165 ideas
7170 | 'Wisdom' attempts to get beyond perspectives, making it hostile to life [Nietzsche] |
7167 | Words such as 'I' and 'do' and 'done to' are placed at the point where our ignorance begins [Nietzsche] |
7196 | Pessimism is laughable, because the world cannot be evaluated [Nietzsche] |
7137 | Is a 'philosopher' now impossible, because knowledge is too vast for an overview? [Nietzsche] |
7132 | Philosophers should create and fight for their concepts, not just clean and clarify them [Nietzsche] |
19807 | Both nature and reason require that everything has a cause [Rousseau] |
7188 | Logic tries to understand the world according to a man-made scheme [Nietzsche] |
7145 | Logic is not driven by truth, but desire for a simple single viewpoint [Nietzsche] |
7144 | Logic must falsely assume that identical cases exist [Nietzsche] |
7153 | We can't be realists, because we don't know what being is [Nietzsche] |
7174 | Categories are not metaphysical truths, but inventions in the service of needs [Nietzsche] |
7175 | Philosophers find it particularly hard to shake off belief in necessary categories [Nietzsche] |
7189 | Maybe there are only subjects, and 'objects' result from relations between subjects [Nietzsche] |
7207 | Counting needs unities, but that doesn't mean they exist; we borrowed it from the concept of 'I' [Nietzsche] |
7161 | The essence of a thing is only an opinion about the 'thing' [Nietzsche] |
7134 | Something can be irrefutable; that doesn't make it true [Nietzsche] |
7186 | There are no necessary truths, but something must be held to be true [Nietzsche] |
7154 | We can't use our own self to criticise our own capacity for knowledge! [Nietzsche] |
7146 | Belief in the body is better established than belief in the mind [Nietzsche] |
9379 | A sentence is obvious if it is true, and any speaker of the language will instantly agree to it [Quine] |
7156 | Sense perceptions contain values (useful, so pleasant) [Nietzsche] |
7181 | Pain shows the value of the damage, not what has been damaged [Nietzsche] |
7129 | Perception is unconscious, and we are only conscious of processed perceptions [Nietzsche] |
7149 | Comprehending everything is impossible, because it abolishes perspectives [Nietzsche] |
7169 | Is the perspectival part of the essence, or just a relation between beings? [Nietzsche] |
7182 | 'Perspectivism': the world has no meaning, but various interpretations give it countless meanings [Nietzsche] |
7183 | 'Subjectivity' is an interpretation, since subjects (and interpreters) are fictions [Nietzsche] |
7133 | There are different eyes, so different 'truths', so there is no truth [Nietzsche] |
7139 | Explanation is just showing the succession of things ever more clearly [Nietzsche] |
7131 | The intellect and senses are a simplifying apparatus [Nietzsche] |
7152 | With protoplasm ½+½=2, so the soul is not an indivisible monad [Nietzsche] |
7130 | Unity is not in the conscious 'I', but in the organism, which uses the self as a tool [Nietzsche] |
7155 | Consciousness exists to the extent that consciousness is useful [Nietzsche] |
7143 | Consciousness is a 'tool' - just as the stomach is a tool [Nietzsche] |
7157 | We think each thought causes the next, unaware of the hidden struggle beneath [Nietzsche] |
7148 | The 'I' is a conceptual synthesis, not the governor of our being [Nietzsche] |
7138 | The 'I' is a fiction used to make the world of becoming 'knowable' [Nietzsche] |
7135 | 'Freedom of will' is the feeling of having a dominating force [Nietzsche] |
7171 | Rationality is a scheme we cannot cast away [Nietzsche] |
7209 | There is no will; weakness of will is splitting of impulses, strong will is coordination under one impulse [Nietzsche] |
7194 | Experiencing a thing as beautiful is to experience it wrongly [Nietzsche] |
7136 | Morality is a system of values which accompanies a being's life [Nietzsche] |
7163 | Morality is merely interpretations, which are extra-moral in origin [Nietzsche] |
7235 | Without freedom of will actions lack moral significance [Rousseau] |
7147 | Values are innate and inherited [Nietzsche] |
7190 | Our values express an earlier era's conditions for survival and growth [Nietzsche] |
7201 | Knowledge, wisdom and goodness only have value relative to a goal [Nietzsche] |
7205 | Altruism is praised by the egoism of the weak, who want everyone to be looked after [Nietzsche] |
