158 ideas
| 3722 | Metaphysics goes beyond the empirical, so doesn't need examples [Kant] |
| 3738 | The hallmark of rationality is setting itself an end [Kant] |
| 19807 | Both nature and reason require that everything has a cause [Rousseau] |
| 18085 | Values that approach zero, becoming less than any quantity, are 'infinitesimals' [Cauchy] |
| 18084 | When successive variable values approach a fixed value, that is its 'limit' [Cauchy] |
| 3726 | The categorical imperative is a practical synthetic a priori proposition [Kant] |
| 3739 | Free will is a kind of causality which works independently of other causes [Kant] |
| 3741 | We shall never be able to comprehend how freedom is possible [Kant] |
| 3740 | We cannot conceive of reason as being externally controlled [Kant] |
| 5296 | Kant made the political will into a pure self-determined "free" will [Kant, by Marx/Engels] |
| 24011 | Kant thought emotions are too random and passive to be part of morality [Kant, by Williams,B] |
| 7235 | Without freedom of will actions lack moral significance [Rousseau] |
| 5074 | Kant united religion and philosophy, by basing obedience to law on reason instead of faith [Taylor,R on Kant] |
| 8024 | The categorical imperative says nothing about what our activities and ends should be [MacIntyre on Kant] |
| 22390 | Kant thought human nature was pure hedonism, so virtue is only possible via the categorical imperative [Foot on Kant] |
| 9750 | We must only value what others find acceptable [Kant, by Korsgaard] |
| 20160 | Kant focuses exclusively on human values, and neglects cultural and personal values [Kekes on Kant] |
| 9749 | Our rational choices confer value, arising from the sense that we ourselves are important [Kant, by Korsgaard] |
| 7671 | Values are created by human choices, and are not some intrinsic quality, out there [Kant, by Berlin] |
| 3720 | We may claim noble motives, but we cannot penetrate our secret impulses [Kant] |
| 3717 | Reverence is awareness of a value which demolishes my self-love [Kant] |
| 3712 | A good will is not good because of what it achieves [Kant] |
| 3725 | The good of an action is in the mind of the doer, not the consequences [Kant] |
| 3733 | The 'golden rule' cannot be a universal law as it implies no duties [Kant] |
| 3736 | Virtue lets a rational being make universal law, and share in the kingdom of ends [Kant] |
| 3544 | Kant thinks virtue becomes passive, and hence morally unaccountable [Kant, by Annas] |
| 7674 | Generosity and pity are vices, because they falsely imply one person's superiority to another [Kant, by Berlin] |
| 21029 | Kantian respect is for humanity and reason (not from love or sympathy or solidarity) [Kant, by Sandel] |
| 7105 | If 'maxims' are deeper underlying intentions, Kant can be read as a virtue theorist [Kant, by Statman] |
| 7625 | We can ask how rational goodness is, but also why is rationality good [Putnam on Kant] |
| 4024 | Kant follows Rousseau in defining freedom and morality in terms of each other [Taylor,C on Kant] |
| 3710 | The only purely good thing is a good will [Kant] |
| 3737 | The will is good if its universalised maxim is never in conflict with itself [Kant] |
| 3715 | Other causes can produce nice results, so morality must consist in the law, found only in rational beings [Kant] |
| 20715 | It is basic that moral actions must be done from duty [Kant] |
| 3735 | Men are subject to laws which are both self-made and universal [Kant] |
| 3718 | Telling the truth from duty is quite different from doing so to avoid inconvenience [Kant] |
| 3723 | There are no imperatives for a holy will, as the will is in harmony with moral law [Kant] |
| 3724 | A categorical imperative sees an action as necessary purely for its own sake [Kant] |
| 3714 | Dutiful actions are judged not by purpose, but by the maxim followed [Kant] |
| 5295 | Kant was happy with 'good will', even if it had no result [Kant, by Marx/Engels] |
| 6695 | Kant has to attribute high moral worth to some deeply unattractive human lives [Kant, by Graham] |
| 8028 | Kantian duty seems to imply conformism with authority [MacIntyre on Kant] |
| 8026 | Almost any precept can be consistently universalized [MacIntyre on Kant] |
| 15673 | The intuition behind the categorical imperative is that one ought not to make an exception of oneself [Kant, by Finlayson] |
| 8068 | Universalising a maxim needs to first stipulate the right description for the action [Anscombe on Kant] |
| 8025 | The categorical imperative will not suggest maxims suitable for testing [MacIntyre on Kant] |
| 8027 | I can universalize a selfish maxim, if it is expressed in a way that only applies to me [MacIntyre on Kant] |
| 3728 | Suicide, false promises, neglected talent, and lack of charity all involve contradictions of principle [Kant, by PG] |
| 22008 | Always treat yourself and others as an end, and never simply as a means [Kant] |
| 22009 | Morality is the creation of the laws that enable a Kingdom of Ends [Kant] |
| 3719 | If lying were the universal law it would make promises impossible [Kant] |
| 3762 | Why couldn't all rational beings accept outrageously immoral rules of conduct? [Mill on Kant] |
