360 ideas
| 78 | Wisdom is scientific and intuitive knowledge of what is by nature most precious [Aristotle] |
| 5248 | Wisdom does not study happiness, because it is not concerned with processes [Aristotle] |
| 19693 | There is practical wisdom (for action), and theoretical wisdom (for deep understanding) [Aristotle, by Whitcomb] |
| 2682 | Aristotle thinks human life is not important enough to spend a whole life on it [Nagel on Aristotle] |
| 103 | Wise people can contemplate alone, though co-operation helps [Aristotle] |
| 112 | Most people are readier to submit to compulsion than to argument [Aristotle] |
| 12997 | Analysis is the art of finding the middle term [Leibniz] |
| 22 | Trained minds never expect more precision than is possible [Aristotle] |
| 76 | The object of scientific knowledge is what is necessary [Aristotle] |
| 13009 | A reason is a known truth which leads to assent to some further truth [Leibniz] |
| 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] |
| 12963 | Opposing reason is opposing truth, since reason is a chain of truths [Leibniz] |
| 19360 | General principles, even if unconscious, are indispensable for thinking [Leibniz] |
| 4333 | Contraries are by definition as far distant as possible from one another [Aristotle] |
| 12983 | A nominal definition is of the qualities, but the real definition is of the essential inner structure [Leibniz] |
| 8200 | Aristotelian definitions aim to give the essential properties of the thing defined [Aristotle, by Quine] |
| 12982 | One essence can be expressed by several definitions [Leibniz] |
| 12976 | If our ideas of a thing are imperfect, the thing can have several unconnected definitions [Leibniz] |
| 12984 | Real definitions, unlike nominal definitions, display possibilities [Leibniz] |
| 4385 | Aristotelian definition involves first stating the genus, then the differentia of the thing [Aristotle, by Urmson] |
| 12980 | Genus and differentia might be swapped, and 'rational animal' become 'animable rational' [Leibniz] |
| 21356 | Piety requires us to honour truth above our friends [Aristotle] |
| 35 | A statement is true if all the data are in harmony with it [Aristotle] |
| 13000 | Truth is correspondence between mental propositions and what they are about [Leibniz] |
| 13282 | Aristotle relativises the notion of wholeness to different measures [Aristotle, by Koslicki] |
| 12992 | Logic teaches us how to order and connect our thoughts [Leibniz] |
| 10056 | At bottom eternal truths are all conditional [Leibniz] |
| 4730 | For Aristotle, the subject-predicate structure of Greek reflected a substance-accident structure of reality [Aristotle, by O'Grady] |
| 12974 | People who can't apply names usually don't understand the thing to which it applies [Leibniz] |
| 13002 | It is always good to reduce the number of axioms [Leibniz] |
| 13008 | Geometry, unlike sensation, lets us glimpse eternal truths and their necessity [Leibniz] |
| 12956 | Only whole numbers are multitudes of units [Leibniz] |
| 12937 | We shouldn't just accept Euclid's axioms, but try to demonstrate them [Leibniz] |
| 12932 | The idea of being must come from our own existence [Leibniz] |
| 12966 | Objects of ideas can be divided into abstract and concrete, and then further subdivided [Leibniz] |
| 12993 | Have five categories - substance, quantity, quality, action/passion, relation - and their combinations [Leibniz] |
| 12989 | Our true divisions of nature match reality, but are probably incomplete [Leibniz] |
| 12959 | We discern active power from our minds, so mind must be involved in all active powers [Leibniz] |
| 12967 | I use the word 'entelechy' for a power, to include endeavour, as well as mere aptitude [Leibniz] |
| 12965 | All occurrence in the depth of a substance is spontaneous 'action' [Leibniz] |
| 12999 | Substances are primary powers; their ways of being are the derivative powers [Leibniz] |
| 5056 | Material or immaterial substances cannot be conceived without their essential activity [Leibniz] |
| 12969 | The active powers which are not essential to the substance are the 'real qualities' [Leibniz] |
| 12941 | There cannot be power without action; the power is a disposition to act [Leibniz] |
| 27 | Eternal white is no whiter than temporary white, and it is the same with goodness [Aristotle] |
| 5130 | It is meaningless to speak of 'man-himself', because it has the same definition as plain 'man' [Aristotle] |