7141 | A living being is totally 'egoistic' [Nietzsche] |
7168 | Modest people express happiness as 'Not bad' [Nietzsche] |
7159 | The only happiness is happiness with illusion [Nietzsche] |
7197 | Pleasure needs dissatisfaction, boundaries and resistances [Nietzsche] |
7165 | Virtue is wasteful, as it reduces us all to being one another's nurse [Nietzsche] |
7193 | Virtue for everyone removes its charm of being exceptional and aristocratic [Nietzsche] |
7191 | What does not kill us makes us stronger [Nietzsche] |
7151 | Courage, compassion, insight, solitude are the virtues, with courtesy a necessary vice [Nietzsche] |
7185 | Replace the categorical imperative by the natural imperative [Nietzsche] |
7164 | Not feeling harnessed to a system of 'ends' is a wonderful feeling of freedom [Nietzsche] |
7198 | Nihilism results from measuring the world by our categories which are purely invented [Nietzsche] |
7150 | By developing herd virtues man fixes what has up to now been the 'unfixed animal' [Nietzsche] |
7177 | Virtues from outside are dangerous, and they should come from within [Nietzsche] |
7172 | Existence without meaning or goal or end, eternally recurring, is a terrible thought [Nietzsche] |
7166 | Man is above all a judging animal [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] |
19796 | Individual citizens still retain a private will, which may be contrary to the general will [Rousseau] |
19797 | Citizens must ultimately for forced to accept the general will (so freedom is compulsory!) [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] |
19834 | Attempts to train future kings don't usually work, and the best have been unprepared [Rousseau] |
19833 | Hereditary monarchy is easier, but can lead to dreadful monarchs [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] |
7204 | The upholding of the military state is needed to maintain the strong human type [Nietzsche] |
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] |
19847 | We can never assume that the son of a slave is a slave [Rousseau] |
19841 | Sometimes full liberty is only possible at the expense of some complete enslavement [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] |
7248 | No citizen should be rich enough to buy another, and none so poor as forced to sell himself [Rousseau] |
7173 | Rights arise out of contracts, which need a balance of power [Nietzsche] |
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] |
19851 | Every society has a religion as its base [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] |
19836 | The amount of taxation doesn't matter, if it quickly circulates back to the citizens [Rousseau] |
7176 | 'Purpose' is like the sun, where most heat is wasted, and a tiny part has 'purpose' [Nietzsche] |
7195 | If the world aimed at an end, it would have reached it by now [Nietzsche] |
7206 | Things are strong or weak, and do not behave regularly or according to rules or compulsions [Nietzsche] |
7140 | Chemical 'laws' are merely the establishment of power relations between weaker and stronger [Nietzsche] |
7142 | All motions and 'laws' are symptoms of inner events, traceable to the will to power [Nietzsche] |
7178 | The utility of an organ does not explain its origin, on the contrary! [Nietzsche] |
7179 | Survival might undermine an individual's value, or prevent its evolution [Nietzsche] |
7180 | Darwin overestimates the influence of 'external circumstances' [Nietzsche] |
7192 | Remove goodness and wisdom from our concept of God. Being the highest power is enough! [Nietzsche] |
7158 | Morality kills religion, because a Christian-moral God is unbelievable [Nietzsche] |
7199 | It is dishonest to invent a being containing our greatest values, thus ignoring why they exist and are valuable [Nietzsche] |
7162 | Morality can only be upheld by belief in God and a 'hereafter' [Nietzsche] |
7208 | Paganism is a form of thanking and affirming life? [Nietzsche] |
7252 | A tyrant exploits Christians because they don't value this life, and are made to be slaves [Rousseau] |
7160 | Christian belief is kept alive because it is soothing - the proof based on pleasure [Nietzsche] |
7203 | In heaven all the interesting men are missing [Nietzsche] |
7200 | A combination of great power and goodness would mean the disastrous abolition of evil [Nietzsche] |