73 ideas
13773 | For the truth you need Prodicus's fifty-drachma course, not his one-drachma course [Socrates] |
7421 | A philosopher is one who cares about what other people care about [Socrates, by Foucault] |
2930 | The main aim of philosophy must be to determine the order of rank among values [Nietzsche] |
1649 | Socrates opened philosophy to all, but Plato confined moral enquiry to a tiny elite [Vlastos on Socrates] |
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] |
20143 | Scientific knowledge is nothing without a prior philosophical 'faith' [Nietzsche] |
23722 | Objectivity is not disinterestedness (impossible), but the ability to switch perspectives [Nietzsche] |
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] |
4417 | Only that which has no history is definable [Nietzsche] |
11389 | Socrates sought essences, which are the basis of formal logic [Socrates, by Aristotle] |
23715 | Psychologists should be brave and proud, and prefer truth to desires, even when it is ugly [Nietzsche] |
639 | Socrates developed definitions as the basis of syllogisms, and also inductive arguments [Socrates, by Aristotle] |
19494 | Fictionalism allows that simulated beliefs may be tracking real facts [Yablo] |
1652 | Socrates did not consider universals or definitions as having separate existence, but Plato made Forms of them [Socrates, by Aristotle] |
19493 | Governing possible worlds theory is the fiction that if something is possible, it happens in a world [Yablo] |
4421 | Philosophers have never asked why there is a will to truth in the first place [Nietzsche] |
23719 | Forgetfulness is a strong positive ability, not mental laziness [Nietzsche] |
4420 | There is only 'perspective' seeing and knowing, and so the best objectivity is multiple points of view [Nietzsche] |
1650 | For Socrates our soul, though hard to define, is our self [Vlastos on Socrates] |
4414 | Philosophers invented "free will" so that our virtues would be permanently interesting to the gods [Nietzsche] |
4419 | People who think in words are orators rather than thinkers, and think about facts instead of thinking facts [Nietzsche] |
23252 | Socrates first proposed that we are run by mind or reason [Socrates, by Frede,M] |
4411 | It is a delusion to separate the man from the deed, like the flash from the lightning [Nietzsche] |
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] |
195 | No one willingly commits an evil or base act [Socrates] |
199 | The common belief is that people can know the best without acting on it [Socrates] |
1653 | Socrates did not accept the tripartite soul (which permits akrasia) [Vlastos on 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] |
3793 | We must question the very value of moral values [Nietzsche] |
4408 | The concept of 'good' was created by aristocrats to describe their own actions [Nietzsche] |
23716 | A strong rounded person soon forgets enemies, misfortunes, and even misdeeds [Nietzsche] |
20129 | All animals strive for the ideal conditions to express their power, and hate any hindrances [Nietzsche] |
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] |
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] |
4409 | Only the decline of aristocratic morality led to concerns about "egoism" [Nietzsche] |
3259 | Nietzsche rejects impersonal morality, and asserts the idea of living well [Nietzsche, by Nagel] |
4416 | Basic justice is the negotiation of agreement among equals, and the imposition of agreement [Nietzsche] |
4418 | A masterful and violent person need have nothing to do with contracts [Nietzsche] |
1663 | By 'areté' Socrates means just what we mean by moral virtue [Vlastos on Socrates] |
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] |
4407 | Plato, Spinoza and Kant are very different, but united in their low estimation of pity [Nietzsche] |
4415 | Guilt and obligation originated in the relationship of buying and selling, credit and debt [Nietzsche] |
7585 | Socrates emphasises that the knower is an existing individual, with existence his main task [Socrates, by Kierkegaard] |
23718 | If we say birds of prey could become lambs, that makes them responsible for being birds of prey [Nietzsche] |
23717 | Modern nihilism is now feeling tired of mankind [Nietzsche] |
23721 | Old tribes always felt an obligation to the earlier generations, and the founders [Nietzsche] |
20142 | The state begins with brutal conquest of a disorganised people, not with a 'contract' [Nietzsche] |
5841 | Obedience to the law gives the best life, and success in war [Socrates, by Xenophon] |
1661 | Socrates was the first to grasp that a cruelty is not justified by another cruelty [Vlastos on Socrates] |
23720 | Punishment makes people harder, more alienated, and hostile [Nietzsche] |
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] |
4410 | The truly great haters in world history have always been priests [Nietzsche] |