| 28 | How will a vision of pure goodness make someone a better doctor? [Aristotle] |
| 12990 | Real (non-logical) abstract terms are either essences or accidents [Leibniz] |
| 12939 | Wholly uniform things like space and numbers are mere abstractions [Leibniz] |
| 12979 | The only way we can determine individuals is by keeping hold of them [Leibniz] |
| 12971 | If two individuals could be indistinguishable, there could be no principle of individuation [Leibniz] |
| 13098 | We use things to distinguish places and times, not vice versa [Leibniz] |
| 13075 | No two things are quite the same, so there must be an internal principle of distinction [Leibniz] |
| 12953 | Fluidity is basic, and we divide into bodies according to our needs [Leibniz] |
| 12943 | Individuality is in the bond substance gives between past and future [Leibniz] |
| 11855 | Substances cannot be bare, but have activity as their essence [Leibniz] |
| 12970 | We can imagine two bodies interpenetrating, as two rays of light seem to [Leibniz] |
| 12986 | The essence of baldness is vague and imperfect [Leibniz] |
| 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] |
| 12968 | A 'substratum' is just a metaphor for whatever supports several predicates [Leibniz] |
| 12931 | Particular truths are just instances of general truths [Leibniz] |
| 12811 | We can't know individuals, or determine their exact individuality [Leibniz] |
| 12981 | Essence is just the possibility of a thing [Leibniz] |
| 5057 | If you fully understand a subject and its qualities, you see how the second derive from the first [Leibniz] |
| 12987 | For some sorts, a member of it is necessarily a member [Leibniz] |
| 12884 | The same whole ceases to exist if a part is lost [Leibniz] |
| 12975 | We have a distinct idea of gold, to define it, but not a perfect idea, to understand it [Leibniz] |
| 12805 | If two people apply a single term to different resemblances, they refer to two different things [Leibniz] |
| 12806 | Locke needs many instances to show a natural kind, but why not a single instance? [Leibniz, by Jolley] |
| 12972 | Bodies, like Theseus's ship, are only the same in appearance, and never strictly the same [Leibniz] |
| 5055 | No two things are totally identical [Leibniz] |
| 12978 | A perfect idea of an object shows that the object is possible [Leibniz] |
| 17079 | Proofs of necessity come from the understanding, where they have their source [Leibniz] |
| 5991 | For Aristotle, knowledge is of causes, and is theoretical, practical or productive [Aristotle, by Code] |
| 12960 | We understand things when they are distinct, and we can derive necessities from them [Leibniz] |
| 12998 | Understanding grasps the agreements and disagreements of ideas [Leibniz] |
| 4391 | Opinion is praised for being in accordance with truth [Aristotle] |
| 13006 | Certainty is where practical doubt is insane, or at least blameworthy [Leibniz] |
| 2573 | To perceive or think is to be conscious of our existence [Aristotle] |
| 12996 | I know more than I think, since I know I think A then B then C [Leibniz] |
| 13003 | The Cogito doesn't prove existence, because 'I am thinking' already includes 'I am' [Leibniz] |
| 11239 | The notion of a priori truth is absent in Aristotle [Aristotle, by Politis] |
| 21253 | Descartes needs to demonstrate how other people can attain his clear and distinct conceptions [Leibniz] |
| 12933 | Arithmetic and geometry are implicitly innate, awaiting revelation [Leibniz] |
| 12991 | Children learn language fast, with little instruction and few definitions [Leibniz] |
| 12929 | All of our thoughts come from within the soul, and not from the senses [Leibniz] |
| 12940 | What is left of the 'blank page' if you remove the ideas? [Leibniz] |
| 19358 | Colour and pain must express the nature of their stimuli, without exact resemblance [Leibniz] |
| 12948 | A pain doesn't resemble the movement of a pin, but it resembles the bodily movement pins cause [Leibniz] |
| 5220 | Particular facts (such as 'is it cooked?') are matters of sense-perception, not deliberation [Aristotle] |
| 13005 | Truth arises among sensations from grounding reasons and from regularities [Leibniz] |
| 23312 | Aristotle is a rationalist, but reason is slowly acquired through perception and experience [Aristotle, by Frede,M] |
