42 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)] |
| 3240 | There is more insight in fundamental perplexity about problems than in their supposed solutions [Nagel] |
| 3242 | Philosophy is the childhood of the intellect, and a culture can't skip it [Nagel] |
| 3241 | It seems mad, but the aim of philosophy is to climb outside of our own minds [Nagel] |
| 6321 | Vulgar people are alert; I alone am muddled [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 3248 | Realism invites scepticism because it claims to be objective [Nagel] |
| 20989 | Views are objective if they don't rely on a person's character, social position or species [Nagel] |
| 22354 | Things cause perceptions, properties have other effects, hence we reach a 'view from nowhere' [Nagel, by Reiss/Sprenger] |
| 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)] |
| 3249 | Modern science depends on the distinction between primary and secondary qualities [Nagel] |
| 22429 | We achieve objectivity by dropping secondary qualities, to focus on structural primary qualities [Nagel] |
| 3247 | Epistemology is centrally about what we should believe, not the definition of knowledge [Nagel] |
| 3252 | Scepticism is based on ideas which scepticism makes impossible [Nagel] |
| 3251 | Observed regularities are only predictable if we assume hidden necessity [Nagel] |
| 3244 | Personal identity cannot be fully known a priori [Nagel] |
| 3245 | The question of whether a future experience will be mine presupposes personal identity [Nagel] |
| 3246 | I can't even conceive of my brain being split in two [Nagel] |
| 20949 | Study the use of words, not their origins [Herder] |
| 6331 | Truth is not beautiful; beautiful speech is not truthful [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 3257 | Total objectivity can't see value, but it sees many people with values [Nagel] |
| 7669 | We cannot attain all the ideals of every culture, so there cannot be a perfect life [Herder, by Berlin] |
| 6330 | One with no use for life is wiser than one who values it [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 3265 | We don't worry about the time before we were born the way we worry about death [Nagel] |
| 3263 | If our own life lacks meaning, devotion to others won't give it meaning [Nagel] |
| 6327 | Do good to him who has done you an injury [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 3256 | Pain doesn't have a further property of badness; it gives a reason for its avoidance [Nagel] |
| 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)] |
| 6322 | There is no crime greater than having too many desires [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 3261 | Something may be 'rational' either because it is required or because it is acceptable [Nagel] |
| 3258 | If cockroaches can't think about their actions, they have no duties [Nagel] |
| 3254 | If we can decide how to live after stepping outside of ourselves, we have the basis of a moral theory [Nagel] |
| 3264 | We should see others' viewpoints, but not lose touch with our own values [Nagel] |
| 3255 | We find new motives by discovering reasons for action different from our preexisting motives [Nagel] |
| 3262 | Utilitarianism is too demanding [Nagel] |
| 6320 | The best rulers are invisible, the next admired, the next feared, and the worst are exploited [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 6329 | People are hard to govern because authorities love to do things [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 7668 | Herder invented the idea of being rooted in (or cut off from) a home or a group [Herder, by Berlin] |
| 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)] |