47 ideas
1597 | Thales was the first western thinker to believe the arché was intelligible [Roochnik on Thales] |
7823 | Lucretius was rediscovered in 1417 [Grayling] |
22338 | An unexamined life can be virtuous [Murdoch] |
22337 | Philosophy must keep returning to the beginning [Murdoch] |
23563 | Philosophy moves continually between elaborate theories and the obvious facts [Murdoch] |
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] |
22591 | We know perfection when we see what is imperfect [Murdoch] |
7293 | It is legitimate to do harm if it is the unintended side-effect of an effort to achieve a good [Grayling] |
22709 | We should first decide what are the great works of art, with aesthetic theory following from that [Murdoch] |
22341 | Literature is the most important aspect of culture, because it teaches understanding of living [Murdoch] |
22715 | Great art proves the absurdity of art for art's sake [Murdoch] |
22714 | Because art is love, it improves us morally [Murdoch] |
22347 | Appreciating beauty in art or nature opens up the good life, by restricting selfishness [Murdoch] |
22712 | Art and morals are essentially the same, and are both identical with love [Murdoch] |
22713 | Love is realising something other than oneself is real [Murdoch] |
22339 | Love is a central concept in morals [Murdoch] |
22348 | Ordinary human love is good evidence of transcendent goodness [Murdoch] |
22343 | If I attend properly I will have no choices [Murdoch] |
22349 | Art trains us in the love of virtue [Murdoch] |
22340 | It is hard to learn goodness from others, because their virtues are part of their personal history [Murdoch] |
22350 | Only trivial virtues can be possessed on their own [Murdoch] |
22346 | Moral reflection and experience gradually reveals unity in the moral world [Murdoch] |
7809 | In an honour code shame is the supreme punishment, and revenge is a duty [Grayling] |
20765 | Man is a brave naked will, separate from a background of values and realities [Murdoch] |
22342 | Kantian existentialists care greatly for reasons for action, whereas Surrealists care nothing [Murdoch] |
22351 | Only a philosopher might think choices create values [Murdoch] |
23262 | Experience, sympathy and history are sensible grounds for laying claim to rights [Grayling] |
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] |
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] |
23256 | Liberty and equality cannot be reconciled [Grayling] |
23258 | The very concept of democracy entails a need for justice [Grayling] |
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] |
22345 | Moral philosophy needs a central concept with all the traditional attributes of God [Murdoch] |
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] |