| 4302 | You may experience a universal truth, but only reason can tell you that it is always true [Leibniz] |
| 12947 | We only believe in sensible things when reason helps the senses [Leibniz] |
| 12930 | The senses are confused, and necessities come from distinct intellectual ideas [Leibniz] |
| 13001 | Our sensation of green is a confused idea, like objects blurred by movement [Leibniz] |
| 22141 | It is enough if we refute the objections and leave common opinions undisturbed [Aristotle] |
| 95 | If everyone believes it, it is true [Aristotle] |
| 79 | Intuition grasps the definitions that can't be proved [Aristotle] |
| 16111 | Aristotle wants to fit common intuitions, and therefore uses language as a guide [Aristotle, by Gill,ML] |
| 12949 | Light takes time to reach us, so objects we see may now not exist [Leibniz] |
| 16971 | Plato says sciences are unified around Forms; Aristotle says they're unified around substance [Aristotle, by Moravcsik] |
| 5053 | The instances confirming a general truth are never enough to establish its necessity [Leibniz] |
| 11243 | Aristotelian explanations are facts, while modern explanations depend on human conceptions [Aristotle, by Politis] |
| 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] |
| 12977 | We will only connect our various definitions of gold when we understand it more deeply [Leibniz] |
| 5146 | Everything that receives nourishment has a vegetative soul, with it own distinctive excellence [Aristotle] |
| 5147 | In a controlled person the receptive part of the soul is obedient, and it is in harmony in the virtuous [Aristotle] |
| 5148 | The irrational psuché is persuadable by reason - shown by our criticism and encouragement of people [Aristotle] |
| 5232 | If beings are dominated by appetite, this can increase so much that it drives out reason [Aristotle] |
| 5145 | The rational and irrational parts of the soul are either truly separate, or merely described that way [Aristotle] |
| 5054 | Animal thought is a shadow of reasoning, connecting sequences of images by imagination [Leibniz] |
| 12944 | It is a serious mistake to think that we are aware of all of our perceptions [Leibniz] |
| 12951 | Abstraction attends to the general, not the particular, and involves universal truths [Leibniz] |
| 19364 | Volition automatically endeavours to move towards what it sees as good (and away from bad) [Leibniz] |
| 12942 | Memory doesn't make identity; a man who relearned everything would still be the same man [Leibniz] |
| 12973 | We know our own identity by psychological continuity, even if there are some gaps [Leibniz] |
| 5266 | It would seem that the thinking part is the individual self [Aristotle] |
| 8007 | Aristotle never discusses free will [Aristotle, by MacIntyre] |
| 12961 | For an action to be 'free', it must be deliberate as well as unconstrained [Aristotle, by Leibniz] |
| 4118 | A human being fathers his own actions as he fathers his children [Aristotle] |
| 20192 | Aristotle assesses whether people are responsible, and if they are it was voluntary [Aristotle, by Zagzebski] |
| 19368 | The will determines action, by what is seen as good, but it does not necessitate it [Leibniz] |
| 4405 | The attainment of truth is the task of the intellectual part of the soul [Aristotle] |
| 12935 | Every feeling is the perception of a truth [Leibniz] |
| 5160 | There is a mean of feelings, as in our responses to the good or bad fortune of others [Aristotle] |
| 4326 | Aristotle gives a superior account of rationality, because he allows emotions to participate [Hursthouse on Aristotle] |
| 72 | Assume our reason is in two parts, one for permanent first principles, and one for variable things [Aristotle] |
| 23300 | Aristotle and the Stoics denied rationality to animals, while Platonists affirmed it [Aristotle, by Sorabji] |
| 12938 | An idea is an independent inner object, which expresses the qualities of things [Leibniz] |
| 12950 | We must distinguish images from exact defined ideas [Leibniz] |
| 12945 | Thoughts correspond to sensations, but ideas are independent of thoughts [Leibniz] |
| 19357 | The idea of green seems simple, but it must be compounded of the ideas of blue and yellow [Leibniz] |
| 12995 | The name 'gold' means what we know of gold, and also further facts about it which only others know [Leibniz] |
| 12807 | The word 'gold' means a hidden constitution known to experts, and not just its appearances [Leibniz] |
