Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'Thinking About Mechanisms', 'The Sentiment of Rationality' and 'Epiphenomenal and supervenient causation'

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32 ideas

1. Philosophy / A. Wisdom / 1. Nature of Wisdom
22659 It is wisdom to believe what you desire, because belief is needed to achieve it [James]
1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 1. Philosophy
22657 All good philosophers start from a dumb conviction about which truths can be revealed [James]
1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 3. Metaphysical Systems
22647 A complete system is just a classification of the whole world's ingredients [James]
2. Reason / A. Nature of Reason / 5. Objectivity
22648 A single explanation must have a single point of view [James]
2. Reason / B. Laws of Thought / 6. Ockham's Razor
22644 Our greatest pleasure is the economy of reducing chaotic facts to one single fact [James]
7. Existence / B. Change in Existence / 2. Processes
16554 Activities have place, rate, duration, entities, properties, modes, direction, polarity, energy and range [Machamer/Darden/Craver]
7. Existence / E. Categories / 2. Categorisation
22649 Classification can only ever be for a particular purpose [James]
8. Modes of Existence / C. Powers and Dispositions / 2. Powers as Basic
16556 Penicillin causes nothing; the cause is what penicillin does [Machamer/Darden/Craver]
11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 2. Understanding
16562 We understand something by presenting its low-level entities and activities [Machamer/Darden/Craver]
14. Science / A. Basis of Science / 1. Observation
22655 Scientific genius extracts more than other people from the same evidence [James]
14. Science / A. Basis of Science / 6. Falsification
22658 Experimenters assume the theory is true, and stick to it as long as result don't disappoint [James]
14. Science / C. Induction / 3. Limits of Induction
22654 We can't know if the laws of nature are stable, but we must postulate it or assume it [James]
14. Science / C. Induction / 6. Bayes's Theorem
22656 Trying to assess probabilities by mere calculation is absurd and impossible [James]
14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / e. Lawlike explanations
16563 The explanation is not the regularity, but the activity sustaining it [Machamer/Darden/Craver]
14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / h. Explanations by function
16555 Functions are not properties of objects, they are activities contributing to mechanisms [Machamer/Darden/Craver]
14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / i. Explanations by mechanism
16529 Mechanisms are systems organised to produce regular change [Machamer/Darden/Craver]
16530 A mechanism explains a phenomenon by showing how it was produced [Machamer/Darden/Craver]
16553 Our account of mechanism combines both entities and activities [Machamer/Darden/Craver]
16559 Descriptions of explanatory mechanisms have a bottom level, where going further is irrelevant [Machamer/Darden/Craver]
16528 Mechanisms are not just push-pull systems [Machamer/Darden/Craver]
14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / j. Explanations by reduction
22646 We have a passion for knowing the parts of something, rather than the whole [James]
14. Science / D. Explanation / 3. Best Explanation / b. Ultimate explanation
16564 There are four types of bottom-level activities which will explain phenomena [Machamer/Darden/Craver]
15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 1. Mind / b. Purpose of mind
22652 The mind has evolved entirely for practical interests, seen in our reflex actions [James]
15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 7. Animal Minds
22651 Dogs' curiosity only concerns what will happen next [James]
15. Nature of Minds / C. Capacities of Minds / 3. Abstraction by mind
16561 We can abstract by taking an exemplary case and ignoring the detail [Machamer/Darden/Craver]
18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 5. Rationality / a. Rationality
22650 How can the ground of rationality be itself rational? [James]
18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 5. Rationality / b. Human rationality
22643 It seems that we feel rational when we detect no irrationality [James]
22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / d. Biological ethics
22660 Evolution suggests prevailing or survival as a new criterion of right and wrong [James]
26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 8. Particular Causation / a. Observation of causation
3535 All observable causes are merely epiphenomena [Kim]
26. Natural Theory / C. Causation / 8. Particular Causation / d. Selecting the cause
22645 Understanding by means of causes is useless if they are not reduced to a minimum number [James]
26. Natural Theory / D. Laws of Nature / 11. Against Laws of Nature
16558 Laws of nature have very little application in biology [Machamer/Darden/Craver]
29. Religion / B. Monotheistic Religion / 4. Christianity / a. Christianity
22653 Early Christianity says God recognises the neglected weak and tender impulses [James]