full Idea: A Gettier case contains a belief which is true and well justified without being knowledge. Its justificatory support is also fallible, ...and there is considerable luck in how the belief combnes being true with being justified.
	From: Stephen Hetherington (The Gettier Problem [2011], 5)
	A reaction: This makes luck the key factor. 'Luck' is a rather vague concept, and so the sort of luck involved must first be spelled out. Or the varieties of luck that can produce this outcome.

26. Natural Theory / D. Laws of Nature / 1. Laws of Nature

5467	Euler said nature is instrinsically passive, and minds cause change [Euler, by Ellis]
	Full Idea: Euler thought the powers necessary for the maintenance of the changing universe would turn out to be just the passive ones of inertia and impenetrability. There are no active powers, he urged, other than those of God and living beings.
	From: report of Leonhard Euler (Letters to a German Princess [1765]) by Brian Ellis - The Philosophy of Nature: new essentialism Ch.4
	A reaction: Very significant, I think, for revealing the religious framework behind early theories of natural laws. If there is nothing external to impose powers and movements on nature, the source must be sought within - hence essentialism.

27. Natural Reality / D. Time / 1. Nature of Time / i. Denying time

19381	The past has ceased to exist, and the future does not yet exist, so time does not exist [William of Ockham]
	Full Idea: Time is composed of non-entities, because it is composed of the past which does not exist now, although it did exist, and of the future, which does not yet exist; therefore time does not exist.
	From: William of Ockham (works [1335], 6:496), quoted by Richard T.W. Arthur - Leibniz 7 'Nominalist'
	A reaction: I've a lot of sympathy with this! I favour Presentism, so the past is gone and the future is yet to arrive. But we have no coherent concept of a present moment of any duration to contain reality. We are just completely bogglificated by it all.

28. God / A. Divine Nature / 6. Divine Morality / d. God decrees morality

8010	William of Ockham is the main spokesman for God's commands being the source of morality [William of Ockham]
	Full Idea: The most notable philosopher who makes God's commandment the basis of goodness, rather than God's goodness a reason for obeying him, is William of Occam.
	From: William of Ockham (works [1335]), quoted by Alasdair MacIntyre - A Short History of Ethics Ch.9
	A reaction: Either view has problems. Why choose God to obey? Obey anyone who is powerful? But how do you decide that God is good? How do we know the nature of God's commands, or the nature of God's goodness? Etc.

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

16679	Even an angel must have some location [William of Ockham, by Pasnau]
	Full Idea: Ockham dismisses the possibility of non-location out of hand, remarking that even an angel has some location.
	From: report of William of Ockham (works [1335]) by Robert Pasnau - Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671 14.4