| 11240 | The notion of analytic truth is absent in Aristotle [Aristotle, by Politis] |
| 4380 | Not all actions aim at some good; akratic actions, for example, do not [Burnyeat on Aristotle] |
| 23320 | Choice is not explained by the will, but by the operation of reason when it judges what is good [Aristotle, by Frede,M] |
| 12946 | The idea of the will includes the understanding [Leibniz] |
| 5211 | An action is voluntary if the limb movements originate in the agent [Aristotle] |
| 5221 | Deliberation ends when the starting-point of an action is traced back to the dominant part of the self [Aristotle] |
| 4383 | Aristotle seems not to explain why the better syllogism is overcome in akratic actions [Burnyeat on Aristotle] |
| 68 | The akrates acts from desire not choice, and the enkrates acts from choice not desire [Aristotle] |
| 4318 | Virtue is right reason and feeling and action. Akrasia and enkrateia are lower levels of action. [Aristotle, by Cottingham] |
| 4372 | Akrasia merely neglects or misunderstands knowledge, rather than opposing it [Achtenberg on Aristotle] |
| 5254 | Some people explain akrasia by saying only opinion is present, not knowledge [Aristotle] |
| 5255 | A person may act against one part of his knowledge, if he knows both universal and particular [Aristotle] |
| 23317 | Aristotle sees akrasia as acting against what is chosen, not against reason [Aristotle, by Frede,M] |
| 23318 | Akrasia is explained by past mental failures, not by a specific choice [Aristotle, by Frede,M] |
| 5257 | Licentious people feel no regret, but weak-willed people are capable of repentance [Aristotle] |
| 69 | We deliberate about means, not ends [Aristotle] |
| 5247 | Prudence is mainly concerned with particulars, which is the sphere of human conduct [Aristotle] |
| 80 | Virtue ensures that we have correct aims, and prudence that we have correct means of achieving them [Aristotle] |
| 5249 | One cannot be prudent without being good [Aristotle] |
| 82 | The one virtue of prudence carries with it the possession of all the other virtues [Aristotle] |
| 20212 | Practical reason is truth-attaining, and focused on actions good for human beings [Aristotle] |
| 4371 | Seeing particulars as parts of larger wholes is to perceive their value [Achtenberg on Aristotle] |
| 73 | Practical intellect serves to arrive at the truth which corresponds to right appetite [Aristotle] |
| 67 | Bad people are just ignorant of what they ought to do [Aristotle] |
| 5218 | Some people are good at forming opinions, but bad at making moral choices [Aristotle] |
| 81 | For Socrates virtues are principles, involving knowledge, but we say they only imply the principle of practical reason [Aristotle] |
| 5267 | Our reasoned acts are held to be voluntary and our own doing [Aristotle] |
| 5213 | If you repent of an act done through ignorance, you acted involuntarily, not non-voluntarily [Aristotle] |
| 4384 | For Aristotle responsibility seems negative, in the absence of force or ignorance [Irwin on Aristotle] |
| 5212 | A man should sooner die than do some dreadful things, no matter how cruel the death [Aristotle] |
| 12964 | If would be absurd not to disagree with someone's taste if it was a taste for poisons [Leibniz] |
| 52 | We choose things for their fineness, their advantage, or for pleasure [Aristotle] |
| 45 | We aim not to identify goodness, but to be good [Aristotle] |
| 5153 | There is no fixed art of good conduct, and each situation is different, as in navigation [Aristotle] |
| 46 | We must take for granted that we should act according to right principle [Aristotle] |
| 5134 | Perhaps we get a better account of happiness as the good for man if we know his function [Aristotle] |
| 31 | If bodily organs have functions, presumably the whole person has one [Aristotle] |
| 5231 | To eat vast amounts is unnatural, since natural desire is to replenish the deficiency [Aristotle] |
| 6559 | Aristotle never actually says that man is a rational animal [Aristotle, by Fogelin] |
| 5234 | For the great-souled man it is sometimes better to be dead [Aristotle] |
| 5075 | Aristotle said there are two levels of virtue - the conventional and the intellectual [Taylor,R on Aristotle] |
| 21 | Moral acts are so varied that they must be convention, not nature [Aristotle] |
