189 ideas
| 20383 | The wisest man is full of contradictions, and attuned to other people, with occasional harmony [Nietzsche] |
| 4520 | I don't want to persuade anyone to be a philosopher; they should be rare plants [Nietzsche] |
| 4545 | Could not the objective character of things be merely a difference of degree within the subjective? [Nietzsche] |
| 4530 | Reason is a mere idiosyncrasy of a certain species of animal [Nietzsche] |
| 4523 | What can be 'demonstrated' is of little worth [Nietzsche] |
| 19807 | Both nature and reason require that everything has a cause [Rousseau] |
| 4531 | Our inability to both affirm and deny a single thing is merely an inability, not a 'necessity' [Nietzsche] |
| 4541 | Everything simple is merely imaginary [Nietzsche] |
| 20357 | Truth was given value by morality, but eventually turned against its own source [Nietzsche] |
| 4534 | 'Truth' is the will to be master over the multiplicity of sensations [Nietzsche] |
| 4548 | Only because there is thought is there untruth [Nietzsche] |
| 5652 | True beliefs are those which augment one's power [Nietzsche, by Scruton] |
| 4508 | The truth is what gives us the minimum of spiritual effort, and avoids the exhaustion of lying [Nietzsche] |
| 4538 | Judgements can't be true and known in isolation; the only surety is in connections and relations [Nietzsche] |
| 9570 | In Field's Platonist view, set theory is false because it asserts existence for non-existent things [Field,H, by Chihara] |
| 10260 | Logical consequence is defined by the impossibility of P and ¬q [Field,H, by Shapiro] |
| 8958 | In Field's version of science, space-time points replace real numbers [Field,H, by Szabó] |
| 20361 | We need 'unities' for reckoning, but that does not mean they exist [Nietzsche] |
| 18221 | 'Metric' axioms uses functions, points and numbers; 'synthetic' axioms give facts about space [Field,H] |
| 8757 | The Indispensability Argument is the only serious ground for the existence of mathematical entities [Field,H] |
| 18212 | Nominalists try to only refer to physical objects, or language, or mental constructions [Field,H] |
| 10261 | The application of mathematics only needs its possibility, not its truth [Field,H, by Shapiro] |
| 18218 | Hilbert explains geometry, by non-numerical facts about space [Field,H] |
| 9623 | Field needs a semantical notion of second-order consequence, and that needs sets [Brown,JR on Field,H] |
| 18215 | It seems impossible to explain the idea that the conclusion is contained in the premises [Field,H] |
| 4533 | Logic and maths refer to fictitious entities which we have created [Nietzsche] |
| 18216 | Abstractions can form useful counterparts to concrete statements [Field,H] |
| 18214 | Mathematics is only empirical as regards which theory is useful [Field,H] |
| 18210 | Why regard standard mathematics as truths, rather than as interesting fictions? [Field,H] |
| 20359 | The nature of being, of things, is much easier to understand than is becoming [Nietzsche] |
| 4525 | There are no facts in themselves, only interpretations [Nietzsche] |
| 4543 | There are no 'facts-in-themselves', since a sense must be projected into them to make them 'facts' [Nietzsche] |
| 18211 | You can reduce ontological commitment by expanding the logic [Field,H] |
| 4484 | Nihilism results from valuing the world by the 'categories of reason', because that is fiction [Nietzsche] |
| 4546 | We realise that properties are sensations of the feeling subject, not part of the thing [Nietzsche] |
| 8959 | Field presumes properties can be eliminated from science [Field,H, by Szabó] |
| 4544 | A thing has no properties if it has no effect on other 'things' [Nietzsche] |
| 18213 | Abstract objects are only applicable to the world if they are impure, and connect to the physical [Field,H] |
| 20362 | We saw unity in things because our ego seemed unified (but now we doubt the ego!) [Nietzsche] |
| 4528 | For me, a priori 'truths' are just provisional assumptions [Nietzsche] |
| 4537 | We can't know whether there is knowledge if we don't know what it is [Nietzsche] |
| 4485 | Every belief is a considering-something-true [Nietzsche] |
| 4487 | A note for asses: What convinces is not necessarily true - it is merely convincing [Nietzsche] |
| 4539 | The forms of 'knowledge' about logic which precede experience are actually regulations of belief [Nietzsche] |
| 4529 | All sense perceptions are permeated with value judgements (useful or harmful) [Nietzsche] |
| 4532 | We can have two opposite sensations, like hard and soft, at the same time [Nietzsche] |
| 4486 | The extreme view is there are only perspectives, no true beliefs, because there is no true world [Nietzsche] |
| 18222 | Beneath every extrinsic explanation there is an intrinsic explanation [Field,H] |
| 4536 | It is a major blunder to think of consciousness as a unity, and hence as an entity, a thing [Nietzsche] |
| 4551 | Great self-examination is to become conscious of oneself not as an individual, but as mankind [Nietzsche] |
| 4527 | Perhaps we are not single subjects, but a multiplicity of 'cells', interacting to create thought [Nietzsche] |
| 20374 | Consciousness is a terminal phenomenon, and causes nothing [Nietzsche] |
| 23938 | Passions are ranked, as if they are non-rational and animal pleasure seeking [Nietzsche] |
| 23939 | We fail to see that reason is a network of passions, and every passion contains some reason [Nietzsche] |
| 9917 | 'Abstract' is unclear, but numbers, functions and sets are clearly abstract [Field,H] |
| 4554 | The concept of the 'will' is just a false simplification by our understanding [Nietzsche] |
| 4552 | There is no such things a pure 'willing' on its own; the aim must always be part of it [Nietzsche] |
