47 ideas
23027 | Ideals and metaphysics are practical, not imaginative or speculative [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
4643 | The Principle of Sufficient Reason does not presuppose that all explanations will be causal explanations [Baggini /Fosl] |
4633 | You cannot rationally deny the principle of non-contradiction, because all reasoning requires it [Baggini /Fosl] |
4635 | Dialectic aims at unified truth, unlike analysis, which divides into parts [Baggini /Fosl] |
23030 | Truth is a relation to a whole of organised knowledge in the collection of rational minds [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
4632 | 'Natural' systems of deduction are based on normal rational practice, rather than on axioms [Baggini /Fosl] |
4631 | In ideal circumstances, an axiom should be such that no rational agent could possibly object to its use [Baggini /Fosl] |
4638 | The principle of bivalence distorts reality, as when claiming that a person is or is not 'thin' [Baggini /Fosl] |
4640 | If identity is based on 'true of X' instead of 'property of X' we get the Masked Man fallacy ('I know X but not Y') [Baggini /Fosl, by PG] |
4647 | 'I have the same car as you' is fine; 'I have the same fiancée as you' is not so good [Baggini /Fosl] |
4639 | Leibniz's Law is about the properties of objects; the Identity of Indiscernibles is about perception of objects [Baggini /Fosl] |
4646 | Is 'events have causes' analytic a priori, synthetic a posteriori, or synthetic a priori? [Baggini /Fosl] |
23044 | All knowledge rests on a fundamental unity between the knower and what is known [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
4645 | 'A priori' does not concern how you learn a proposition, but how you show whether it is true or false [Baggini /Fosl] |
4582 | Basic beliefs are self-evident, or sensual, or intuitive, or revealed, or guaranteed [Baggini /Fosl] |
23034 | The ultimate test for truth is the systematic interdependence in nature [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
23029 | Knowledge is secured by the relations between its parts, through differences and identities [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
20921 | How can we state relativism of sweet and sour, if they have no determinate nature? [Theophrastus] |
4644 | A proposition such as 'some swans are purple' cannot be falsified, only verified [Baggini /Fosl] |
4584 | The problem of induction is how to justify our belief in the uniformity of nature [Baggini /Fosl] |
4583 | How can an argument be good induction, but poor deduction? [Baggini /Fosl] |
4634 | Abduction aims at simplicity, testability, coherence and comprehensiveness [Baggini /Fosl] |
4637 | To see if an explanation is the best, it is necessary to investigate the alternative explanations [Baggini /Fosl] |
4629 | Consistency is the cornerstone of rationality [Baggini /Fosl] |
23035 | The good life aims at perfections, or absolute laws, or what is absolutely desirable [Green,TH] |
23032 | What is distinctive of human life is the desire for self-improvement [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
23033 | Hedonism offers no satisfaction, because what we desire is self-betterment [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
23046 | States only have full authority if they heed the claims of human fellowship [Green,TH] |
23045 | Politics is compromises, which seem supported by a social contract, but express the will of no one [Green,TH] |
23050 | The ideal is a society in which all citizens are ladies and gentlemen [Green,TH] |
23052 | Enfranchisement is an end in itself; it makes a person moral, and gives a basis for respect [Green,TH] |
23036 | The good is identified by the capacities of its participants [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
23039 | A true state is only unified and stabilised by acknowledging individuality [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
23037 | People are improved by egalitarian institutions and habits [Green,TH] |
23051 | Equality also implies liberty, because equality must be of opportunity as well as possessions [Green,TH] |
23043 | All talk of the progress of a nation must reduce to the progress of its individual members [Green,TH] |
23038 | People only develop their personality through co-operation with the social whole [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
23028 | The highest political efforts express our deeper social spirit [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
23054 | Communism is wrong because it restricts the freedom of individuals to contribute to the community [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
23047 | Original common ownership is securing private property, not denying it [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
23042 | National spirit only exists in the individuals who embody it [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
23048 | The ground of property ownership is not force but the power to use it for social ends [Green,TH, by Muirhead] |
23049 | Property is needed by all citizens, to empower them to achieve social goods [Green,TH] |
23040 | If something develops, its true nature is embodied in its end [Green,TH] |
5990 | Theophrastus doubted whether nature could be explained teleologically [Theophrastus, by Gottschalk] |
23031 | God is the ideal end of the mature mind's final development [Green,TH] |
23041 | God is the realisation of the possibilities of each man's self [Green,TH] |