37 ideas
7823 | Lucretius was rediscovered in 1417 [Grayling] |
9136 | The paradox of analysis says that any conceptual analysis must be either trivial or false [Sorensen] |
9131 | Two long understandable sentences can have an unintelligible conjunction [Sorensen] |
9139 | If nothing exists, no truthmakers could make 'Nothing exists' true [Sorensen] |
9140 | Which toothbrush is the truthmaker for 'buy one, get one free'? [Sorensen] |
9119 | No attempt to deny bivalence has ever been accepted [Sorensen] |
9135 | We now see that generalizations use variables rather than abstract entities [Sorensen] |
9125 | Denying problems, or being romantically defeated by them, won't make them go away [Sorensen] |
9137 | Banning self-reference would outlaw 'This very sentence is in English' [Sorensen] |
9116 | Vague words have hidden boundaries [Sorensen] |
9132 | An offer of 'free coffee or juice' could slowly shift from exclusive 'or' to inclusive 'or' [Sorensen] |
9128 | It is propositional attitudes which can be a priori, not the propositions themselves [Sorensen] |
9130 | Attributing apriority to a proposition is attributing a cognitive ability to someone [Sorensen] |
9118 | The colour bands of the spectrum arise from our biology; they do not exist in the physics [Sorensen] |
9124 | We are unable to perceive a nose (on the back of a mask) as concave [Sorensen] |
9126 | Bayesians build near-certainty from lots of reasonably probable beliefs [Sorensen] |
9121 | Illusions are not a reason for skepticism, but a source of interesting scientific information [Sorensen] |
20429 | Most of us are too close to our own motives to understand them [Fry] |
9134 | The negation of a meaningful sentence must itself be meaningful [Sorensen] |
9133 | Propositions are what settle problems of ambiguity in sentences [Sorensen] |
20424 | Imaginative life requires no action, so new kinds of perception and values emerge in art [Fry] |
20427 | Everyone reveals an aesthetic attitude, looking at something which only exists to be seen [Fry] |
20433 | 'Beauty' can either mean sensuous charm, or the aesthetic approval of art (which may be ugly) [Fry] |
20430 | In life we neglect 'cosmic emotion', but it matters, and art brings it to the fore [Fry] |
20431 | Art needs a mixture of order and variety in its sensations [Fry] |
20423 | If graphic arts only aim at imitation, their works are only trivial ingenious toys [Fry] |
20428 | Popular opinion favours realism, yet most people never look closely at anything! [Fry] |
20432 | When viewing art, rather than flowers, we are aware of purpose, and sympathy with its creator [Fry] |
20425 | In the cinema the emotions are weaker, but much clearer than in ordinary life [Fry] |
20426 | For pure moralists art must promote right action, and not just be harmless [Fry] |
7809 | In an honour code shame is the supreme punishment, and revenge is a duty [Grayling] |
9129 | I can buy any litre of water, but not every litre of water [Sorensen] |
7824 | If suicide is lawful, but assisting suicide is unlawful, powerless people are denied their rights [Grayling] |
9122 | God cannot experience unwanted pain, so God cannot understand human beings [Sorensen] |
7819 | Religion gives answers, comforts, creates social order, and panders to superstition [Grayling] |
7817 | To make an afterlife appealing, this life has to be denigrated [Grayling] |
7818 | In Greek mythology only heroes can go to heaven [Grayling] |