82 ideas
9247 | Life will be lived better if it has no meaning [Camus] |
13773 | For the truth you need Prodicus's fifty-drachma course, not his one-drachma course [Socrates] |
5278 | Philosophy is no more than abstractions concerning observations of human historical development [Marx/Engels] |
7421 | A philosopher is one who cares about what other people care about [Socrates, by Foucault] |
6707 | Suicide - whether life is worth living - is the one serious philosophical problem [Camus] |
1649 | Socrates opened philosophy to all, but Plato confined moral enquiry to a tiny elite [Vlastos on Socrates] |
9245 | To an absurd mind reason is useless, and there is nothing beyond reason [Camus] |
5842 | Philosophical discussion involves dividing subject-matter into categories [Socrates, by Xenophon] |
648 | Socrates began the quest for something universal with his definitions, but he didn't make them separate [Socrates, by Aristotle] |
164 | It is legitimate to play the devil's advocate [Socrates] |
1647 | In Socratic dialogue you must say what you believe, so unasserted premises are not debated [Vlastos on Socrates] |
115 | Socrates was pleased if his mistakes were proved wrong [Socrates] |
22099 | The method of Socrates shows the student is discovering the truth within himself [Socrates, by Carlisle] |
5844 | Socrates always proceeded in argument by general agreement at each stage [Socrates, by Xenophon] |
11389 | Socrates sought essences, which are the basis of formal logic [Socrates, by Aristotle] |
639 | Socrates developed definitions as the basis of syllogisms, and also inductive arguments [Socrates, by Aristotle] |
9244 | Logic is easy, but what about logic to the point of death? [Camus] |
5287 | Philosophical problems are resolved into empirical facts [Marx/Engels] |
1652 | Socrates did not consider universals or definitions as having separate existence, but Plato made Forms of them [Socrates, by Aristotle] |
23872 | 'Society determines consciousness' is contradictory; society only exists in minds [Weil on Marx/Engels] |
5277 | Life is not determined by consciousness, but consciousness by life [Marx/Engels] |
1650 | For Socrates our soul, though hard to define, is our self [Vlastos on Socrates] |
9249 | Whether we are free is uninteresting; we can only experience our freedom [Camus] |
9253 | The human heart has a tiresome tendency to label as fate only what crushes it [Camus] |
23252 | Socrates first proposed that we are run by mind or reason [Socrates, by Frede,M] |
5280 | Language co-exists with consciousness, and makes it social [Marx/Engels] |
195 | No one willingly commits an evil or base act [Socrates] |
1653 | Socrates did not accept the tripartite soul (which permits akrasia) [Vlastos on Socrates] |
5843 | People do what they think they should do, and only ever do what they think they should do [Socrates, by Xenophon] |
5253 | Socrates was shocked by the idea of akrasia, but observation shows that it happens [Aristotle on Socrates] |
199 | The common belief is that people can know the best without acting on it [Socrates] |
5839 | For Socrates, wisdom and prudence were the same thing [Socrates, by Xenophon] |
5867 | For Socrates, virtues are forms of knowledge, so knowing justice produces justice [Socrates, by Aristotle] |
5069 | Socrates was the first to base ethics upon reason, and use reason to explain it [Taylor,R on Socrates] |
5836 | All human virtues are increased by study and practice [Socrates, by Xenophon] |
5840 | The wise perform good actions, and people fail to be good without wisdom [Socrates, by Xenophon] |
185 | Socrates despised good looks [Socrates, by Plato] |
9250 | Discussing ethics is pointless; moral people behave badly, and integrity doesn't need rules [Camus] |
5276 | The nature of an individual coincides with what they produce and how they produce it [Marx/Engels] |
5281 | Consciousness is a social product [Marx/Engels] |
5070 | Socrates conservatively assumed that Athenian conventions were natural and true [Taylor,R on Socrates] |
5838 | A well-made dung basket is fine, and a badly-made gold shield is base, because of function [Socrates, by Xenophon] |
9252 | The more one loves the stronger the absurd grows [Camus] |
5837 | Things are both good and fine by the same standard [Socrates, by Xenophon] |
3017 | The only good is knowledge, and the only evil is ignorance [Socrates, by Diog. Laertius] |
1646 | Socrates was the first to put 'eudaimonia' at the centre of ethics [Socrates, by Vlastos] |
1663 | By 'areté' Socrates means just what we mean by moral virtue [Vlastos on Socrates] |
5289 | When aristocracy or the bourgeoisie dominate, certain values dominate with them [Marx/Engels] |
9251 | One can be virtuous through a whim [Camus] |
4323 | Socrates is torn between intellectual virtue, which is united and teachable, and natural virtue, which isn't [PG on Socrates] |
8003 | Socrates agrees that virtue is teachable, but then denies that there are teachers [Socrates, by MacIntyre] |
126 | We should ask what sort of people we want to be [Socrates] |
4111 | Socrates believed that basically there is only one virtue, the power of right judgement [Socrates, by Williams,B] |
7808 | Socrates made the civic values of justice and friendship paramount [Socrates, by Grayling] |
23907 | Courage is scientific knowledge [Socrates, by Aristotle] |
7585 | Socrates emphasises that the knower is an existing individual, with existence his main task [Socrates, by Kierkegaard] |
9243 | If we believe existence is absurd, this should dictate our conduct [Camus] |
6708 | Happiness and the absurd go together, each leading to the other [Camus] |
5274 | Young Hegelians proposed changing our present consciousness for liberating critical consciousness [Marx/Engels] |
9242 | Essential problems either risk death, or intensify the passion of life [Camus] |
9246 | Danger and integrity are not in the leap of faith, but in remaining poised just before the leap [Camus] |
21992 | Producing their own subsistence distinguishes men from animals [Marx/Engels] |
5275 | Men distinguish themselves from animals when they begin to produce their means of subsistence [Marx/Engels] |
5292 | Individuals are mutually hostile unless they group together in competition with other groups [Marx/Engels] |
5841 | Obedience to the law gives the best life, and success in war [Socrates, by Xenophon] |
5293 | Only in community are people able to cultivate their gifts, and therefore be free [Marx/Engels] |
5273 | Young Hegelians think consciousness is chains for men, where old Hegelians think it the bond of society [Marx/Engels] |
5283 | In communist society we are not trapped in one activity, but can act freely [Marx/Engels] |
5282 | If the common interest imposes on the individual, his actions become alienated and enslaving [Marx/Engels] |
5288 | The class controlling material production also controls mental production [Marx/Engels] |
5290 | The revolutionary class is opposed to 'class', and represents all of society [Marx/Engels] |
5294 | To assert themselves as individuals, the proletarians must overthrow the State [Marx/Engels] |
5285 | Slavery cannot be abolished without the steam-engine [Marx/Engels] |
5284 | Communism abolishes private property and dissolves the powerful world market [Marx/Engels] |
5291 | The law says private property is the result of the general will [Marx/Engels] |
1661 | Socrates was the first to grasp that a cruelty is not justified by another cruelty [Vlastos on Socrates] |
5279 | Human history must always be studied in relation to industry and exchange [Marx/Engels] |
5286 | Most historians are trapped in the illusions of their own epoch [Marx/Engels] |
9248 | It is essential to die unreconciled and not of one's own free will [Camus] |
5846 | A lover using force is a villain, but a seducer is much worse, because he corrupts character [Socrates, by Xenophon] |
1657 | Socrates holds that right reason entails virtue, and this must also apply to the gods [Vlastos on Socrates] |
1662 | A new concept of God as unswerving goodness emerges from Socrates' commitment to virtue [Vlastos on Socrates] |