Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'Essays on Intellectual Powers: Conception', 'The Blank Slate' and 'Either/Or: a fragment of life'

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23 ideas

1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 7. Despair over Philosophy
22087 Philosophy fails to articulate the continual becoming of existence [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle]
3. Truth / A. Truth Problems / 8. Subjective Truth
5651 Traditional views of truth are tautologies, and truth is empty without a subject [Kierkegaard, by Scruton]
7. Existence / C. Structure of Existence / 2. Reduction
7508 Good reductionism connects fields of knowledge, but doesn't replace one with another [Pinker]
9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 4. Essence as Definition
23647 Objects have an essential constitution, producing its qualities, which we are too ignorant to define [Reid]
10. Modality / D. Knowledge of Modality / 4. Conceivable as Possible / b. Conceivable but impossible
11958 Impossibilites are easily conceived in mathematics and geometry [Reid, by Molnar]
12. Knowledge Sources / D. Empiricism / 2. Associationism
7510 Connectionists say the mind is a general purpose learning device [Pinker]
12. Knowledge Sources / E. Direct Knowledge / 4. Memory
7513 Is memory stored in protein sequences, neurons, synapses, or synapse-strengths? [Pinker]
16. Persons / F. Free Will / 5. Against Free Will
7509 Roundworms live successfully with 302 neurons, so human freedom comes from our trillions [Pinker]
17. Mind and Body / E. Mind as Physical / 4. Connectionism
7511 Neural networks can generalise their training, e.g. truths about tigers apply mostly to lions [Pinker]
7512 There are five types of reasoning that seem beyond connectionist systems [Pinker, by PG]
19. Language / B. Reference / 1. Reference theories
23646 Reference is by name, or a term-plus-circumstance, or ostensively, or by description [Reid]
19. Language / B. Reference / 3. Direct Reference / c. Social reference
23645 A word's meaning is the thing conceived, as fixed by linguistic experts [Reid]
22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / e. Human nature
7505 Many think that accepting human nature is to accept innumerable evils [Pinker]
23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 2. Nihilism
22090 For me time stands still, and I with it [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle]
23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 4. Boredom
9305 The plebeians bore others; only the nobility bore themselves [Kierkegaard]
23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 5. Existence-Essence
5650 Reason is just abstractions, so our essence needs a subjective 'leap of faith' [Kierkegaard, by Scruton]
23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 6. Authentic Self
22095 There are aesthetic, ethical and religious subjectivity [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle]
23. Ethics / F. Existentialism / 7. Existential Action
20747 What matters is not right choice, but energy, earnestness and pathos in the choosing [Kierkegaard]
24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 7. Communitarianism / b. Against communitarianism
22091 Kierkegaard prioritises the inward individual, rather than community [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle]
27. Natural Reality / G. Biology / 2. Life
7516 In 1828, the stuff of life was shown to be ordinary chemistry, not a magic gel [Pinker]
27. Natural Reality / G. Biology / 3. Evolution
7515 All the evidence says evolution is cruel and wasteful, not intelligent [Pinker]
7514 Intelligent Design says that every unexplained phenomenon must be design, by default [Pinker]
29. Religion / D. Religious Issues / 1. Religious Commitment / e. Fideism
22088 Faith is like a dancer's leap, going up to God, but also back to earth [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle]