133 ideas
2136 | Philosophers become as divine and orderly as possible, by studying divinity and order [Plato] |
23767 | The winds of the discussion should decide its destination [Plato] |
23682 | It would be absurd to be precise about the small things, but only vague about the big things [Plato] |
2151 | Dialectic is the only method of inquiry which uproots the things which it takes for granted [Plato] |
2154 | The ability to take an overview is the distinguishing mark of a dialectician [Plato] |
4011 | For Plato, rationality is a vision of and love of a cosmic rational order [Plato, by Taylor,C] |
2093 | You must never go against what you actually believe [Plato] |
2130 | People often merely practice eristic instead of dialectic, because they don't analyse the subject-matter [Plato] |
2145 | In mathematics certain things have to be accepted without further explanation [Plato] |
17610 | The Axiom of Choice paradoxically allows decomposing a sphere into two identical spheres [Maddy] |
17620 | Critics of if-thenism say that not all starting points, even consistent ones, are worth studying [Maddy] |
16357 | Mental files are the counterparts of singular terms [Recanati] |
17605 | Hilbert's geometry and Dedekind's real numbers were role models for axiomatization [Maddy] |
17625 | If two mathematical themes coincide, that suggest a single deep truth [Maddy] |
8726 | Geometry can lead the mind upwards to truth and philosophy [Plato] |
17615 | Every infinite set of reals is either countable or of the same size as the full set of reals [Maddy] |
17618 | Set-theory tracks the contours of mathematical depth and fruitfulness [Maddy] |
9863 | We aim for elevated discussion of pure numbers, not attaching them to physical objects [Plato] |
9864 | In pure numbers, all ones are equal, with no internal parts [Plato] |
8727 | Geometry is not an activity, but the study of unchanging knowledge [Plato] |
9861 | The same thing is both one and an unlimited number at the same time [Plato] |
17614 | The connection of arithmetic to perception has been idealised away in modern infinitary mathematics [Maddy] |
9862 | To become rational, philosophers must rise from becoming into being [Plato] |
21818 | Being depends on the Good, which is not itself being, but superior to being [Plato] |
2061 | The best things (gods, healthy bodies, good souls) are least liable to change [Plato] |
6562 | Plato's reality has unchanging Parmenidean forms, and Heraclitean flux [Plato, by Fogelin] |
2142 | The plurality of beautiful things must belong to a single class, because they have a single particular character [Plato] |
5094 | Plato's Forms are said to have no location in space [Plato, by Aristotle] |
12043 | Forms are not universals, as they don't cover every general term [Plato, by Annas] |
2159 | Craftsmen making furniture refer to the form, but no one manufactures the form of furniture [Plato] |
17 | A Form applies to a set of particular things with the same name [Plato] |
12122 | Plato mistakenly thought forms were totally abstracted away from matter [Bacon on Plato] |
5574 | Plato's Forms not only do not come from the senses, but they are beyond possibility of sensing [Plato, by Kant] |
16360 | Identity statements are informative if they link separate mental files [Recanati] |
2133 | Knowledge must be of the permanent unchanging nature of things [Plato] |
16374 | There is a continuum from acquaintance to description in knowledge, depending on the link [Recanati] |
2162 | If theory and practice conflict, the best part of the mind accepts theory, so the other part is of lower grade [Plato] |
2140 | True belief without knowledge is like blind people on the right road [Plato] |
2096 | Is the function of the mind management, authority and planning - or is it one's whole way of life? [Plato] |
6009 | Psychic conflict is clear if appetite is close to the body and reason fairly separate [Plato, by Modrak] |
6041 | There is a third element to the mind - spirit - lying between reason and appetite [Plato] |
2127 | The mind has parts, because we have inner conflicts [Plato] |
1737 | The soul seems to have an infinity of parts [Aristotle on Plato] |
16354 | Indexicality is closely related to singularity, exploiting our direct relations with things [Recanati] |
