Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'What is Good?', 'Explanation - Opening Address' and 'Aristotle on Essence and Explanation'

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23 ideas

1. Philosophy / C. History of Philosophy / 3. Earlier European Philosophy / c. Later medieval philosophy
7823 Lucretius was rediscovered in 1417 [Grayling]
2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 6. Coherence
17070 Coherence is consilience, simplicity, analogy, and fitting into a web of belief [Smart]
17072 We need comprehensiveness, as well as self-coherence [Smart]
9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 7. Essence and Necessity / b. Essence not necessities
11993 Jones may cease to exist without some simple property, but that doesn't make it essential [Kung]
9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 7. Essence and Necessity / c. Essentials are necessary
11997 A property may belong essentially to one thing and contingently to another [Kung]
9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 8. Essence as Explanatory
11992 Aristotelian essences underlie a thing's existence, explain it, and must belong to it [Kung]
13. Knowledge Criteria / B. Internal Justification / 3. Evidentialism / a. Evidence
17073 I simply reject evidence, if it is totally contrary to my web of belief [Smart]
14. Science / D. Explanation / 1. Explanation / c. Direction of explanation
17077 The height of a flagpole could be fixed by its angle of shadow, but that would be very unusual [Smart]
17078 Universe expansion explains the red shift, but not vice versa [Smart]
14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / c. Explanations by coherence
17061 Explanation of a fact is fitting it into a system of beliefs [Smart]
17074 Explanations are bad by fitting badly with a web of beliefs, or fitting well into a bad web [Smart]
17076 Deducing from laws is one possible way to achieve a coherent explanation [Smart]
14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / d. Consilience
17071 An explanation is better if it also explains phenomena from a different field [Smart]
14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / g. Causal explanations
17062 If scientific explanation is causal, that rules out mathematical explanation [Smart]
14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / j. Explanations by reduction
17075 Scientific explanation tends to reduce things to the unfamiliar (not the familiar) [Smart]
14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / k. Explanations by essence
11995 Some peripheral properties are explained by essential ones, but don't themselves explain properties [Kung]
11996 Some non-essential properties may explain more than essential-but-peripheral ones do [Kung]
23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 3. Virtues / e. Honour
7809 In an honour code shame is the supreme punishment, and revenge is a duty [Grayling]
25. Social Practice / F. Life Issues / 4. Suicide
7824 If suicide is lawful, but assisting suicide is unlawful, powerless people are denied their rights [Grayling]
27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 1. Relativity / b. General relativity
17063 Unlike Newton, Einstein's general theory explains the perihelion of Mercury [Smart]
29. Religion / D. Religious Issues / 1. Religious Commitment / a. Religious Belief
7819 Religion gives answers, comforts, creates social order, and panders to superstition [Grayling]
29. Religion / D. Religious Issues / 2. Immortality / a. Immortality
7817 To make an afterlife appealing, this life has to be denigrated [Grayling]
7818 In Greek mythology only heroes can go to heaven [Grayling]