| 4413 | The categorical imperative smells of cruelty [Nietzsche on Kant] |
| 3716 | Act according to a maxim you can will as a universal law [Kant] |
| 3727 | Act as if your maxim were to become a universal law of nature [Kant] |
| 22050 | The maxim of an action is chosen, and not externally imposed [Kant, by Bowie] |
| 6694 | Always treat humanity as an end and never as a means only [Kant] |
| 3731 | Rational beings necessarily conceive their own existence as an end in itself [Kant] |
| 4345 | For Kant, even a person who lacks all sympathy for others still has a motive for benevolence [Kant, by Hursthouse] |
| 4251 | If we are required to give moral thought the highest priority, this gives morality no content [Williams,B on Kant] |
| 16004 | If Kant lives by self-administered laws, this is as feeble as self-administered punishments [Kierkegaard on Kant] |
| 3711 | Only a good will makes us worthy of happiness [Kant] |
| 3713 | The function of reason is to produce a good will [Kant] |
| 3729 | Our inclinations are not innately desirable; in fact most rational beings would like to be rid of them [Kant] |
| 4344 | Actions where people spread happiness because they enjoy it have no genuine moral worth [Kant] |
| 19791 | Natural mankind is too fragmented for states of peace, or of war and enmity [Rousseau] |
| 20501 | Rousseau assumes that laws need a people united by custom and tradition [Rousseau, by Wolff,J] |
| 7237 | The act of becoming 'a people' is the real foundation of society [Rousseau] |
| 19792 | To overcome obstacles, people must unite their forces into a single unified power [Rousseau] |
| 19812 | Human nature changes among a people, into a moral and partial existence [Rousseau] |
| 19814 | A state must be big enough to preserve itself, but small enough to be governable [Rousseau] |
| 19815 | Too much land is a struggle, producing defensive war; too little makes dependence, and offensive war [Rousseau] |
| 19822 | If the state enlarges, the creators of the general will become less individually powerful [Rousseau] |
| 19823 | If the population is larger, the government needs to be more powerful [Rousseau] |
| 7232 | Man is born free, and he is everywhere in chains [Rousseau] |
| 7234 | No man has any natural authority over his fellows [Rousseau] |
| 3732 | Rational beings have a right to share in the end of an action, not just be part of the means [Kant] |
| 19816 | A state's purpose is liberty and equality - liberty for strength, and equality for liberty [Rousseau] |
| 7247 | The greatest social good comes down to freedom and equality [Rousseau] |
| 19838 | The measure of a successful state is increase in its population [Rousseau] |
| 19848 | The sovereignty does not appoint the leaders [Rousseau] |
| 20567 | Rousseau insists that popular sovereignty needs a means of expressing consent [Rousseau, by Oksala] |
| 19801 | Sovereignty is the exercise of the general will, which can never be delegated [Rousseau] |
| 19805 | Just as people control their limbs, the general-will state has total control of its members [Rousseau] |
| 19818 | Political laws are fundamental, as they firmly organise the state - but they could still be changed [Rousseau] |
| 19790 | Force can only dominate if it is seen as a right, and obedience as a duty [Rousseau] |
| 7233 | The social order is a sacred right, but based on covenants, not nature [Rousseau] |
| 19842 | The government is instituted by a law, not by a contract [Rousseau] |
| 7239 | The social pact is the total subjection of individuals to the general will [Rousseau] |
| 19793 | We need a protective association which unites forces, but retains individual freedom [Rousseau] |
| 7240 | To foreign powers a state is seen as a simple individual [Rousseau] |
| 19795 | The act of association commits citizens to the state, and the state to its citizens [Rousseau] |
| 19797 | Citizens must ultimately for forced to accept the general will (so freedom is compulsory!) [Rousseau] |
| 19796 | Individual citizens still retain a private will, which may be contrary to the general will [Rousseau] |
| 7244 | The general will is common interest; the will of all is the sum of individual desires [Rousseau] |
| 19802 | The general will is always right, but the will of all can err, because it includes private interests [Rousseau] |
| 19803 | If the state contains associations there are fewer opinions, undermining the general will [Rousseau] |
| 19804 | If a large knowledgeable population votes in isolation, their many choices will have good results [Rousseau] |
| 19808 | The general will changes its nature when it focuses on particulars [Rousseau] |
| 7246 | The general will is always good, but sometimes misunderstood [Rousseau] |
| 7250 | Laws are authentic acts of the general will [Rousseau] |
| 19844 | Assemblies must always confirm the form of government, and the current administration [Rousseau] |
| 19846 | The more unanimous the assembly, the stronger the general will becomes [Rousseau] |
| 19817 | Citizens should be independent of each other, and very dependent on the state [Rousseau] |
| 19840 | A citizen is a subject who is also sovereign [Rousseau] |
| 19839 | The flourishing of arts and letters is too much admired [Rousseau] |