| 4370 | For Aristotle 'good' means purpose, and value is real but relational [Achtenberg on Aristotle] |
| 18227 | We desire final things just for themselves, and not for the sake of something else [Aristotle] |
| 4381 | How can an action be intrinsically good if it is a means to 'eudaimonia'? [Ackrill on Aristotle] |
| 33 | Each named function has a distinctive excellence attached to it [Aristotle] |
| 5154 | Excess and deficiency are bad for virtue, just as they are for bodily health [Aristotle] |
| 5268 | Disreputable pleasures are only pleasant to persons with diseased perception [Aristotle] |
| 5229 | The more virtuous and happy a person is, the worse the prospect becomes of ending life [Aristotle] |
| 90 | All altruism is an extension of self-love [Aristotle] |
| 5262 | Only lovable things are loved, and they must be good, or pleasant, or useful [Aristotle] |
| 12958 | Love is pleasure in the perfection, well-being or happiness of its object [Leibniz] |
| 5263 | Most people want to be loved rather than to love, because they desire honour [Aristotle] |
| 2689 | Good people enjoy virtuous action, just as musicians enjoy beautiful melodies [Aristotle] |
| 101 | Slaves can't be happy, because they lack freedom [Aristotle] |
| 5142 | Oxen, horses and children cannot be happy, because they cannot perform fine deeds [Aristotle] |
| 5243 | The best people exercise their virtue towards others, rather than to themselves [Aristotle] |
| 92 | Self-love benefits ourselves, and also helps others [Aristotle] |
| 3559 | For Aristotle, true self-love is love of the higher parts of one's soul [Aristotle, by Annas] |
| 5128 | Each category of existence has its own good, so one Good cannot unite them [Aristotle] |
| 5129 | There should be one science of the one Good, but there are many overlapping sciences [Aristotle] |
| 20 | The good is 'that at which all things aim' [Aristotle] |
| 5131 | Intelligence and sight, and some pleasures and honours, are candidates for being good in themselves [Aristotle] |
| 5135 | Goods are external, of the soul, and of the body; those of the soul (such as action) come first [Aristotle] |
| 12957 | The good is the virtuous, the pleasing, or the useful [Leibniz] |
| 5269 | Pleasure is not the Good, and not every pleasure is desirable [Aristotle] |
| 23 | The masses believe, not unreasonably, that the good is pleasure [Aristotle] |
| 109 | Clearly perfect conduct will involve both good intention and good action [Aristotle] |
| 26 | Wealth is not the good, because it is only a means [Aristotle] |
| 5136 | Happiness seems to involve virtue, or practical reason, or wisdom, or pleasure, or external goods [Aristotle] |
| 25 | You can be good while asleep, or passive, or in pain [Aristotle] |
| 18673 | Eudaimonia is said to only have final value, where reason and virtue are also useful [Aristotle, by Orsi] |
| 5127 | Does Aristotle say eudaimonia is the aim, or that it ought to be? [McDowell on Aristotle] |
| 5143 | Some good and evil can happen to the dead, just as the living may be unaware of a disaster [Aristotle] |
| 2681 | Aristotle is unsure about eudaimonia because he is unsure what people are [Nagel on Aristotle] |
| 5132 | Goods like pleasure are chosen partly for happiness, but happiness is chosen just for itself [Aristotle] |
| 30 | Happiness is perfect and self-sufficient, the end of all action [Aristotle] |
| 39 | Happiness needs total goodness and a complete life [Aristotle] |
| 5139 | If happiness can be achieved by study and effort, then it is open to anyone who is not corrupt [Aristotle] |
| 5144 | Happiness is activity in accordance with complete virtue, for a whole life, with adequate external goods [Aristotle] |
| 106 | The best life is that of the intellect, since that is in the fullest sense the man [Aristotle] |
| 100 | The happy life is in accordance with goodness, which implies seriousness [Aristotle] |
| 12962 | Pleasure is a sense of perfection [Leibniz] |
| 4374 | For Aristotle, pleasure is the perception of particulars as valuable [Achtenberg on Aristotle] |
| 383 | God feels one simple pleasure forever [Aristotle] |
| 5270 | Intellectual pleasures are superior to sensuous ones [Aristotle] |
| 5230 | There are pleasures of the soul (e.g. civic honour, and learning) and of the body [Aristotle] |
| 5259 | If we criticise bodily pleasures as licentious and bad, why do we consider their opposite, pain, to be bad? [Aristotle] |
