98 ideas
19693 | There is practical wisdom (for action), and theoretical wisdom (for deep understanding) [Aristotle, by Whitcomb] |
15447 | We shouldn't always follow where the argument leads! [Lewis on Plato] |
243 | It is foolish to quarrel with the mind's own reasoning processes [Plato] |
1575 | For Aristotle logos is essentially the ability to talk rationally about questions of value [Roochnik on Aristotle] |
1589 | Aristotle is the supreme optimist about the ability of logos to explain nature [Roochnik on Aristotle] |
241 | We ought to follow where the argument leads us [Plato] |
21264 | Mortals are incapable of being fully rational [Plato] |
8200 | Aristotelian definitions aim to give the essential properties of the thing defined [Aristotle, by Quine] |
4385 | Aristotelian definition involves first stating the genus, then the differentia of the thing [Aristotle, by Urmson] |
251 | Truth has the supreme value, for both gods and men [Plato] |
13282 | Aristotle relativises the notion of wholeness to different measures [Aristotle, by Koslicki] |
4730 | For Aristotle, the subject-predicate structure of Greek reflected a substance-accident structure of reality [Aristotle, by O'Grady] |
13276 | The unmoved mover and the soul show Aristotelian form as the ultimate mereological atom [Aristotle, by Koslicki] |
13277 | The 'form' is the recipe for building wholes of a particular kind [Aristotle, by Koslicki] |
21259 | To grasp a thing we need its name, its definition, and what it really is [Plato] |
5991 | For Aristotle, knowledge is of causes, and is theoretical, practical or productive [Aristotle, by Code] |
11239 | The notion of a priori truth is absent in Aristotle [Aristotle, by Politis] |
23312 | Aristotle is a rationalist, but reason is slowly acquired through perception and experience [Aristotle, by Frede,M] |
16111 | Aristotle wants to fit common intuitions, and therefore uses language as a guide [Aristotle, by Gill,ML] |
17405 | If a theory can be fudged, so can observations [Scerri] |
16971 | Plato says sciences are unified around Forms; Aristotle says they're unified around substance [Aristotle, by Moravcsik] |
17397 | The periodic system is the big counterexample to Kuhn's theory of revolutionary science [Scerri] |
11243 | Aristotelian explanations are facts, while modern explanations depend on human conceptions [Aristotle, by Politis] |
17393 | Scientists eventually seek underlying explanations for every pattern [Scerri] |
3320 | Aristotle's standard analysis of species and genus involves specifying things in terms of something more general [Aristotle, by Benardete,JA] |
12000 | Aristotle regularly says that essential properties explain other significant properties [Aristotle, by Kung] |
17403 | The periodic table suggests accommodation to facts rates above prediction [Scerri] |
21260 | Soul is what is defined by 'self-generating motion' [Plato] |
276 | My individuality is my soul, which carries my body around [Plato] |
23300 | Aristotle and the Stoics denied rationality to animals, while Platonists affirmed it [Aristotle, by Sorabji] |
11240 | The notion of analytic truth is absent in Aristotle [Aristotle, by Politis] |
249 | People who value beauty above virtue insult the soul by placing the body above it [Plato] |
6559 | Aristotle never actually says that man is a rational animal [Aristotle, by Fogelin] |
265 | An action is only just if it is performed by someone with a just character and outlook [Plato] |
269 | Attempted murder is like real murder, but we should respect the luck which avoided total ruin [Plato] |
240 | It would be strange if the gods rewarded those who experienced the most pleasure in life [Plato] |
264 | The conquest of pleasure is the noblest victory of all [Plato] |
4332 | Virtue is a concord of reason and emotion, with pleasure and pain trained to correct ends [Plato] |
248 | A serious desire for moral excellence is very rare indeed [Plato] |
253 | Every crime is the result of excessive self-love [Plato] |
263 | The only worthwhile life is one devoted to physical and moral perfection [Plato] |
235 | Virtue is the aim of all laws [Plato] |
277 | The Guardians must aim to discover the common element in the four cardinal virtues [Plato] |
254 | Excessive laughter and tears must be avoided [Plato] |
266 | Injustice is the mastery of the soul by bad feelings, even if they do not lead to harm [Plato] |
242 | The best people are produced where there is no excess of wealth or poverty [Plato] |
256 | Virtue and great wealth are incompatible [Plato] |
245 | Totalitarian states destroy friendships and community spirit [Plato] |
239 | Education in virtue produces citizens who are active but obedient [Plato] |
1402 | Friendship is impossible between master and slave, even if they are made equal [Plato] |