18409 | Indexicals apply to singular thought, and mental files have essentially indexical features [Recanati] |
16371 | Files can be confused, if two files correctly have a single name, or one file has two names [Recanati] |
16373 | Encylopedic files have further epistemic links, beyond the basic one [Recanati] |
16375 | Singular thoughts need a mental file, and an acquaintance relation from file to object [Recanati] |
16377 | Expected acquaintance can create a thought-vehicle file, but without singular content [Recanati] |
16378 | An 'indexed' file marks a file which simulates the mental file of some other person [Recanati] |
16387 | Reference by mental files is Millian, in emphasising acquaintance, rather than satisfaction [Recanati] |
16358 | The reference of a file is fixed by what it relates to, not the information it contains [Recanati] |
16361 | A mental file treats all of its contents as concerning one object [Recanati] |
16367 | There are transient 'demonstrative' files, habitual 'recognitional' files, cumulative 'encyclopedic' files [Recanati] |
16368 | Files are hierarchical: proto-files, then first-order, then higher-order encyclopedic [Recanati] |
16370 | A file has a 'nucleus' through its relation to the object, and a 'periphery' of links to other files [Recanati] |
16381 | The content of thought is what is required to understand it (which involves hearers) [Recanati] |
16365 | Mental files are individual concepts (thought constituents) [Recanati] |
16356 | There may be two types of reference in language and thought: descriptive and direct [Recanati] |
16393 | In super-direct reference, the referent serves as its own vehicle of reference [Recanati] |
16386 | Direct reference is strong Millian (just a tag) or weak Kaplanian (allowing descriptions as well) [Recanati] |
16372 | Sense determines reference says same sense/same reference; new reference means new sense [Recanati] |
16388 | We need sense as well as reference, but in a non-descriptive form, and mental files do that [Recanati] |
16359 | Sense is a mental file (not its contents); similar files for Cicero and Tully are two senses [Recanati] |
16355 | Problems with descriptivism are reference by perception, by communications and by indexicals [Recanati] |
16348 | Descriptivism says we mentally relate to objects through their properties [Recanati] |
16384 | Definite descriptions reveal either a predicate (attributive use) or the file it belongs in (referential) [Recanati] |
16352 | A rigid definite description can be attributive, not referential: 'the actual F, whoever he is….' [Recanati] |
16353 | Singularity cannot be described, and it needs actual world relations [Recanati] |
16382 | Fregean modes of presentation can be understood as mental files [Recanati] |
16389 | If two people think 'I am tired', they think the same thing, and they think different things [Recanati] |
16363 | Indexicals (like mental files) determine their reference relationally, not by satisfaction [Recanati] |
16364 | Indexical don't refer; only their tokens do [Recanati] |
16351 | In 2-D semantics, reference is determined, then singularity by the truth of a predication [Recanati] |
16350 | Two-D semantics is said to help descriptivism of reference deal with singular objects [Recanati] |
16380 | Russellian propositions are better than Fregean thoughts, by being constant through communication [Recanati] |
5945 | The 'Republic' is a great work of rhetorical theory [Lawson-Tancred on Plato] |
23316 | For Plato and Aristotle there is no will; there is only rational desire for what is seen as good [Plato, by Frede,M] |
16 | We avoid evil either through a natural aversion, or because we have acquired knowledge [Plato] |
16565 | Without the surface decoration, poetry shows only appearances and nothing of what is real [Plato] |
2160 | Representation is two steps removed from the truth [Plato] |
2163 | Artists should be excluded from a law-abiding community, because they destroy the rational mind [Plato] |
2135 | Truth is closely related to proportion [Plato] |
2141 | I suggest that we forget about trying to define goodness itself for the time being [Plato] |
1869 | The good cannot be expressed in words, but imprints itself upon the soul [Plato, by Celsus] |