| 4521 | None of the ancients had the courage to deny morality by denying free will [Nietzsche] |
| 7235 | Without freedom of will actions lack moral significance [Rousseau] |
| 4496 | 'Conscience' is invented to value actions by intention and conformity to 'law', rather than consequences [Nietzsche] |
| 20136 | There is an extended logic to a great man's life, achieved by a sustained will [Nietzsche] |
| 20358 | The highest man can endure and control the greatest combination of powerful drives [Nietzsche] |
| 20369 | The highest man directs the values of the highest natures over millenia [Nietzsche] |
| 4506 | There is a conspiracy (a will to power) to make morality dominate other values, like knowledge and art [Nietzsche] |
| 4514 | The basic tendency of the weak has always been to pull down the strong, using morality [Nietzsche] |
| 20370 | All evaluation is from some perspective, and aims at survival [Nietzsche] |
| 20354 | The ruling drives of our culture all want to be the highest court of our values [Nietzsche] |
| 4505 | How can it be that I should prefer my neighbour to myself, but he should prefer me to himself? [Nietzsche] |
| 4509 | Utilitarians prefer consequences because intentions are unknowable - but so are consequences! [Nietzsche] |
| 4500 | It is a sign of degeneration when eudaimonistic values begin to prevail [Nietzsche] |
| 4558 | We have no more right to 'happiness' than worms [Nietzsche] |
| 4550 | Pleasure and pain are mere epiphenomena, and achievement requires that one desire both [Nietzsche] |
| 4517 | Egoism is inescapable, and when it grows weak, the power of love also grows weak [Nietzsche] |
| 4518 | The question about egoism is: what kind of ego? since not all egos are equal [Nietzsche] |
| 4519 | The ego is only a fiction, and doesn't exist at all [Nietzsche] |
| 4560 | The Golden Rule prohibits harmful actions, with the premise that actions will be requited [Nietzsche] |
| 4555 | The great error is to think that happiness derives from virtue, which in turn derives from free will [Nietzsche] |
| 4494 | Not "return to nature", for there has never yet been a natural humanity [Nietzsche] |
| 4498 | 'Love your enemy' is unnatural, for the natural law says 'love your neighbour and hate your enemy' [Nietzsche] |
| 4493 | Be natural! But how, if one happens to be "unnatural"? [Nietzsche] |
| 4511 | We would avoid a person who always needed reasons for remaining decent [Nietzsche] |
| 4512 | Virtue is pursued from self-interest and prudence, and reduces people to non-entities [Nietzsche] |
| 20372 | The instinct of the herd, the majority, aims for the mean, in the middle [Nietzsche] |
| 4510 | A path to power: to introduce a new virtue under the name of an old one [Nietzsche] |
| 4515 | Modesty, industriousness, benevolence and temperance are the virtues of a good slave [Nietzsche] |
| 4516 | Many virtues are merely restraints on the most creative qualities of a human being [Nietzsche] |
| 4559 | When powerless one desires freedom; if power is too weak, one desires equal power ('justice') [Nietzsche] |
| 4557 | The supposed great lovers of honour (Alexander etc) were actually great despisers of honour [Nietzsche] |
| 4507 | The categorical imperative needs either God behind it, or a metaphysic of the unity of reason [Nietzsche] |
| 4501 | Utilitarianism criticises the origins of morality, but still believes in it as much as Christians [Nietzsche] |
| 4489 | If faith is lost, people seek other authorities, in order to avoid the risk of willing personal goals [Nietzsche] |
| 4513 | Virtuous people are inferior because they are not 'persons', but conform to a fixed pattern [Nietzsche] |
| 4504 | Morality used to be for preservation, but now we can only experiment, giving ourselves moral goals [Nietzsche] |
| 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] |
| 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] |
| 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] |
| 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] |
| 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] |
| 4495 | The high points of culture and civilization do not coincide [Nietzsche] |
| 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] |
| 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] |
| 4491 | In modern society virtue is 'equal rights', but only because everyone is zero, so it is a sum of zeroes [Nietzsche] |
| 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] |
| 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] |
| 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] |
| 4542 | Science has taken the meaning out of causation; cause and effect are two equal sides of an equation [Nietzsche] |
| 4553 | We derive the popular belief in cause and effect from our belief that our free will causes things [Nietzsche] |
| 18223 | In theories of fields, space-time points or regions are causal agents [Field,H] |
| 18220 | Both philosophy and physics now make substantivalism more attractive [Field,H] |
| 18219 | Relational space is problematic if you take the idea of a field seriously [Field,H] |
| 4535 | A 'species' is a stable phase of evolution, implying the false notion that evolution has a goal [Nietzsche] |
| 4497 | The concept of 'God' represents a turning away from life, and a critique of life [Nietzsche] |
| 4488 | Those who have abandoned God cling that much more firmly to the faith in morality [Nietzsche] |
| 4502 | Morality cannot survive when the God who sanctions it is missing [Nietzsche] |
| 7252 | A tyrant exploits Christians because they don't value this life, and are made to be slaves [Rousseau] |
| 4499 | Primitive Christianity is abolition of the state; it is opposed to defence, justice, patriotism and class [Nietzsche] |