Combining Philosophers

All the ideas for Herodotus, Roy Bhaskar and Anon (Gilg)

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3 ideas

9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 5. Essence as Kind
Kind essences are the categorical bases of a thing's causal powers [Bhaskar, by Chakravartty]
     Full Idea: Bhaskar identifies kind essences with underlying properties, often called 'categorical bases', of the causal powers of things.
     From: report of Roy Bhaskar (A Realist Theory of Science [1975], p.212) by Anjan Chakravarrty - Inessential Aristotle: Powers without Essences 1
     A reaction: The problem with this, it always seems to me, is the something inherently passive is said to give rise to something which is inherently active. Couldn't two individuals with a kind have slightly different categorical bases?
26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 5. Infinite in Nature
The gods alone live forever with Shamash. The days of humans are numbered. [Anon (Gilg)]
     Full Idea: The gods alone are the ones who live forever with Shamash. / As for humans, their days are numbered.
     From: Anon (Gilg) (The Epic of Gilgamesh [c.2300 BCE], 3.2.34), quoted by Michèle Friend - Introducing the Philosophy of Mathematics 1.2
     A reaction: Friend quotes this to show the antiquity of the concept of infinity. It also, of course, shows that Sumerians at that time did not believe in human immortality.
29. Religion / D. Religious Issues / 2. Immortality / a. Immortality
The Egyptians were the first to say the soul is immortal and reincarnated [Herodotus]
     Full Idea: The Egyptians were the first to claim that the soul of a human being is immortal, and that each time the body dies the soul enters another creature just as it is being born.
     From: Herodotus (The Histories [c.435 BCE], 2.123.2)