4115 | Plato found that he could only enforce rational moral justification by creating an authoritarian society [Williams,B on Plato] |
4547 | Plato measured the degree of reality by the degree of value [Nietzsche on Plato] |
2095 | If something has a function then it has a state of being good [Plato] |
2094 | A thing's function is what it alone can do, or what it does better than other things [Plato] |
2129 | Goodness is mental health, badness is mental sickness [Plato] |
12 | If we were invisible, would the just man become like the unjust? [Plato] |
2168 | Clever criminals do well at first, but not in the long run [Plato] |
2137 | The main aim is to understand goodness, which gives everything its value and advantage [Plato] |
2139 | Every person, and every activity, aims at the good [Plato] |
2143 | Good has the same role in the world of knowledge as the sun has in the physical world [Plato] |
2147 | The sight of goodness leads to all that is fine and true and right [Plato] |
4007 | For Plato we abandon honour and pleasure once we see the Good [Plato, by Taylor,C] |
2144 | Goodness makes truth and knowledge possible [Plato] |
2164 | Bad is always destructive, where good preserves and benefits [Plato] |
2138 | Pleasure is commonly thought to be the good, though the more ingenious prefer knowledge [Plato] |
2070 | Even people who think pleasure is the good admit that there are bad pleasures [Plato] |
2157 | Nice smells are intensive, have no preceding pain, and no bad after-effect [Plato] |
2134 | Philosophers are concerned with totally non-physical pleasures [Plato] |
2156 | There are three types of pleasure, for reason, for spirit and for appetite [Plato] |
2158 | Pleasure-seekers desperately seek illusory satisfaction, like filling a leaky vessel [Plato] |
2123 | Excessive pleasure deranges people, making the other virtues impossible [Plato] |
2166 | We should behave well even if invisible, for the health of the mind [Plato] |
2097 | Isn't it better to have a reputation for goodness than to actually be good? [Plato] |
19946 | Morality is a compromise, showing restraint, to avoid suffering wrong without compensation [Plato] |
5 | Justice is merely the interests of the stronger party [Plato] |
7 | Surely you don't return a borrowed weapon to a mad friend? [Plato] |
8 | Is right just the interests of the powerful? [Plato] |
15 | Sin first, then sacrifice to the gods from the proceeds [Plato] |
5944 | For Plato, virtue is its own reward [Lawson-Tancred on Plato] |
2155 | True goodness requires mental unity and harmony [Plato] |
2126 | A good community necessarily has wisdom, courage, self-discipline and morality [Plato] |
23562 | If the parts of our soul do their correct work, we will be just people, and will act justly [Plato] |
2092 | Simonides said morality is helping one's friends and harming one's enemies [Plato] |
19889 | People need society because the individual has too many needs [Plato] |
19890 | All exchanges in a community are for mutual benefit [Plato] |
10 | After a taste of mutual harm, men make a legal contract to avoid it [Plato] |
23561 | People doing their jobs properly is the fourth cardinal virtue for a city [Plato] |
2149 | Reluctant rulers make a better and more unified administration [Plato] |
2132 | Only rule by philosophers of integrity can keep a community healthy [Plato] |
2131 | Is there anything better for a community than to produce excellent people? [Plato] |
2152 | Dialectic is the highest and most important part of the curriculum [Plato] |
2148 | To gain knowledge, turn away from the world of change, and focus on true goodness [Plato] |
2153 | Compulsory intellectual work never remains in the mind [Plato] |
2630 | If Plato's God is immaterial, he will lack consciousness, wisdom, pleasure and movement, which are essential to him [Cicero on Plato] |
14 | If the gods are non-existent or indifferent, why bother to deceive them? [Plato] |
2165 | Something is unlikely to be immortal if it is imperfectly made from diverse parts [Plato] |
13 | Is the supreme reward for virtue to be drunk for eternity? [Plato] |
2120 | God is responsible for the good things, but we must look elsewhere for the cause of the bad things [Plato] |