42 ideas
| 23250 | Desired responsible actions result either from rational or from irrational desire [Aristotle] |
| 4187 | 'There is nothing without a reason why it should be rather than not be' (a generalisation of 'Why?') [Schopenhauer] |
| 5847 | It is the role of dialectic to survey syllogisms [Aristotle] |
| 16539 | A definition of a circle will show what it is, and show its generating principle [Lowe] |
| 16540 | Defining an ellipse by conic sections reveals necessities, but not the essence of an ellipse [Lowe] |
| 16548 | An essence is what an entity is, revealed by a real definition; this is not an entity in its own right [Lowe] |
| 16549 | Simple things like 'red' can be given real ostensive definitions [Lowe] |
| 16545 | The essence of lumps and statues shows that two objects coincide but are numerically distinct [Lowe] |
| 16546 | The essence of a bronze statue shows that it could be made of different bronze [Lowe] |
| 16551 | Grasping an essence is just grasping a real definition [Lowe] |
| 16542 | Explanation can't give an account of essence, because it is too multi-faceted [Lowe] |
| 16552 | If we must know some entity to know an essence, we lack a faculty to do that [Lowe] |
| 16533 | Logical necessities, based on laws of logic, are a proper sub-class of metaphysical necessities [Lowe] |
| 16531 | 'Metaphysical' necessity is absolute and objective - the strongest kind of necessity [Lowe] |
| 16532 | 'Epistemic' necessity is better called 'certainty' [Lowe] |
| 4192 | All necessity arises from causation, which is conditioned; there is no absolute or unconditioned necessity [Schopenhauer] |
| 16543 | If an essence implies p, then p is an essential truth, and hence metaphysically necessary [Lowe] |
| 16544 | Metaphysical necessity is either an essential truth, or rests on essential truths [Lowe] |
| 16538 | We could give up possible worlds if we based necessity on essences [Lowe] |
| 4190 | All understanding is an immediate apprehension of the causal relation [Schopenhauer] |
| 16534 | 'Intuitions' are just unreliable 'hunches'; over centuries intuitions change enormously [Lowe] |
| 5862 | A single counterexample is enough to prove that a truth is not necessary [Aristotle] |
| 5854 | Nobody fears a disease which nobody has yet caught [Aristotle] |
| 4191 | What we know in ourselves is not a knower but a will [Schopenhauer] |
| 21368 | The knot of the world is the use of 'I' to refer to both willing and knowing [Schopenhauer] |
| 16535 | A concept is a way of thinking of things or kinds, whether or not they exist [Lowe] |
| 16550 | Direct reference doesn't seem to require that thinkers know what it is they are thinking about [Lowe] |
| 5849 | Rhetoric is a political offshoot of dialectic and ethics [Aristotle] |
| 5851 | Pentathletes look the most beautiful, because they combine speed and strength [Aristotle] |
| 5858 | Men are physically prime at thirty-five, and mentally prime at forty-nine [Aristotle] |
| 5855 | We all feel universal right and wrong, independent of any community or contracts [Aristotle] |
| 5850 | Happiness is composed of a catalogue of internal and external benefits [Aristotle] |
| 5856 | Self-interest is a relative good, but nobility an absolute good [Aristotle] |
| 5853 | The best virtues are the most useful to others [Aristotle] |
| 5848 | All good things can be misused, except virtue [Aristotle] |
| 5857 | The young feel pity from philanthropy, but the old from self-concern [Aristotle] |
| 5859 | Rich people are mindlessly happy [Aristotle] |
| 5852 | The four constitutions are democracy (freedom), oligarchy (wealth), aristocracy (custom), tyranny (security) [Aristotle] |
| 1660 | It is noble to avenge oneself on one's enemies, and not come to terms with them [Aristotle] |
| 5861 | People assume events cause what follows them [Aristotle] |
| 16547 | H2O isn't necessary, because different laws of nature might affect how O and H combine [Lowe] |
| 4189 | Time may be defined as the possibility of mutually exclusive conditions of the same thing [Schopenhauer] |