35 ideas
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] |
3869 | More truthful theories have greater predictive power [Newton-Smith] |
3861 | Theories generate infinite truths and falsehoods, so they cannot be used to assess probability [Newton-Smith] |
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] |
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] |
3871 | Explaining an action is showing that it is rational [Newton-Smith] |
7337 | In Mosaic legal theory, crimes are sins and sins are crimes [Johnson,P] |
7339 | Because human life is what is sacred, Mosaic law has no death penalty for property violations [Johnson,P] |
7353 | The Pharisees undermined slavery, by giving slaves responsibility and status in law courts [Johnson,P] |
7340 | Mosaic law was the first to embody the rule of law, and equality before the law [Johnson,P] |
7338 | Man's life is sacred, because it is made in God's image [Johnson,P] |
15150 | The properties of an electron can't be explained just as 'clustering' [Chakravartty on Boyd] |
15149 | Properties cluster together, either because of intrinsic relations, or because of an underlying process [Boyd, by Chakravartty] |
7348 | The Jews sharply distinguish human and divine, but the Greeks pull them closer together [Johnson,P] |
7336 | A key moment is the idea of a single moral God, who imposes his morality on humanity [Johnson,P] |
7341 | Sampson illustrates the idea that religious heroes often begin as outlaws and semi-criminals [Johnson,P] |
7342 | Isaiah moved Israelite religion away from the local, onto a more universal plane [Johnson,P] |
7355 | The Torah pre-existed creation, and was its blueprint [Johnson,P] |
7344 | Judaism involves circumcision, Sabbath, Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, New Year, and Atonement [Johnson,P] |
7345 | In exile the Jews became a nomocracy [Johnson,P] |
7347 | Zoroastrians believed in one eternal beneficent being, Creator through the holy spirit [Johnson,P] |
7349 | Immortality based on judgement of merit was developed by the Egyptians (not the Jews) [Johnson,P] |
7354 | The main doctrine of the Pharisees was belief in resurrection and the afterlife [Johnson,P] |
7356 | Pious Jews saw heaven as a vast library [Johnson,P] |