| 96 | Nobody would choose the mentality of a child, even if they had the greatest childish pleasures [Aristotle] |
| 97 | There are many things we would want even if they brought no pleasure [Aristotle] |
| 98 | It is right to pursue pleasure, because it enhances life, and life is a thing to choose [Aristotle] |
| 99 | If happiness were mere amusement it wouldn't be worth a lifetime's effort [Aristotle] |
| 5256 | Some things are not naturally pleasant, but become so through disease or depravity [Aristotle] |
| 5258 | While replenishing we even enjoy unpleasant things, but only absolute pleasures when we are replenished [Aristotle] |
| 49 | Character is revealed by the pleasures and pains people feel [Aristotle] |
| 53 | Feeling inappropriate pleasure or pain affects conduct, and is central to morality [Aristotle] |
| 84 | The greater the pleasure, the greater the hindrance to thought [Aristotle] |
| 88 | Nobody would choose all the good things in world, if the price was loss of identity [Aristotle] |
| 91 | A man is his own best friend; therefore he ought to love himself best [Aristotle] |
| 71 | Licentiousness concerns the animal-like pleasures of touch and taste [Aristotle] |
| 12934 | We can't want everyone to have more than their share, so a further standard is needed [Leibniz] |
| 34 | The good for man is an activity of soul in accordance with virtue [Aristotle] |
| 5137 | Many pleasures are relative to a person, but some love what is pleasant by nature, and virtue is like that [Aristotle] |
| 4342 | Aristotle must hold that virtuous King Priam's life can be marred, but not ruined [Hursthouse on Aristotle] |
| 4382 | Feelings are vital to virtue, but virtue requires choice, which feelings lack [Kosman on Aristotle] |
| 54 | Actions are not virtuous because of their quality, but because of the way they are done [Aristotle] |
| 58 | If virtues are not feelings or faculties, then they must be dispositions [Aristotle] |
| 4373 | Virtue is the feeling of emotions that accord with one's perception of value [Achtenberg on Aristotle] |
| 63 | Virtue is a purposive mean disposition, which follows a rational principle and prudent judgment [Aristotle] |
| 5214 | Acts may be forgivable if particular facts (rather than principles) are unknown [Aristotle] |
| 107 | A life of moral virtue brings human happiness, but not divine happiness [Aristotle] |
| 5215 | There are six categories of particular cirumstance affecting an action [Aristotle] |
| 5216 | An act is involuntary if the particular facts (esp. circumstances and effect) are unknown [Aristotle] |
| 55 | People who perform just acts unwillingly or ignorantly are still not just [Aristotle] |
| 5149 | The two main parts of the soul give rise to two groups of virtues - intellectual, and moral [Aristotle] |
| 5156 | How can good actions breed virtues, if you need to be virtuous to perform good actions? [Aristotle] |
| 5157 | If a thing has excellence, this makes the thing good, and means it functions well [Aristotle] |
| 4369 | It is not universals we must perceive for virtue, but particulars, seen as intrinsically good [Aristotle, by Achtenberg] |
| 5158 | Actions concern particular cases, and rules must fit the cases, not the other way round [Aristotle] |
| 5237 | We cannot properly judge by rules, because blame depends on perception of particulars [Aristotle] |
| 3548 | Aristotle neglects the place of rules in the mature virtuous person [Annas on Aristotle] |
| 5223 | We are partly responsible for our own dispositions and virtues [Aristotle] |
| 4367 | Moral virtue is not natural, because its behaviour can be changed, unlike a falling stone [Aristotle] |
| 4362 | Dispositions to virtue are born in us, but without intelligence they can be harmful [Aristotle] |
| 5225 | The end of virtue is what is right and honourable or fine [Aristotle] |
| 56 | A person is good if they act from choice, and for the sake of the actions in themselves [Aristotle] |
| 93 | Existence is desirable if one is conscious of one's own goodness [Aristotle] |
| 44 | We acquire virtues by habitually performing good deeds [Aristotle] |
| 51 | True education is training from infancy to have correct feelings [Aristotle] |
| 43 | Nature enables us to be virtuous, but habit develops virtue in us [Aristotle] |
