3 ideas
22591 | We know perfection when we see what is imperfect [Murdoch] |
Full Idea: We know of perfection as we look upon what is imperfect. | |
From: Iris Murdoch (Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals [1992], 13) | |
A reaction: This is in the context of a discussion of the ontological argument for God's existence, but I seize on it as a nice expression of the idealisation capacity of our minds. The alternative is that perfection is innate idea, since we aren't seeing it. |
19216 | Propositions (such as 'that dog is barking') only exist if their items exist [Williamson] |
Full Idea: A proposition about an item exists only if that item exists... how could something be the proposition that that dog is barking in circumstances in which that dog does not exist? | |
From: Timothy Williamson (Necessary Existents [2002], p.240), quoted by Trenton Merricks - Propositions | |
A reaction: This is a view of propositions I can't make sense of. If I'm under an illusion that there is a dog barking nearby, when there isn't one, can I not say 'that dog is barking'? If I haven't expressed a proposition, what have I done? |
3015 | The virtue of man is thoughtful foresight of future events [Chilo, by Diog. Laertius] |
Full Idea: A foresight of future events, such as could be arrived at by consideration, is the virtue of man. | |
From: report of Chilo (poems (frags) [c.490 BCE]) by Diogenes Laertius - Lives of Eminent Philosophers 01.4.1 |