49 ideas
| 1597 | Thales was the first western thinker to believe the arché was intelligible [Roochnik on Thales] |
| 7823 | Lucretius was rediscovered in 1417 [Grayling] |
| 6408 | Russell needed three extra axioms to reduce maths to logic: infinity, choice and reducibility [Grayling] |
| 3013 | Nothing is stronger than necessity, which rules everything [Thales, by Diog. Laertius] |
| 6414 | Two propositions might seem self-evident, but contradict one another [Grayling] |
| 7091 | The argument from analogy is not a strong inference, since the other being might be an actor or a robot [Grayling] |
| 7293 | It is legitimate to do harm if it is the unintended side-effect of an effort to achieve a good [Grayling] |
| 7809 | In an honour code shame is the supreme punishment, and revenge is a duty [Grayling] |
| 20547 | We should respect the right of people to live in their own way, even if it is irrational [Swift] |
| 20564 | Anti-colonial movements usually invoke the right of their 'people' to self-determination [Swift] |
| 23262 | Experience, sympathy and history are sensible grounds for laying claim to rights [Grayling] |
| 20535 | Isn't it more rational to maximise the average position, but with a safety net? [Swift] |
| 20537 | Hypothetical contracts have no binding force [Swift] |
| 20542 | Cosmopolitans reject the right of different states to distribute resources in different ways [Swift] |
| 23263 | Politics is driven by power cliques [Grayling] |
| 23255 | It is essential for democracy that voting is free and well informed [Grayling] |
| 23254 | Democracies should require a supermajority for major questions [Grayling] |
| 20559 | Democracy is bad, but the other systems are worse [Swift] |
| 20561 | Since all opinions are treated as equal in democracy, it implies there are no right answers [Swift] |
| 20562 | Design your democracy to treat citizens equally, or to produce better citizens? [Swift] |
| 20563 | Design your democracy to yield political stability, or good decisions? [Swift] |
| 20560 | Teledemocracy omits debate and deliberation, which are important parts of good decisions [Swift] |
| 23260 | A cap on time of service would restrict party control and career ambitions [Grayling] |
| 23253 | Majority decisions are only acceptable if the minority interests are not vital [Grayling] |
| 20554 | Multiculturalism is a barrier to the whole state being a community [Swift] |
| 20553 | Liberals mistakenly think individuals choose their values, without reference to the community [Swift] |
| 20556 | The best way to build a cohesive community is to be involved in a war [Swift] |
| 20557 | Membership and inclusion in a community implies non-membership and exclusion [Swift] |
| 20555 | Liberals are concerned to protect individuals from too much community [Swift] |
| 20540 | Redistributing wealth treats some people as means, rather than as ends [Swift] |
| 20551 | Men have had the power to structure all of our social institutions [Swift] |
| 20545 | Maybe a freedom is from a restraint, and also in order to do something [Swift] |
| 20550 | Opportunity should ignore extraneous factors, or foster competence, or ignore all disadvantages [Swift] |
| 23256 | Liberty and equality cannot be reconciled [Grayling] |
| 20536 | Inequalities are needed, as incentives to do the most important jobs [Swift] |
| 20548 | A person can desire redistibution of wealth, without it being for reasons of equality [Swift] |
| 20541 | You can't necessarily sell your legitimate right to something, even if you produced it [Swift] |
| 20546 | Libertarians about property ignore the fact that private property is a denial of freedoms [Swift] |
| 23258 | The very concept of democracy entails a need for justice [Grayling] |
| 20533 | Justice can be seen as fairness or entitlement or desert [Swift] |
| 23259 | There should be separate legislative, executive and judicial institutions [Grayling] |
| 7292 | War must also have a good chance of success, and be waged with moderation [Grayling] |
| 7824 | If suicide is lawful, but assisting suicide is unlawful, powerless people are denied their rights [Grayling] |
| 1494 | Thales said water is the first principle, perhaps from observing that food is moist [Thales, by Aristotle] |
| 1713 | Thales must have thought soul causes movement, since he thought magnets have soul [Thales, by Aristotle] |
| 1742 | Thales said the gods know our wrong thoughts as well as our evil actions [Thales, by Diog. Laertius] |
| 7819 | Religion gives answers, comforts, creates social order, and panders to superstition [Grayling] |
| 7817 | To make an afterlife appealing, this life has to be denigrated [Grayling] |
| 7818 | In Greek mythology only heroes can go to heaven [Grayling] |