| 5152 | Like activities produce like dispositions, so we must give the right quality to the activity [Aristotle] |
| 4378 | We must practise virtuous acts because practice actually teaches us the nature of virtue [Burnyeat on Aristotle] |
| 6793 | People can break into the circle of virtue and good action, by chance, or with help [Aristotle] |
| 57 | We acquire virtue by the repeated performance of just and temperate acts [Aristotle] |
| 2690 | Associating with good people can be a training in virtue [Aristotle] |
| 5222 | A person of good character sees the truth about what is actually fine and pleasant [Aristotle] |
| 4394 | People develop their characters through the activities they pursue [Aristotle] |
| 5239 | When people speak of justice they mean a disposition of character to behave justly [Aristotle] |
| 4379 | It is very hard to change a person's character traits by argument [Aristotle] |
| 4386 | Character can be heroic, excellent, controlled, uncontrolled, bad, or brutish [Aristotle, by Urmson] |
| 5250 | The three states of character to avoid are vice, 'akrasia' and brutishness [Aristotle] |
| 3545 | The mean implies that vices are opposed to one another, not to virtue [Aristotle, by Annas] |
| 47 | Virtues are destroyed by the excess and preserved by the mean [Aristotle] |
| 4406 | Aristotle aims at happiness by depressing emotions to a harmless mean [Nietzsche on Aristotle] |
| 60 | The mean is relative to the individual (diet, for example) [Aristotle] |
| 61 | Skills are only well performed if they observe the mean [Aristotle] |
| 4388 | One drink a day is moderation, but very drunk once a week could exhibit the mean [Urmson on Aristotle] |
| 4387 | In most normal situations it is not appropriate to have any feelings at all [Urmson on Aristotle] |
| 62 | We must tune our feelings to be right in every way [Aristotle] |
| 5159 | The mean is always right, and the extremes are always wrong [Aristotle] |
| 65 | The vices to which we are most strongly pulled are most opposed to the mean [Aristotle] |
| 5161 | To make one's anger exactly appropriate to a situation is very difficult [Aristotle] |
| 5235 | Patient people are indignant, but only appropriately, as their reason prescribes [Aristotle] |
| 5238 | The sincere man is praiseworthy, because truth is the mean between boasting and irony [Aristotle] |
| 5217 | At times we ought to feel angry, and we ought to desire health and learning [Aristotle] |
| 5236 | It is foolish not to be angry when it is appropriate [Aristotle] |
| 64 | There is no right time or place or way or person for the committing of adultery; it is just wrong [Aristotle] |
| 4117 | Nowadays we (unlike Aristotle) seem agreed that someone can have one virtue but lack others [Williams,B on Aristotle] |
| 5251 | Gods exist in a state which is morally superior to virtue [Aristotle] |
| 5240 | The word 'unjust' describes law-breaking and exploitation [Aristotle] |
| 5261 | Between friends there is no need for justice [Aristotle] |
| 5151 | Justice concerns our behaviour in dealing with other people [Aristotle] |
| 4389 | What emotion is displayed in justice, and what are its deficiency and excess? [Urmson on Aristotle] |
| 23556 | Particular justice concerns specific temptations, but universal justice concerns the whole character [Aristotle] |
| 5242 | Justice is whatever creates or preserves social happiness [Aristotle] |
| 5224 | Strictly speaking, a courageous person is one who does not fear an honourable death [Aristotle] |
| 5226 | True courage is an appropriate response to a dangerous situation [Aristotle] |
| 24 | Honour depends too much on the person who awards it [Aristotle] |
| 5233 | Honour is clearly the greatest external good [Aristotle] |
| 4119 | If you aim at honour, you make yourself dependent on the people to whom you wish to be superior [Aristotle, by Williams,B] |
| 104 | Contemplation (with the means to achieve it) is the perfect happiness for man [Aristotle] |
| 18229 | Only contemplation is sought for its own sake; practical activity always offers some gain [Aristotle] |
| 5272 | The intellectual life is divine in comparison with ordinary human life [Aristotle] |
| 18232 | The gods live, but action is unworthy of them, so that only leaves contemplation? [Aristotle] |
| 110 | Lower animals cannot be happy, because they cannot contemplate [Aristotle] |
| 105 | We should aspire to immortality, and live by what is highest in us [Aristotle] |
