66 ideas
5300 | Philosophers have interpreted the world, but the point is to change it [Marx] |
4767 | Traditionally, rational beliefs are those which are justified by reasons [Psillos] |
5297 | Whether human thinking can be 'true' must be decided in practice, not theory [Marx] |
4810 | Valid deduction is monotonic - that is, it remains valid if further premises are added [Psillos] |
4768 | The 'epistemic fallacy' is inferring what does exist from what can be known to exist [Psillos] |
14933 | Scientific properties are defined by the laws that embody them [Psillos, by Ladyman/Ross] |
17996 | Powers are claimed to be basic because fundamental particles lack internal structure [Psillos] |
4808 | If we say where Mars was two months ago, we offer an explanation without a prediction [Psillos] |
4807 | A good barometer will predict a storm, but not explain it [Psillos] |
4811 | Induction (unlike deduction) is non-monotonic - it can be invalidated by new premises [Psillos] |
4812 | Explanation is either showing predictability, or showing necessity, or showing causal relations [Psillos] |
4802 | Just citing a cause does not enable us to understand an event; we also need a relevant law [Psillos] |
4804 | The 'covering law model' says only laws can explain the occurrence of single events [Psillos] |
4805 | If laws explain the length of a flagpole's shadow, then the shadow also explains the length of the pole [Psillos] |
4395 | There are non-causal explanations, most typically mathematical explanations [Psillos] |
4806 | An explanation can just be a 'causal story', without laws, as when I knock over some ink [Psillos] |
4404 | Maybe explanation is entirely relative to the interests and presuppositions of the questioner [Psillos] |
4803 | An explanation is the removal of the surprise caused by the event [Psillos] |
4769 | It is hard to analyse causation, if it is presupposed in our theory of the functioning of the mind [Psillos] |
22598 | The authentic self exists at the level of class, rather than the individual [Marx, by Dunt] |
5298 | The human essence is not found in individuals but in social relations [Marx] |
23874 | Armies and businesses create moralities in which their activity can do no wrong [Marx, by Weil] |
4770 | Nothing is more usual than to apply to external bodies every internal sensation which they occasion [Psillos] |
20239 | Unlike us, the early Greeks thought envy was a good thing, and hope a bad thing [Hesiod, by Nietzsche] |
22001 | The real will of the cooperative will replace the 'will of the people' [Marx] |
21991 | The middle class gain freedom through property, but workers can only free all of humanity [Marx, by Singer] |
21990 | Theory is as much a part of a revolution as material force is [Marx] |
22971 | In moving from capitalism to communism a revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat is needed [Marx] |
18662 | Liberal freedom is the right to be separate, and ignores the union of man with man [Marx] |
23372 | Liberals want the right to be separate, rather than for people to be united [Marx] |
20576 | Early Marx anticipates communitarian objections to liberalism [Marx, by Oksala] |
21989 | Man is dominated by money, which is the essence of his alienation [Marx] |
22000 | From each according to his ability, to each according to his need [Marx] |
22970 | Freedom is making the state subordinate to its society [Marx] |
23862 | By saying the material dialectic of history aspires to the best, Marx agreed with capitalism [Weil on Marx] |
21999 | False consciousness results from concealment by the superstructure [Marx, by Singer] |
23875 | Marx says force is everything, and that the weak will become strong, while remaining the weak [Weil on Marx] |
21995 | Must production determine superstructure, or could it be the other way round? [Singer on Marx] |
18653 | Marx rejected equal rights because they never actually treat people as equals [Marx, by Kymlicka] |
20577 | Even decently paid workers still have their produce bought with money stolen from them [Marx] |
22969 | People who only have their labour power are the slaves of those permitting them to work [Marx] |
21996 | Freedom only comes when labour is no longer necessary [Marx] |
21994 | The handmill gives feudalism, the steam mill capitalism [Marx] |
23876 | The essence of capitalism is the subordination of people to things [Marx, by Weil] |
20958 | Capitalism changes the world, by socialising the idea of a commodity [Marx, by Bowie] |
20960 | Marx thought capitalism was partly liberating, and could make labour and ownership more humane [Marx, by Bowie] |
22972 | Bourgeois 'freedom of conscience' just tolerates all sorts of religious intolerance [Marx] |
20519 | Marxists say liberal rights are confrontational, and liberal equality is a sham [Marx, by Wolff,J] |
4399 | Causes clearly make a difference, are recipes for events, explain effects, and are evidence [Psillos] |
4400 | Theories of causation are based either on regularity, or on intrinsic relations of properties [Psillos] |
4403 | We can't base our account of causation on explanation, because it is the wrong way round [Psillos] |
4789 | Three divisions of causal theories: generalist/singularist, intrinsic/extrinsic, reductive/non-reductive [Psillos] |
4790 | If causation is 'intrinsic' it depends entirely on the properties and relations of the cause and effect [Psillos] |
4402 | Empiricists tried to reduce causation to explanation, which they reduced to logic-plus-a-law [Psillos] |
4774 | Counterfactual claims about causation imply that it is more than just regular succession [Psillos] |
4793 | "All gold cubes are smaller than one cubic mile" is a true universal generalisation, but not a law [Psillos] |
4397 | Regularity doesn't seem sufficient for causation [Psillos] |
4401 | It is not a law of nature that all the coins in my pocket are euros, though it is a regularity [Psillos] |
4792 | A Humean view of causation says it is regularities, and causal facts supervene on non-causal facts [Psillos] |
4801 | The regularity of a cock's crow is used to predict dawn, even though it doesn't cause it [Psillos] |
4796 | Laws are sets of regularities within a simple and strong coherent system of wider regularities [Psillos] |
4799 | Dispositional essentialism can't explain its key distinction between essential and non-essential properties [Psillos] |
4780 | In some counterfactuals, the counterfactual event happens later than its consequent [Psillos] |
4791 | Counterfactual theories say causes make a difference - if c hadn't occurred, then e wouldn't occur [Psillos] |
5299 | Religious feeling is social in origin [Marx] |
7128 | Religion is the opium of the people, and real happiness requires its abolition [Marx] |