43 ideas
354 | Wisdom makes virtue and true goodness possible [Plato] |
370 | Philosophy is a purification of the soul ready for the afterlife [Plato] |
3853 | For science to be rational, we must explain scientific change rationally [Newton-Smith] |
3859 | We do not wish merely to predict, we also want to explain [Newton-Smith] |
3870 | The real problem of science is how to choose between possible explanations [Newton-Smith] |
3855 | Critics attack positivist division between theory and observation [Newton-Smith] |
3854 | Positivists hold that theoretical terms change, but observation terms don't [Newton-Smith] |
350 | In investigation the body leads us astray, but the soul gets a clear view of the facts [Plato] |
24226 | The soul on its own enters a pure, unchanging and eternal realm, and experiences wisdom [Plato] |
362 | The greatest misfortune for a person is to develop a dislike for argument [Plato] |
3861 | Theories generate infinite truths and falsehoods, so they cannot be used to assess probability [Newton-Smith] |
3869 | More truthful theories have greater predictive power [Newton-Smith] |
13155 | If you add one to one, which one becomes two, or do they both become two? [Plato] |
21347 | If Simmias is taller than Socrates, that isn't a feature that is just in Simmias [Plato] |
360 | We must have a prior knowledge of equality, if we see 'equal' things and realise they fall short of it [Plato] |
24230 | The Forms arise whenever we talk of something 'in itself'. [Plato] |
24225 | Things like the Equal and the Beautiful, which are real, must be unchanging [Plato] |
24227 | One and one can only become two by sharing in Twoness [Plato] |
368 | Other things are named after the Forms because they participate in them [Plato] |
1 | There is only one source for all beauty [Plato] |
16516 | The ship which Theseus took to Crete is now sent to Delos crowned with flowers [Plato] |
3867 | De re necessity arises from the way the world is [Newton-Smith] |
3872 | We must assess the truth of beliefs in identifying them [Newton-Smith] |
357 | People are obviously recollecting when they react to a geometrical diagram [Plato] |
359 | If we feel the inadequacy of a resemblance, we must recollect the original [Plato] |
9343 | To achieve pure knowledge, we must get rid of the body and contemplate things with the soul [Plato] |
3857 | Defeat relativism by emphasising truth and reference, not meaning [Newton-Smith] |
3858 | A full understanding of 'yellow' involves some theory [Newton-Smith] |
3862 | All theories contain anomalies, and so are falsified! [Newton-Smith] |
3863 | The anomaly of Uranus didn't destroy Newton's mechanics - it led to Neptune's discovery [Newton-Smith] |
3864 | Anomalies are judged against rival theories, and support for the current theory [Newton-Smith] |
3865 | Why should it matter whether or not a theory is scientific? [Newton-Smith] |
3866 | If theories are really incommensurable, we could believe them all [Newton-Smith] |
15859 | To investigate the causes of things, study what is best for them [Plato] |
13154 | Do we think and experience with blood, air or fire, or could it be our brain? [Plato] |
364 | One soul can't be more or less of a soul than another [Plato] |
3871 | Explaining an action is showing that it is rational [Newton-Smith] |
361 | It is a mistake to think that the most violent pleasure or pain is therefore the truest reality [Plato] |
351 | War aims at the acquisition of wealth, because we are enslaved to the body [Plato] |
7810 | The 'Eumenides' of Aeschylus shows blood feuds replaced by law [Aeschylus, by Grayling] |
13156 | Fancy being unable to distinguish a cause from its necessary background conditions! [Plato] |
369 | If the Earth is spherical and in the centre, it is kept in place by universal symmetry, not by force [Plato] |
363 | Whether the soul pre-exists our body depends on whether it contains the ultimate standard of reality [Plato] |