| 111 | The more people contemplate, the happier they are [Aristotle] |
| 5138 | The fine deeds required for happiness need external resources, like friends or wealth [Aristotle] |
| 38 | A man can't be happy if he is ugly, or of low birth, or alone and childless [Aristotle] |
| 1665 | It is nonsense to say a good person is happy even if they are being tortured or suffering disaster [Aristotle] |
| 108 | The virtue of generosity requires money [Aristotle] |
| 2686 | Aristotle does not confine supreme friendship to moral heroes [Cooper,JM on Aristotle] |
| 2687 | For Aristotle in the best friendships the binding force is some excellence of character [Cooper,JM on Aristotle] |
| 85 | Bad men can have friendships of utility or pleasure, but only good men can be true friends [Aristotle] |
| 5252 | 'Enkrateia' (control) means abiding by one's own calculations [Aristotle] |
| 5245 | Society collapses if people cannot rely on exchanging good for good and evil for evil [Aristotle] |
| 5265 | Even more than a social being, man is a pairing and family being [Aristotle] |
| 5133 | Man is by nature a social being [Aristotle] |
| 86 | A bad political constitution (especially a tyranny) makes friendship almost impossible [Aristotle] |
| 5140 | Political science aims at the highest good, which involves creating virtue in citizens [Aristotle] |
| 21046 | The aim of legislators, and of a good constitution, is to create good citizens [Aristotle] |
| 5241 | We hold that every piece of legislation is just [Aristotle] |
| 87 | Democracy is the best constitution for friendship, because it encourages equality [Aristotle] |
| 5260 | Friendship holds communities together, and lawgivers value it more than justice [Aristotle] |
| 5264 | Friendship is based on a community of sharing [Aristotle] |
| 21047 | Aristotle thought slavery is just if it is both necessary and natural [Aristotle, by Sandel] |
| 21044 | For Aristotle, debates about justice are debates about the good life [Aristotle, by Sandel] |
| 5246 | Natural justice is the same everywhere, and does not (unlike legal justice) depend on acceptance [Aristotle] |
| 12936 | There are natural rewards and punishments, like illness after over-indulgence [Leibniz] |
| 11150 | It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain an idea without accepting it [Aristotle] |
| 3037 | Aristotle said the educated were superior to the uneducated as the living are to the dead [Aristotle, by Diog. Laertius] |
| 5150 | Intellectual virtue arises from instruction (and takes time), whereas moral virtue result from habit [Aristotle] |
| 5228 | A suicide embraces death to run away from hardships, rather than because it is a fine deed [Aristotle] |
| 2684 | Aristotle needed to distinguish teleological description from teleological explanation [Irwin on Aristotle] |
| 5227 | The nature of any given thing is determined by its end [Aristotle] |
| 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] |
| 5219 | Types of cause are nature, necessity and chance, and mind and human agency [Aristotle] |
| 11856 | Qualities should be predictable from the nature of the subject [Leibniz] |
| 12994 | Gold has a real essence, unknown to us, which produces its properties [Leibniz] |
| 12808 | Part of our idea of gold is its real essence, which is not known to us in detail [Leibniz] |
| 12985 | Maybe motion is definable as 'change of place' [Leibniz] |
| 12952 | Space is an order among actual and possible things [Leibniz] |
| 12955 | If there were duration without change, we could never establish its length [Leibniz] |
| 12954 | God's essence is the source of possibilities, and his will the source of existents [Leibniz] |
| 12988 | The universe contains everything possible for its perfect harmony [Leibniz] |
| 1414 | A perfection is a simple quality, which is positive and absolute, and has no limit [Leibniz] |
| 21252 | Perfections must have overlapping parts if their incompatibility is to be proved [Leibniz] |
| 19328 | Without the principle of sufficient reason, God's existence could not be demonstrated [Leibniz] |
| 22729 | The concepts of gods arose from observing the soul, and the cosmos [Aristotle, by Sext.Empiricus] |
| 24037 | We all assume immortality is impossible [Aristotle] |
| 5058 | Animals have thought and sensation, and indestructible immaterial souls [Leibniz] |