88 ideas
| 6319 | Wise people choose inaction and silence [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 6325 | One who knows does not speak; one who speaks does not know [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 21887 | Derrida focuses on other philosophers, rather than on science [Derrida] |
| 21888 | Philosophy is just a linguistic display [Derrida] |
| 15447 | We shouldn't always follow where the argument leads! [Lewis on Plato] |
| 21896 | Philosophy aims to build foundations for thought [Derrida, by May] |
| 6321 | Vulgar people are alert; I alone am muddled [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 21893 | Philosophy is necessarily metaphorical, and its writing is aesthetic [Derrida] |
| 20925 | Hermeneutics blunts truth, by conforming it to the interpreter [Derrida, by Zimmermann,J] |
| 20934 | Hermeneutics is hostile, trying to overcome the other person's difference [Derrida, by Zimmermann,J] |
| 21892 | Interpretations can be interpreted, so there is no original 'meaning' available [Derrida] |
| 21895 | Structuralism destroys awareness of dynamic meaning [Derrida] |
| 21882 | Sentences are contradictory, as they have opposite meanings in some contexts [Derrida] |
| 21881 | We aim to explore the limits of expression (as in Mallarmé's poetry) [Derrida] |
| 21883 | Sincerity can't be verified, so fiction infuses speech, and hence reality also [Derrida] |
| 21934 | The idea of being as persistent presence, and meaning as conscious intelligibility, are self-destructive [Derrida, by Glendinning] |
| 243 | It is foolish to quarrel with the mind's own reasoning processes [Plato] |
| 241 | We ought to follow where the argument leads us [Plato] |
| 21264 | Mortals are incapable of being fully rational [Plato] |
| 251 | Truth has the supreme value, for both gods and men [Plato] |
| 4756 | Derrida says that all truth-talk is merely metaphor [Derrida, by Engel] |
| 21877 | True thoughts are inaccessible, in the subconscious, prior to speech or writing [Derrida] |
| 21889 | 'I' is the perfect name, because it denotes without description [Derrida] |
| 21878 | Names have a subjective aspect, especially the role of our own name [Derrida] |
| 21879 | Even Kripke can't explain names; the word is the thing, and the thing is the word [Derrida] |
| 21259 | To grasp a thing we need its name, its definition, and what it really is [Plato] |
| 6328 | To know yet to think that one does not know is best [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 6323 | Pursuit of learning increases activity; the Way decreases it [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 21260 | Soul is what is defined by 'self-generating motion' [Plato] |
| 21890 | Heidegger showed that passing time is the key to consciousness [Derrida] |
| 276 | My individuality is my soul, which carries my body around [Plato] |
| 21880 | 'Tacit theory' controls our thinking (which is why Freud is important) [Derrida] |
| 21886 | Meanings depend on differences and contrasts [Derrida] |
| 21930 | For Aristotle all proper nouns must have a single sense, which is the purpose of language [Derrida] |
| 21884 | Capacity for repetitions is the hallmark of language [Derrida] |
| 21935 | The sign is only conceivable as a movement between elusive presences [Derrida] |
| 21933 | Writing functions even if the sender or the receiver are absent [Derrida, by Glendinning] |
| 21894 | Madness and instability ('the demonic hyperbole') lurks in all language [Derrida] |
| 21931 | 'Dissemination' is opposed to polysemia, since that is irreducible, because of multiple understandings [Derrida, by Glendinning] |
| 21885 | Words exist in 'spacing', so meanings are never synchronic except in writing [Derrida] |
| 6331 | Truth is not beautiful; beautiful speech is not truthful [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 249 | People who value beauty above virtue insult the soul by placing the body above it [Plato] |
| 6330 | One with no use for life is wiser than one who values it [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 6327 | Do good to him who has done you an injury [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 21891 | The good is implicitly violent (against evil), so there is no pure good [Derrida] |
| 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] |
| 23402 | The highest virtue is achieved without effort [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 6324 | To gain in goodness, treat as good those who are good, and those who are not [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 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] |
| 6322 | There is no crime greater than having too many desires [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 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] |
| 6320 | The best rulers are invisible, the next admired, the next feared, and the worst are exploited [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 245 | Totalitarian states destroy friendships and community spirit [Plato] |
| 6329 | People are hard to govern because authorities love to do things [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 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] |
| 6326 | The better known the law, the more criminals there are [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 23401 | A military victory is not a thing of beauty [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 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] |
| 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] |
| 273 | Movement is transmitted through everything, and it must have started with self-generated motion [Plato] |
| 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] |
| 21258 | The only possible beginning for the endless motions of reality is something self-generated [Plato] |
| 21257 | Self-generating motion is clearly superior to all other kinds of motion [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] |
| 21262 | There must be at least two souls controlling the cosmos, one doing good, the other the opposite [Plato] |