29 ideas
14052 | Begin philosophy when you are young, and keep going when you are old [Epicurus] |
12790 | Generalisations must be invariant to explain anything [Leuridan] |
12789 | Biological functions are explained by disposition, or by causal role [Leuridan] |
14388 | Mechanisms must produce macro-level regularities, but that needs micro-level regularities [Leuridan] |
14386 | Mechanisms are ontologically dependent on regularities [Leuridan] |
12787 | Mechanisms can't explain on their own, as their models rest on pragmatic regularities [Leuridan] |
14384 | We can show that regularities and pragmatic laws are more basic than mechanisms [Leuridan] |
14389 | There is nothing wrong with an infinite regress of mechanisms and regularities [Leuridan] |
14062 | Sooner follow mythology, than accept the 'fate' of natural philosophers [Epicurus] |
1837 | We should not refer things to irresponsible necessity, but either to fortune or to our own will [Epicurus] |
1836 | Prudence is more valuable than philosophy, because it avoids confusions of the soul [Epicurus] |
14061 | Our own choices are autonomous, and the basis for praise and blame [Epicurus] |
14054 | Fearing death is absurd, because we are not present when it occurs [Epicurus] |
14053 | It is absurd to fear the pain of death when you are not even facing it [Epicurus] |
14055 | The wisdom that produces a good life also produces a good death [Epicurus] |
14057 | All pleasures are good, but it is not always right to choose them [Epicurus] |
14058 | Pleasure is the goal, but as lack of pain and calm mind, not as depraved or greedy pleasure [Epicurus] |
1833 | Pleasure is the first good in life [Epicurus] |
14063 | Sooner a good decision going wrong, than a bad one turning out for the good [Epicurus] |
14059 | The best life is not sensuality, but rational choice and healthy opinion [Epicurus] |
1835 | True pleasure is not debauchery, but freedom from physical and mental pain [Epicurus] |
14056 | We only need pleasure when we have the pain of desire [Epicurus] |
14060 | Prudence is the greatest good, and more valuable than philosophy, because it produces virtue [Epicurus] |
14387 | Rather than dispositions, functions may be the element that brought a thing into existence [Leuridan] |
1748 | Archelaus was the first person to say that the universe is boundless [Archelaus, by Diog. Laertius] |
14382 | Pragmatic laws allow prediction and explanation, to the extent that reality is stable [Leuridan] |
14385 | Strict regularities are rarely discovered in life sciences [Leuridan] |
14383 | A 'law of nature' is just a regularity, not some entity that causes the regularity [Leuridan] |
5989 | Archelaus said life began in a primeval slime [Archelaus, by Schofield] |