50 ideas
22659 | It is wisdom to believe what you desire, because belief is needed to achieve it [James] |
22657 | All good philosophers start from a dumb conviction about which truths can be revealed [James] |
2930 | The main aim of philosophy must be to determine the order of rank among values [Nietzsche] |
22647 | A complete system is just a classification of the whole world's ingredients [James] |
20143 | Scientific knowledge is nothing without a prior philosophical 'faith' [Nietzsche] |
22648 | A single explanation must have a single point of view [James] |
23722 | Objectivity is not disinterestedness (impossible), but the ability to switch perspectives [Nietzsche] |
22644 | Our greatest pleasure is the economy of reducing chaotic facts to one single fact [James] |
4417 | Only that which has no history is definable [Nietzsche] |
23715 | Psychologists should be brave and proud, and prefer truth to desires, even when it is ugly [Nietzsche] |
22649 | Classification can only ever be for a particular purpose [James] |
4421 | Philosophers have never asked why there is a will to truth in the first place [Nietzsche] |
23719 | Forgetfulness is a strong positive ability, not mental laziness [Nietzsche] |
4420 | There is only 'perspective' seeing and knowing, and so the best objectivity is multiple points of view [Nietzsche] |
22655 | Scientific genius extracts more than other people from the same evidence [James] |
22658 | Experimenters assume the theory is true, and stick to it as long as result don't disappoint [James] |
22654 | We can't know if the laws of nature are stable, but we must postulate it or assume it [James] |
22656 | Trying to assess probabilities by mere calculation is absurd and impossible [James] |
13195 | To explain a house we must describe its use, as well as its parts [Leibniz] |
22646 | We have a passion for knowing the parts of something, rather than the whole [James] |
22652 | The mind has evolved entirely for practical interests, seen in our reflex actions [James] |
22651 | Dogs' curiosity only concerns what will happen next [James] |
13193 | Active force is not just potential for action, since it involves a real effort or striving [Leibniz] |
4414 | Philosophers invented "free will" so that our virtues would be permanently interesting to the gods [Nietzsche] |
4419 | People who think in words are orators rather than thinkers, and think about facts instead of thinking facts [Nietzsche] |
22650 | How can the ground of rationality be itself rational? [James] |
22643 | It seems that we feel rational when we detect no irrationality [James] |
4411 | It is a delusion to separate the man from the deed, like the flash from the lightning [Nietzsche] |
3793 | We must question the very value of moral values [Nietzsche] |
22660 | Evolution suggests prevailing or survival as a new criterion of right and wrong [James] |
4408 | The concept of 'good' was created by aristocrats to describe their own actions [Nietzsche] |
23716 | A strong rounded person soon forgets enemies, misfortunes, and even misdeeds [Nietzsche] |
20129 | All animals strive for the ideal conditions to express their power, and hate any hindrances [Nietzsche] |
4409 | Only the decline of aristocratic morality led to concerns about "egoism" [Nietzsche] |
3259 | Nietzsche rejects impersonal morality, and asserts the idea of living well [Nietzsche, by Nagel] |
4416 | Basic justice is the negotiation of agreement among equals, and the imposition of agreement [Nietzsche] |
4418 | A masterful and violent person need have nothing to do with contracts [Nietzsche] |
4407 | Plato, Spinoza and Kant are very different, but united in their low estimation of pity [Nietzsche] |
4415 | Guilt and obligation originated in the relationship of buying and selling, credit and debt [Nietzsche] |
23718 | If we say birds of prey could become lambs, that makes them responsible for being birds of prey [Nietzsche] |
23717 | Modern nihilism is now feeling tired of mankind [Nietzsche] |
23721 | Old tribes always felt an obligation to the earlier generations, and the founders [Nietzsche] |
20142 | The state begins with brutal conquest of a disorganised people, not with a 'contract' [Nietzsche] |
23720 | Punishment makes people harder, more alienated, and hostile [Nietzsche] |
22645 | Understanding by means of causes is useless if they are not reduced to a minimum number [James] |
13194 | God's laws would be meaningless without internal powers for following them [Leibniz] |
13196 | All qualities of bodies reduce to forces [Leibniz] |
13192 | Power is passive force, which is mass, and active force, which is entelechy or form [Leibniz] |
22653 | Early Christianity says God recognises the neglected weak and tender impulses [James] |
4410 | The truly great haters in world history have always been priests [Nietzsche] |