Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'Reportatio', 'Oldest System Prog. of German Idealism' and 'Existence,Ontological Commitment and Fictions'

unexpand these ideas     |    start again     |     specify just one area for these texts

---

4 ideas

2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 1. On Reason

7083	Highest reason is aesthetic, and truth and good are subordinate to beauty [Hegel]
	Full Idea: I am now convinced that the highest act of reason, which embraces all ideas, is an aesthetic act, and that truth and goodness are brothers only in beauty.
	From: Georg W.F.Hegel (Oldest System Prog. of German Idealism [1796]), quoted by Simon Critchley - Continental Philosophy - V. Short Intro Append
	A reaction: This seems to be the distinctive value framework of the romantic movement and the nineteenth century, where art is destined to replace religion. However, Plato in the Symposium is an interesting ally. Aim for beauty, and the rest follows?

4. Formal Logic / F. Set Theory ST / 8. Critique of Set Theory

8972	What in the real world could ground the distinction between the sets {A,{A,B}} and {B,{A,B}}? [Inwagen]
	Full Idea: Nothing in the world of nominalistically acceptable things could ground or explain the non-identity of the set {A,{A,B}} with the set {B,{A,B}}.
	From: Peter van Inwagen (Existence,Ontological Commitment and Fictions [2003], p.154)
	A reaction: [He cites Goodman for this thought] Van Inwagen is offering this to show that the existence of sets is abstract, whereas Goodman was denying the existence of sets altogether. I'm with Goodman. Nice example.

28. God / A. Divine Nature / 3. Divine Perfections

9111	God is not wise, but more-than-wise; God is not good, but more-than-good [William of Ockham]
	Full Idea: God is not wise, but more-than-wise; God is not good, but more-than-good.
	From: William of Ockham (Reportatio [1330], III Q viii)
	A reaction: [He is quoting 'Damascene'] I quote this for interest, but I very much doubt whether Damascene or William knew what it meant, and I certainly don't. There seems to have been a politically correct desire to invent super-powers for God.

28. God / C. Attitudes to God / 4. God Reflects Humanity

9112	We could never form a concept of God's wisdom if we couldn't abstract it from creatures [William of Ockham]
	Full Idea: What we abstract is said to belong to perfection in so far as it can be predicated of God and can stand for Him. For if such a concept could not be abstracted from a creature, then in this life we could not arrive at a cognition of God's wisdom.
	From: William of Ockham (Reportatio [1330], III Q viii)
	A reaction: This seems to be the germ of an important argument. Without the ability to abstract from what is experienced, we would not be able to apply general concepts to things which are beyond experience. It is a key idea for empiricism.