49 ideas
2653 | If the parts of the universe are subject to the law of nature, the whole universe must also be subject to it [Cicero] |
20146 | 'Luck' is the unpredictable and inexplicable intersection of causal chains [Kekes] |
2628 | Why would mind mix with matter if it didn't need it? [Cicero] |
20814 | Eloquence educates, exhorts, comforts, distracts and unites us, and raises us from savagery [Cicero] |
20169 | An action may be intended under one description, but not under another [Kekes] |
20149 | To control our actions better, make them result from our attitudes, not from circumstances [Kekes] |
19738 | Values are an attempt to achieve well-being by bringing contingencies under control [Kekes] |
20145 | Values help us to control life, by connecting it to what is stable and manageable [Kekes] |
20170 | Responsibility is unprovoked foreseeable harm, against society, arising from vicious character [Kekes] |
20165 | Reason and morality do not coincide; immorality can be reasonable, with an ideology [Kekes] |
20171 | Practical reason is not universal and impersonal, because it depends on what success is [Kekes] |
20175 | If morality has to be rational, then moral conflicts need us to be irrational and immoral [Kekes] |
20174 | Relativists say all values are relative; pluralists concede much of that, but not 'human' values [Kekes] |
20156 | We are bound to regret some values we never aspired to [Kekes] |
20150 | There are far more values than we can pursue, so they are optional possibilities [Kekes] |
20158 | Innumerable values arise for us, from our humanity, our culture, and our individuality [Kekes] |
20159 | Cultural values are interpretations of humanity, conduct, institutions, and evaluations [Kekes] |
20161 | The big value problems are evil (humanity), disenchantment (cultures), and boredom (individuals) [Kekes] |
20151 | Our attitudes include what possibilities we value, and also what is allowable, and unthinkable [Kekes] |
20152 | Unconditional commitments are our most basic convictions, saying what must never be done [Kekes] |
20153 | Doing the unthinkable damages ourselves, so it is more basic than any value [Kekes] |
20162 | Evil isn't explained by nature, by monsters, by uncharacteristic actions, or by society [Kekes] |
20154 | Control is the key to well-being [Kekes] |
20157 | Well-being needs correct attitudes and well-ordered commitments to local values [Kekes] |
20172 | Boredom destroys our ability to evaluate [Kekes] |
20173 | Boredom is apathy and restlessness, yearning for something interesting [Kekes] |
20155 | Society is alienating if it lacks our values, and its values repel us [Kekes] |
20164 | The ideal of an ideology is embodied in a text, a role model, a law of history, a dream of the past... [Kekes] |
20163 | Ideologies have beliefs about reality, ideals, a gap with actuality, and a program [Kekes] |
20148 | Equal distribution is no good in a shortage, because there might be no one satisfied [Kekes] |
2640 | We have the death penalty, but still have thousands of robbers [Cicero] |
2652 | Some regard nature simply as an irrational force that imparts movement [Cicero] |
1748 | Archelaus was the first person to say that the universe is boundless [Archelaus, by Diog. Laertius] |
5989 | Archelaus said life began in a primeval slime [Archelaus, by Schofield] |
2645 | Why shouldn't the gods fear their own destruction? [Cicero] |
2627 | I wonder whether loss of reverence for the gods would mean the end of all virtue [Cicero] |
2651 | God doesn't obey the laws of nature; they are subject to the law of God [Cicero] |
2634 | It seems clear to me that we have an innate idea of the divine [Cicero] |
2636 | Many primitive people know nothing of the gods [Cicero] |
2655 | If the barbarians of Britain saw a complex machine, they would be baffled, but would know it was designed [Cicero] |
2656 | Chance is no more likely to create the world than spilling lots of letters is likely to create a famous poem [Cicero] |
2650 | If a person cannot feel the power of God when looking at the stars, they are probably incapable of feeling [Cicero] |
2647 | It is obvious from order that someone is in charge, as when we visit a gymnasium [Cicero] |
2657 | If everything with regular movement and order is divine, then recurrent illnesses must be divine [Cicero] |
2638 | Either the gods are identical, or one is more beautiful than another [Cicero] |
2635 | The gods are happy, so virtuous, so rational, so must have human shape [Cicero] |
2641 | Why believe in gods if you have never seen them? [Cicero] |
2659 | The lists of good men who have suffered and bad men who have prospered are endless [Cicero] |
2658 | The gods blame men for having vices, but they could have given us enough reason to avoid them [Cicero] |