50 ideas
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] |
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] |
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] |
3257 | Total objectivity can't see value, but it sees many people with values [Nagel] |
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] |
3256 | Pain doesn't have a further property of badness; it gives a reason for its avoidance [Nagel] |
20547 | We should respect the right of people to live in their own way, even if it is irrational [Swift] |
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] |
20564 | Anti-colonial movements usually invoke the right of their 'people' to self-determination [Swift] |
20535 | Isn't it more rational to maximise the average position, but with a safety net? [Swift] |
20537 | Hypothetical contracts have no binding force [Swift] |
20542 | Cosmopolitans reject the right of different states to distribute resources in different ways [Swift] |
20559 | Democracy is bad, but the other systems are worse [Swift] |
20561 | Since all opinions are treated as equal in democracy, it implies there are no right answers [Swift] |
20562 | Design your democracy to treat citizens equally, or to produce better citizens? [Swift] |
20563 | Design your democracy to yield political stability, or good decisions? [Swift] |
20560 | Teledemocracy omits debate and deliberation, which are important parts of good decisions [Swift] |
20554 | Multiculturalism is a barrier to the whole state being a community [Swift] |
20553 | Liberals mistakenly think individuals choose their values, without reference to the community [Swift] |
20556 | The best way to build a cohesive community is to be involved in a war [Swift] |
20557 | Membership and inclusion in a community implies non-membership and exclusion [Swift] |
20555 | Liberals are concerned to protect individuals from too much community [Swift] |
20540 | Redistributing wealth treats some people as means, rather than as ends [Swift] |
20551 | Men have had the power to structure all of our social institutions [Swift] |
20545 | Maybe a freedom is from a restraint, and also in order to do something [Swift] |
20550 | Opportunity should ignore extraneous factors, or foster competence, or ignore all disadvantages [Swift] |
20536 | Inequalities are needed, as incentives to do the most important jobs [Swift] |
20548 | A person can desire redistibution of wealth, without it being for reasons of equality [Swift] |
20541 | You can't necessarily sell your legitimate right to something, even if you produced it [Swift] |
20546 | Libertarians about property ignore the fact that private property is a denial of freedoms [Swift] |
20533 | Justice can be seen as fairness or entitlement or desert [Swift] |
13304 | Learned men gain more in one day than others do in a lifetime [Posidonius] |
20820 | Time is an interval of motion, or the measure of speed [Posidonius, by Stobaeus] |