62 ideas
2930 | The main aim of philosophy must be to determine the order of rank among values [Nietzsche] |
20143 | Scientific knowledge is nothing without a prior philosophical 'faith' [Nietzsche] |
19917 | Without reason and human help, human life is misery [Spinoza] |
23722 | Objectivity is not disinterestedness (impossible), but the ability to switch perspectives [Nietzsche] |
4417 | Only that which has no history is definable [Nietzsche] |
23715 | Psychologists should be brave and proud, and prefer truth to desires, even when it is ugly [Nietzsche] |
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] |
19922 | People are only free if they are guided entirely by reason [Spinoza] |
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] |
4411 | It is a delusion to separate the man from the deed, like the flash from the lightning [Nietzsche] |
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] |
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] |
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] |
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] |
19935 | Peoples are created by individuals, not by nature, and only distinguished by language and law [Spinoza] |
23721 | Old tribes always felt an obligation to the earlier generations, and the founders [Nietzsche] |
19914 | In nature everything has an absolute right to do anything it is capable of doing [Spinoza] |
19915 | Natural rights are determined by desire and power, not by reason [Spinoza] |
7487 | Society exists to extend human awareness [Spinoza, by Watson] |
19943 | The state aims to allow personal development, so its main purpose is freedom [Spinoza] |
19930 | Sovereignty must include the power to make people submit to it [Spinoza] |
20142 | The state begins with brutal conquest of a disorganised people, not with a 'contract' [Nietzsche] |
19936 | Kings tend to fight wars for glory, rather than for peace and liberty [Spinoza] |
19937 | Monarchs are always proud, and can't back down [Spinoza] |
19940 | Deposing a monarch is dangerous, because the people are used to royal authority [Spinoza] |
19931 | Every state is more frightened of its own citizens than of external enemies [Spinoza] |
19920 | Democracy is a legitimate gathering of people who do whatever they can do [Spinoza] |
19933 | If religion is law, then piety is justice, impiety is crime, and non-believers must leave [Spinoza] |
19938 | Allowing religious ministers any control of the state is bad for both parties [Spinoza] |
19923 | Slavery is not just obedience, but acting only in the interests of the master [Spinoza] |
19939 | Government is oppressive if opinions can be crimes, because people can't give them up [Spinoza] |
19944 | Without liberty of thought there is no trust in the state, and corruption follows [Spinoza] |
19942 | Treason may be committed as much by words as by deeds [Spinoza] |
19924 | The freest state is a rational one, where people can submit themselves to reason [Spinoza] |
7827 | Spinoza wanted democracy based on individual rights, and is thus the first modern political philosopher [Stewart,M on Spinoza] |
19926 | The sovereignty has absolute power over citizens [Spinoza] |
19918 | Forming a society meant following reason, and giving up dangerous appetites and mutual harm [Spinoza] |
19919 | People only give up their rights, and keep promises, if they hope for some greater good [Spinoza] |
19921 | Once you have given up your rights, there is no going back [Spinoza] |
19925 | In democracy we don't abandon our rights, but transfer them to the majority of us [Spinoza] |
19928 | No one, in giving up their power and right, ceases to be a human being [Spinoza] |
19929 | Everyone who gives up their rights must fear the recipients of them [Spinoza] |
19932 | The early Hebrews, following Moses, gave up their rights to God alone [Spinoza] |
19916 | The order of nature does not prohibit anything, and allows whatever appetite produces [Spinoza] |
23720 | Punishment makes people harder, more alienated, and hostile [Nietzsche] |
19927 | State and religious law can clash, so the state must make decisions about religion [Spinoza] |
9111 | God is not wise, but more-than-wise; God is not good, but more-than-good [William of Ockham] |
9112 | We could never form a concept of God's wisdom if we couldn't abstract it from creatures [William of Ockham] |
19934 | Hebrews were very hostile to other states, who had not given up their rights to God [Spinoza] |
4300 | The Bible has nothing in common with reasoning and philosophy [Spinoza] |
4410 | The truly great haters in world history have always been priests [Nietzsche] |