262 | Men and women should qualify equally for honours on merit [Plato] |
236 | Sound laws achieve the happiness of those who observe them [Plato] |
259 | Justice is granting the equality which unequals deserve [Plato] |
11150 | It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain an idea without accepting it [Aristotle] |
238 | Children's games should channel their pleasures into adult activity [Plato] |
260 | Control of education is the key office of state, and should go to the best citizen [Plato] |
3037 | Aristotle said the educated were superior to the uneducated as the living are to the dead [Aristotle, by Diog. Laertius] |
257 | Mathematics has the widest application of any subject on the curriculum [Plato] |
4331 | Education is channelling a child's feelings into the right course before it understands why [Plato] |
250 | The best way to educate the young is not to rebuke them, but to set a good example [Plato] |
275 | Creation is not for you; you exist for the sake of creation [Plato] |
8660 | There are potential infinities (never running out), but actual infinity is incoherent [Aristotle, by Friend] |
12058 | Aristotle's matter can become any other kind of matter [Aristotle, by Wiggins] |
17394 | Natural kinds are what are differentiated by nature, and not just by us [Scerri] |
17421 | If elements are natural kinds, might the groups of the periodic table also be natural kinds? [Scerri] |
17396 | The colour of gold is best explained by relativistic effects due to fast-moving inner-shell electrons [Scerri] |
17420 | The stability of nuclei can be estimated through their binding energy [Scerri] |
17411 | If all elements are multiples of one (of hydrogen), that suggests once again that matter is unified [Scerri] |
273 | Movement is transmitted through everything, and it must have started with self-generated motion [Plato] |
17407 | The electron is the main source of chemical properties [Scerri] |
17415 | A big chemistry idea is that covalent bonds are shared electrons, not transfer of electrons [Scerri] |
17409 | Does radioactivity show that only physics can explain chemistry? [Scerri] |
17392 | How can poisonous elements survive in the nutritious compound they compose? [Scerri] |
17391 | Periodicity and bonding are the two big ideas in chemistry [Scerri] |
17404 | Chemistry does not work from general principles, but by careful induction from large amounts of data [Scerri] |
17418 | It is now thought that all the elements have literally evolved from hydrogen [Scerri] |
17398 | 19th C views said elements survived abstractly in compounds, but also as 'material ingredients' [Scerri] |
17406 | Moseley, using X-rays, showed that atomic number ordered better than atomic weight [Scerri] |
17408 | Some suggested basing the new periodic table on isotopes, not elements [Scerri] |
17412 | Elements are placed in the table by the number of positive charges - the atomic number [Scerri] |
17413 | Elements in the table are grouped by having the same number of outer-shell electrons [Scerri] |
17416 | Orthodoxy says the periodic table is explained by quantum mechanics [Scerri] |
17414 | Pauli explained the electron shells, but not the lengths of the periods in the table [Scerri] |
17410 | Moseley showed the elements progress in units, and thereby clearly identified the gaps [Scerri] |
17419 | Since 99.96% of the universe is hydrogen and helium, the periodic table hardly matters [Scerri] |
17395 | Elements were ordered by equivalent weight; later by atomic weight; finally by atomic number [Scerri] |
17422 | The best classification needs the deepest and most general principles of the atoms [Scerri] |
17417 | To explain the table, quantum mechanics still needs to explain order of shell filling [Scerri] |
8004 | In 'The Laws', to obey the law is to be obey god [Plato, by MacIntyre] |
21261 | Self-moving soul has to be the oldest thing there is [Plato] |
21257 | Self-generating motion is clearly superior to all other kinds of motion [Plato] |
21258 | The only possible beginning for the endless motions of reality is something self-generated [Plato] |
274 | Soul must be the cause of all the opposites, such as good and evil or beauty and ugliness [Plato] |
21263 | If all the motions of nature reflect calculations of reason, then the best kind of soul must direct it [Plato] |
278 | If astronomical movements are seen as necessary instead of by divine will, this leads to atheism [Plato] |
21265 | The heavens must be full of gods, controlling nature either externally or from within [Plato] |
22729 | The concepts of gods arose from observing the soul, and the cosmos [Aristotle, by Sext.Empiricus] |
21262 | There must be at least two souls controlling the cosmos, one doing good, the other the opposite [Plato] |