| 19798 | Ancient monarchs were kings of peoples; modern monarchs more cleverly rule a land [Rousseau] |
| 19831 | The highest officers under a monarchy are normally useless; the public could choose much better [Rousseau] |
| 19833 | Hereditary monarchy is easier, but can lead to dreadful monarchs [Rousseau] |
| 19834 | Attempts to train future kings don't usually work, and the best have been unprepared [Rousseau] |
| 19829 | Natural aristocracy is primitive, and hereditary is dreadful, but elective aristocracy is best [Rousseau] |
| 7249 | Natural aristocracy is primitive, hereditary is bad, and elective aristocracy is the best [Rousseau] |
| 19830 | Large states need a nobility to fill the gap between a single prince and the people [Rousseau] |
| 19827 | Law makers and law implementers should be separate [Rousseau] |
| 19820 | The state has a legislature and an executive, just like the will and physical power in a person [Rousseau] |
| 19821 | I call the executive power the 'government', which is the 'prince' - a single person, or a group [Rousseau] |
| 19824 | Large populations needs stronger control, which means power should be concentrated [Rousseau] |
| 19826 | Democracy for small states, aristocracy for intermediate, monarchy for large [Rousseau] |
| 19837 | If inhabitants are widely dispersed, organising a revolt is much more difficult [Rousseau] |
| 19843 | The state is not bound to leave civil authority to its leaders [Rousseau] |
| 19825 | If the sovereign entrusts government to at least half the citizens, that is 'democracy' [Rousseau] |
| 19832 | Democratic elections are dangerous intervals in government [Rousseau] |
| 7243 | Silence of the people implies their consent [Rousseau] |
| 7251 | The English are actually slaves in between elections [Rousseau] |
| 7238 | Minorities only accept majority-voting because of a prior unanimous agreement [Rousseau] |
| 19828 | Democracy leads to internal strife, as people struggle to maintain or change ways of ruling [Rousseau] |
| 19835 | When ministers change the state changes, because they always reverse policies [Rousseau] |
| 19849 | In early theocracies the god was the king, and there were as many gods as nations [Rousseau] |
| 19841 | Sometimes full liberty is only possible at the expense of some complete enslavement [Rousseau] |
| 19847 | We can never assume that the son of a slave is a slave [Rousseau] |
| 7670 | Kant is the father of the notion of exploitation as an evil [Kant, by Berlin] |
| 7242 | Appetite alone is slavery, and self-prescribed laws are freedom [Rousseau] |
| 19800 | The social compact imposes conventional equality of rights on people who may start unequally [Rousseau] |
| 7248 | No citizen should be rich enough to buy another, and none so poor as forced to sell himself [Rousseau] |
| 19794 | If we all give up all of our rights together to the community, we will always support one another [Rousseau] |
| 7241 | In society man loses natural liberty, but gains a right to civil liberty and property [Rousseau] |
| 19806 | We alienate to society only what society needs - but society judges that, not us [Rousseau] |
| 19799 | Private property must always be subordinate to ownership by the whole community [Rousseau] |
| 19819 | The state ensures liberty, so civil law separates citizens, and binds them to the state [Rousseau] |
| 7245 | Natural justice, without sanctions, benefits the wicked, who exploit it [Rousseau] |
| 7591 | Kant completed Grotius's project of a non-religious basis for natural law [Scruton on Kant] |
| 19809 | We accept the death penalty to prevent assassinations, so we must submit to it if necessary [Rousseau] |
| 19810 | A trial proves that a criminal has broken the social treaty, and is no longer a member of the state [Rousseau] |
| 7673 | Retributive punishment is better than being sent to hospital for your crimes [Kant, by Berlin] |
| 19811 | Only people who are actually dangerous should be executed, even as an example [Rousseau] |
| 7236 | War gives no right to inflict more destruction than is necessary for victory [Rousseau] |
| 23607 | Wars are between States, not people, and the individuals are enemies by accident [Rousseau] |
| 19850 | By separating theological and political systems, Jesus caused divisions in the state [Rousseau] |
| 19852 | Civil religion needs one supreme god, an afterlife, justice, and the sanctity of the social contract [Rousseau] |
| 19853 | All religions should be tolerated, if they tolerate each other, and support citizenship [Rousseau] |
| 19851 | Every society has a religion as its base [Rousseau] |
| 19836 | The amount of taxation doesn't matter, if it quickly circulates back to the citizens [Rousseau] |
| 3730 | Non-rational beings only have a relative value, as means rather than as ends [Kant] |
| 3721 | We judge God to be good by a priori standards of moral perfection [Kant] |
| 8046 | We can only know we should obey God if we already have moral standards for judging God [Kant, by MacIntyre] |
| 20714 | God is not proved by reason, but is a postulate of moral thinking [Kant, by Davies,B] |
| 7252 | A tyrant exploits Christians because they don't value this life, and are made to be slaves [Rousseau] |